Prometheus 2: 10 Lessons It Must Learn In Order To Succeed

2. Scale Back The "Big Ideas"

It's all very well drawing on mythology, ancient history and religious symbolism to try and give a story more philosophical weight, but unfortunately Prometheus sets much of this up too superficially, as if it exists simply to get the audience to sit there scratching their heads in confusion, rather than actually pondering broader implications. The ancient alien aspect is explained with a cursory scene comparing ancient tablets which feels like an excerpt from an episode of the Discovery Channel's Ancient Aliens series (although that would no doubt avoid the schoolboy error of an expert describing Sumer, Mesapotamia and Babylonia as "unconnected" cultures), while the religious symbolism is so heavy-handed throughout the film - from the captain setting up a Christmas tree upon arrival to Shaw clinging to her cross and the motif of the virgin birth flipped on its head - that few viewers could have failed to grasp the unsubtle faith versus science conflict Shaw's character is faced with. Prometheus feels as if it doesn't quite know what to do with all these ideas - or indeed, which one to focus on. The sequel should settle on one that it is able to explain coherently - one which casts aside the red herrings and apparent MacGuffins and delivers a solid mythology.