Prometheus and the God of Scripture
A. God.
Q. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.
Q. Why did God make you and all things?
A. For his own glory.
Q. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
The Catechism for Young Children begins with life’s most fundamental question: “Who made you?” It follows that with several simple Scriptural truths, presented in a question-and-answer format. The document’s teaching on humanity’s origins is believed by Christians the world over.
Prometheus is a two-hours-plus, in-your-face challenge to those teachings. A prequel to director Ridley Scott’s Alien from 1979, Prometheus is the work of the same director. Scott, known for being a visual stylist, brings his pristine imagery to this widescreen, 3D spectacle. But the director is let down by screenwriters Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Their script raises its own questions about the origins of mankind, but its answers don’t rise to the level of profundity found in an average episode of the old Star Trek TV series—not to mention biblical truth.
The year is 2089, and Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have come across ancient cave paintings in Scotland. The images on the cave’s walls match other drawings found on separate continents. Collectively, the images hint at the origins of human creation, but questions linger. “I think they want us to come and find them,” Shaw concludes about the beings that inspired the paintings.
So they embark on a mission to seek out their Maker. Funded by a man named Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce, in embarrassingly poor old-age makeup), Shaw and Holloway lead a crew aboard the scientific exploratory vehicle Prometheus to a distant moon. Among the team are corporate overseer Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman), ship captain Janek (Idris Elba, Thor) and android David (Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre).
Once on the planet, the crew finds a labyrinth of tunnels that lead to a detached, “remarkably human” head that they whisk back to the ship while a planetary storm rages. This tense, astronauts-against-the-elements sequence is a nice payoff after the slow tension buildup inPrometheus, culminating in findings that are disturbing both on the visual and philosophical levels.
Those philosophical issues are potent stuff, but after raising questions about whether it’s possible to reconcile traditional Christian faith, or even Darwinism, with Prometheus’ thesis, the film settles into a man-versus-aliens battle. The highlight, so to speak, of this carnage is an admittedly vivid and horrifying self-conducted Cesarean section that will likely be “the scene” that fans of the film mention first when discussing Prometheus.
The special effects in Prometheus rise to the level of what we expect from a summer blockbuster, although there isn’t much in the film that we haven’t already seen in Alien and its sequel, Aliens. Rapace holds her own , but it’s Theron’s icy Vickers and Elba’s laid-back Janek who give the film some much needed (if too infrequent) humor. While the human characters fight about corporate influence and business ethics, it’s Fassbender’s David, ironically, who conveys the most anguish about the implications of the crew’s mission to learn about the origins of life.
It all makes Prometheus a sleek-looking lie. Although the story has good performances from Fassbender, Theron and Elba, its story is a slap in the face to believers in a divine Creator.Prometheus wants to be more than a slick entertainment, but for all its filmmaking sophistication, the movie’s message can’t match the simple clarity of The Catechism for Young Children. If you’re looking for truth, you’ll find it in that document. If you’re interested only in a few summer chills, Prometheus delivers some effective moments. But consider yourself warned: This film doesn’t respect what you believe; it respects only the money you’ll spend on a ticket.
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