Legendary filmmaker James Cameron didn’t hold back when asked his thoughts on Prometheus, and the man behind Avatar echoed many popular sentiments regarding the alien prequel. Cameron first gained notice in the mid-1980s with the release of The Terminator, and he quickly established himself as one of the biggest names in the post-New Hollywood generation. The cyberpunk classic wasn’t his only foray into sci-fi in that decade, and Cameron would help reinvent the Alien franchise when he helmed the action-oriented sequel film, Aliens, in 1986.

While Cameron would only stick around for one installment in the science fiction and horror universe, his vision for Aliens was just what was needed to build upon the ideas explored in Ridley Scott’s nightmarish original. After Aliens, though, the Alien series would hit a number of challenges, and failed to reinvent itself as the years wore on. However, Ridley Scott returned to his creation for 2012’s Prometheus, though the results were not particularly well-received. James Cameron seems to understand what made the first two Alien movies work so well, and he proved as much in his thoughts on Prometheus.

James Cameron Thought Prometheus Was “Interesting” But “Didn’t Add Up Logically”

Cameron Was Honest In His Reddit AMA

In 2014, James Cameron took to Reddit to participate in an “Ask Me Anything” discussion with fans. Naturally, the conversation quickly turned to the franchises that he was previously a part of, and his thoughts on Alien‘s sequel were a H๏τ topic. Cameron was asked what he thought about the prequel’s contributions to the Alien mythos, and he gave an informative, if a bit diplomatic, answer. After complimenting the film’s visuals, Cameron concluded by saying “it didn’t add up logically.“ His review is quite informative, even if he really didn’t answer the direct question.

Cameron is far from the first person to say that Ridley Scott’s Prometheus was confusing and illogical, but he did acknowledge that he thought it was better than the previous two installments. While that is a somewhat low bar to clear, it’s telling that he didn’t exactly answer the question as it was asked. Prometheus‘ contributions to the Alien story arc are extremely complicated, and even the film series itself has largely chosen to ignore that chapter in favor of narrative clarity and more of a direct horror approach.

Prometheus Was Indeed An Interesting Movie With A Lot Of Flaws

A Lack Of Logic Is What Ultimately Sinks The Prequel

As an installment in the larger Alien franchise, Prometheus is something of the odd-man-out. All the movies before and after have had somewhat streamlined narratives, though the series has notably jumped genres on more than one occasion. James Cameron was perfectly right when he said the ideas in Prometheus were interesting, but that the execution was ultimately illogical and hard to understand. Motivation is really where the prequel fails, and each decision seems to be motivated by a lack of logic as opposed to any logical thought process.

Paying billions of dollars to travel across the galaxy for answers about the origins of human life is an idea that could make sense, except that it willfully ignores real-life scientific discoveries regarding humanity’s origins. If the movie had gone further in explaining how the petroglyphs contradict accepted science, it would make Weyland Co.’s expedition a bit more understandable. Overall, the movie forces its characters to make poor decisions in order for the plot to happen, which isn’t a sign of a particularly strong screenplay.

James Cameron Still Liked Prometheus Better Than Alien 3 & Alien: Resurrection

The Filmmaker Appreciated The Prequel More

Despite knocking Prometheus, James Cameron still mentioned that he preferred the prequel over the preceding sequels. After he directed Aliens, the franchise took a nosedive with the release of Alien 3, and it got even worse with Alien: Resurrection. While Alien 3 at least tried to tell a compelling story but was lost in a myriad of re-writes and changes, Alien: Resurrection was the first time that an Alien movie felt obligatory. The fourquel was forced to make some hasty story decisions in order to keep Sigourney Weaver in the movie, and it ultimately failed to add anything new.

The standalone Alien film franchise includes:

Besides just being a superior movie in its technical execution, Prometheus also likely scored points with Cameron because it tried to do something new. As he mentioned in other moments during his AMA, Cameron’s philosophy regarding sequels is that it must be justified, and Prometheus goes a long way in checking that box. Cameron himself has lived up to that with Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. A big swing that misses is almost always more compelling than an overworked and safe concept that doesn’t take any risks.