Tied into the franchise, unecessarily

Rating: Null/10 (3 September 2018)

In the beginning was 'Alien', a brutally effective thriller about space exploration, killer aliens and treacherous androids. Then there are 'Aliens', a campier but still classy sequel. Then, sadly inevitably, a near-endless series of successively worse follow-ups. But in 'Prometheus', original director Ridley Scott re-takes the helm for a kind of prequel. Scott is good at this sort of thing, and he cleverly leverages the expected thrills in what is nonetheless an original plot. But at times it's confusing, as the story of the killer monsters is coupled with another one about intelligent, and humanoid, life. Or, to put it another way, this movie might work perfectly well on its own without our familiar favourite enemies even making an appearance. It's still a better than average sci-fi tale; but perhaps one that could have stood on its own.