A welcome addition to Alien franchise

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2012)

What starts as a visual spectacle quickly transforms to an action packed thriller tightly binding the story thread abruptly cut off by the 'Alien' movie and even created a strong central female character in Noomi Rapace similar to Ellen Ripley. Treatment of this edition is actually a hybrid of both his own and Cameron's versions combining slow building suspense with high octane action sequences. Though the theory of alien life influencing/creating human life was used in some earlier movies (most notably 2001: A space odyssey and Contact), this one too doesn't do too bad for itself.
An exploration team is assembled by a wealthy but dying old man Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) to find the origin of human life after a scientist couple (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) figure out the location of a planet in a different galaxy placed in a solar system similar to ours. This mission is commanded by Weyland's daughter Ms. Vickers (Charlize Theron) with the help of a droid David (Michael Fassbender). Soon after landing, they find the remains of an exterminated race of species similar to humans but much larger in size. While investigating the cause of their death, they encounter the life form which terrified humans in the next supposed four sequels.
Thank God Ridley Scott didn't bring back that ridiculous central computer 'Mother' that annoyed me crazy in the Alien franchise. Noomi Rapace delivers an excellent performance that has shades of similarity to Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley character (mostly from Alien 2 onwards). While Alien was considered innovative for its time, Prometheus definitely misses that awe element, though there was some promise and content in the first few minutes. Ridley Scott is a veteran of science fiction genre and a pioneer of this franchise, so he exudes confidence in his story and screenplay. Fassbender gives a controlled and apt performance and is definitely the best humanoid so far in this franchise. Background score does not standout, presentation is slick and the dialogs are at times cheesy.
What I liked about this movie: 1. A storyline that stays true to the Alien franchise 2. The interior visuals of the Alien ship is matched inch to inch with the original 3. Noomi Rapace's strong performance 4. Climax What could have been better: 1. How the characters Fifield and Milburn die 2. Guy Pearce's make up 3. Closure of a few more threads 4. Shaw's climax motives and motivation
It is neither as poetic nor has that chilling thriller element of 'Alien' but is definitely a welcome addition to the franchise with its spectacular visuals, tight connection with the original storyline and a fast paced screenplay.
PS: After seeing most Alien franchise fans being so disappointed about story being in disarray or its too blockbuster type, the main reason is that Alien movie is too hyped up inside our heads and any shortcoming in this is magnified. If we go back and have another look at the Alien movie, I am sure to find so many glitches there too.