Sir Ridley back on top form in a visually stunning return to the Alien-verse he invented

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2012)

Prometheus: When is an Alien movie not an Alien movie?
The 1979 original has its DNA liberally sprinkled throughout Ridley Scott's triumphant return to the Sci-Fi genre that made him a household name. Let's get this straight, this is not a revamp of the old and already much copied Alien, this is a completely new story arc that predates the Nostromo's crew by approx 40 years.
Prometheus has some very surprising and enigmatic plot elements that keep you asking yourself questions such as 'what, why and when' and even deeper metaphysical queries. Whilst at the same time keeping some familiar visual elements that will make you feel like your in a part of space and time your have visited before. Certainly the sets (real ones for a change no green screen bland spaces here, the film is better for it!)of the new ship certainly tip their hat in the originals direction with the largely glazed cockpit, ceiling mounted central consoles and heavy duty airlock style doors in corridors with generously padded walls are all reminiscent of the styling bench mark set back in '79. These however are on a new state of the art ship and not a tired old tug boat like the Nostromo, so it has a little more of the Gucci factor about it whilst being somehow the same yet different design.
Once we meet our stellar neighbours (or are they our space faring forbears?) in response to what Shaw and her partner believe to be ancient invitations found all over the earth the sets again will look very familiar to any fans of the Alien franchise. The internals of the mysterious structures being exactly like H R Giger's original 'bone wall' designs, this is an obvious intentional move to let you know you may have seen some of this or something very closely related before. So once you see it you know the proverbial shite is about to hit the extractor! Of particular note to Alien fans are the domes they find on the barren world, they bare what must be more than a striking resemblance to Giger's never used designs for alien egg silo's on LV426. Sadly these were cut from Alien in pre-production due to financial reasons, somehow I don't think cost was an issue this time around as the scope of the vistas are simply huge.
The cast are all excellent in their roles (however small or large) with my only niggle being that I found Noomi Rapace's (Dr. Shaw) faux Brit accent a little annoying at times when her native Swedish was trying to escape. Other players of note include the perennially excellent and almost ever present in films at the moment Michael Fassbender who is brilliantly subtle with the peculiarities and mannerisms of his android character 'David'. Fans of BBC1 cop show 'Luther' will also be impressed with Idris Elba's portrayal of the stoically old school and down to earth ships captain 'Janek'. Charlize Theron is dependable as ever (certainly easy on the eye too!) as the cold and humourless company rep 'Meredith Vickers' who seems to have a hidden agenda of her own reminding me instantly of 'Carter J Burke' from 'Aliens' with her single minded ruthless devotion to do the job.
All in all a brilliantly crafted movie by the old master from North Shields, visually stunning with enough subtle clues to have old fans feeling at home in the new world as they start on a completely new story with a totally different foe. However the ending does lend itself unsubtly to yet another prequel/sequel franchise, as we are introduced to a new life form that may just very well be the genesis of everyone's favourite acid blooded Xenomorph.
Pros: Stunning visuals with Scott's use of light and shadow within the cinematography being flawless as ever. Real sets on a huge scale, adds that touch of realism and class. Nice to see actors interacting with the set like it's a real environment and not simply pretending to be in one! The cast, all excellent (with a few quibbles)as already stated. Pacing, very much like Alien with the way it draws you in slowly with character exposition before assaulting your senses for the final 3rd.
Cons: Leaves you wanting to know more about the 'Space Jockeys' and what they were actually up to (WMD's etc). The scene where David interacts and speaks with the survivor is particularly troubling as subtitles would have explained so much more than we were actually seeing by reactions alone. Noomi Rapace, although she is very good in it, the accent grated on me by the end. I'm sure there are many talented Brit's that could have portrayed the part just as well in their native tongue. Not a horror, don't go if you're a gore fiend, this is more Sci-Fi thriller than slasher (probably better for it though, truth be told).
Very, very good - 8.5 / 10