A great film!

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2012)

I'd been looking forward to Prometheus for as long as I'd been hearing news about Ridley Scott's return to science fiction films and any film set in the Alien universe is a celestial chorus to my ears. The marketing campaign was very well constructed and layered and apart from the one trailer where you thought you were sold the whole story, very solid.
Then the film was released, some said it was great science fiction, beautifully designed and directed, others said it was confusing, needlessly pompous and slow.
I finally got around to watching the film and I was utterly entertained.
I have to admit first that the film is no where near as scary as Alien, nor as intense and action filled as Aliens. However, that being said, I found it a gripping, intelligent and epic science fiction film that benefited hugely from Ridley Scott's calculated direction and a well picked cast that really do work well. Noomi Rapace is oddly un-Ripley-like (now a word) until the last act starts to play out, she's much more warm and inviting as a character. A frankly gender warped twist on the classic chestburster scene and she begins to become a fighter. The other cast, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron, Benedict Wong and Logan Marshall-Green all are a lot deeper than initially are characterised early on. However, it is left to my man-crush Michael Fassbender to show the world what a good actor is, his android David is a tour de force of physical performance and understated creepiness, not enough to be menacing or evil but he freaked me out in several spaces.
The plot is epic stuff but it does require a level of concentration and imagination to fill in the unanswered questions in the vein of many great science fiction films. It's not as clever a plot as you may have heard but you develop your own theories and ideas (or latch onto ones that fit better than your own) about what goes on. The only disappointment with the plot was really that it doesn't end as far towards the start of Alien as I was expecting, certainly the bit image from Alien I was hoping the film would replicate remained not shown.
Certainly the film looks great, the sets, CGI and technology all look great have this retro- fitted vibe from the Alien series where it looks usable and durable but not pretty or stylish for its own sake. There is more than enough gruesome bits too, not too often but when they do happen, you're aware of them. Again, there is no sheer outright terror like there is in Alien (Dallas in the ducts anyone?) but it had me at the edge of my seat several times.
All in all, my initial zealous excitement was tempered by several people telling me it was a huge disappointment. I am (personally) very happy to say I was not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed the film