"Sometimes to create, one must first destroy."

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2014)

Why are we here? What put us here? How far will we be willing to go to find these answers? These are some of the questions that Prometheus raises. Whilst it may not always give us the answers to these questions, the journey to find them is exciting and visually stunning, blending these elements with a thrilling story.
Just like Alien before it, this film sees a crew of a spaceship discovering far off alien life. The key difference being they set out to discover it to find their creators. It is because of this goal that each of their personalities begin to play a significant role. Raspace's character is religious, hoping to find her creator to answer her questions on life. Fassenbender's android who appears to desire the knowledge of what it means to be human. Then there's Theron whose motivations remain an enigma throughout the film, but works towards the gain of a corporation. This range of personalities allows the films themes to be explored more in depth with the conflicting views giving more perspectives on the issue.
But whilst these perspectives help to raise more questions in the birth of life, at the same time offers very few answers. Much of the film is left either ambiguous or with little to no explanation. But I think I prefer it without the answers. It leaves more to the viewer to consider these meanings rather than spoon feeding the audience its own. Since there is a sequel planned, maybe some of these questions might be answered. But as a stand alone film, it's still an interesting theme detailing mankind's fascination with the journey to find the meaning of life rather than answering the question.
Saying this there are areas of the story that do let the film down. For example Fassenbenders character is probably one of the films most interesting, but we don't receive enough information about his side of the story making his arc feel more incomplete. Also juggling so many different characters makes the whole narrative feel like a mess at points. So many plot lines are dropped such as a relationship between Idris and Theron that doesn't seem to have any reason for a presence in the film. But luckily the films stronger plot lines based around themes make up for it.
The biggest selling point of this film was that it was Ridley Scott back in Sci Fi. And once again Scott shows us why he is one of the masters of the genre. He creates futuristic worlds like no other, stretching from vast landscapes of other worlds to the detailed insides of a spaceships that create a detailed image of a future lifestyle. Unlike most modern directors who use VFX too much, Scott doesn't let them take over the film. Whilst they are used we still get a lot of decent practical effects with both blending together to create both beautiful and original designs. Both the aliens and the landscape blend realistically together to create some incredible imagery that explores the films theme of life and the development of technology.
On top of the interesting themes, Prometheus constantly remains exciting through many intense scenes taking place in a range of landscapes. There are some brilliant moments of both horror and action in a mixture of environments. Some in the futuristic environments of the space ships. Others in the dark caves that they are searching in. There are even a few moments in the more open and barren landscapes between the two locations. It's this range of locations that keeps these scenes interesting by keeping the action varied ranging from the dark, claustrophobic caves where anything can be hiding in the dark to the landscapes where you can't hide and may only run.
Whilst it's not his greatest contribution to Sci Fi and has a few flaws with its narrative, Scott shows that he's still got the skill to create one of the most realistic portraits of the future put to film. He realistically simulates every detail of future life on the spaceship from methods of surgery to the androids. Prometheus is a flare of originality in a genre that has become stale and repetitive that will hopefully get a sequel some time soon.