Lives up to the hype

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2012)

Rarely have I anticipated a film as much as this; and having seen it I am devouring every trailer and clip I can find on the Web. First impressions,which will hopefully remain on a second viewing, are that it's Ridley's best work since Gladiator; visually it's beautiful, with very subtle 3D and some awesome set pieces; plot wise it's teasing and intriguing, deliberately leaving loose ends and ambivalences, especially in the motivations of Daavid (makers obviously want a sequel); acting is first rate, especially Rapace, Fassbender and Theron; and best of all it's a proper science fiction epic, with grandiose ambitions, closer to 2001 than Alien, but with enough nods to the latter to be realistically in the same universe. It's not an Alien reboot, it's a Prometheus first boot, and here'e hoping Ridley can be persuaded to do the next one. If Prometheus 2 sounds a bit rubbish, how about Icarus?