A masterpiece that will be examined and analyzed as classic science fiction always should be for many decades to come!

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2012)

'PROMETHEUS': Five Stars (Out of Five)
Director Ridley Scott's long awaited prequel to his classic 1979 sci-fi horror film 'ALIEN'. The film is not a traditional prequel as it takes the popular franchise in an entirely new direction and actually does very little towards building towards the first 'ALIEN' film. It does set up a possible new prequel trilogy (if the films continue to do well financially) and I think this prequel series will be a lot more interesting and fan pleasing than George Lucas's. The film was written by Damon Lindelof (head writer and co-creator of 'LOST') and Jon Spaihts and stars Noomi Rapace (the original 'GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO'), Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron (in another deliciously villainous role, following 'SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN' just last week), Idris Elba and Logan Marshall-Green. The movie is nothing like what I was expecting and is an incredibly lot to digest but I can say it's without a doubt a masterpiece that will be examined and analyzed as classic science fiction always should be for many decades to come.
Rapace stars as Shaw and Marshall-Green co-stars as her lover Charlie Holloway, a team of archaeologists who find a 'star map', in a cave on Earth in 2089, that they see as an invitation to meet mankind's makers. They find funding for an expedition, from the elder CEO of Weyland Corp. (Guy Pearce), and begin a mission to a far away moon named LV-223 (where they believe the map is taking them). They travel in cryofreeze aboard a spaceship called Prometheus, while being watched over by an android named David (Fassbender), and arrive at their destination in 2093. The crew is awakened and Shaw and Holloway inform them of their goal, to an uneasy response of course. They then enter a large structure they land next to on the moon and what they find inside changes the world and life as we know it forever more.
The movie is full of biblical references and high concept philosophical ideas. I found it to be quite a new and original take on the 'where do we come from' story premise; kind of like a science fiction version of last year's 'THE TREE OF LIFE'. It asks a lot of questions that it doesn't answer but that's in large part because it's waiting for the sequels to do that. I look forward to them and really hope James Cameron writes and directs the next one (or maybe co-writes it with Lindelof). Cameron had a strong interest in doing the original prequel several years ago but when the studio opted to do an 'ALIEN VS. PREDATOR' film instead he thought it would forever kill the validity of the series and gave up hope. The script is brilliant, thanks in large part to Lindelof's rewrite. Originally it was written as just a straightforward prequel but then Scott and Lindelof decided to do something different with it, which ultimately disappointed a lot of the die-hard horror monster movie fans. Classic 'thinking man' sci-fi fans will love it though. Scott's directing is superb and the visuals are astonishing (the 3D works beautifully as well). It's a little too serious and cold but characters like Elba's 'Janek' do liven the film up. Fassbender probably gives the best performance of the movie in the most interesting role but Rapace does rival Sigourney Weaver as the action heroine lead. Of course Theron is beautiful and superb once again as well. The characters aren't quite as developed or likable as Cameron's 'ALIENS', which is one of the reasons that film is my favorite of the franchise. I'd put this one right up there with the original though. It's one of those movies that creates a ton of conversation and leaves a lot for the viewer to think about (you always have to give a film a lot of credit for that!). Scott's return to sci-fi should please any true fan as well as fan's of the franchise. Let's hope they do something equally impressive for the next installment.
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