Finely...science fiction without superheros!

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2012)

Finely an intelligent science fiction movie this year. This one will make you think, and it is somewhat disturbing. The performances are excellent and the characters are complex. There are likable characters and there are unlikable characters. I certainly appreciated the levity in the movie as well. Most of all, and this is important, it isn't what you would expect.
This is not really a prequel to Alien and it seems more in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a complete contrast to the former. The plot is complex, not as simple as Alien. The menace in this movie comes in a more insidious form, more like a disease than a creature, and the many ulterior motives of certain members of the crew. And very few questions are answered, maintaining the mystery.
There seem to be a lot of naysayers concerning this movie, most complaining about plot and characters. They are all wrong. One reason being is they came into it believing it to be something it wasn't: a clone of Alien with all the answers to the questions brought up in that movie. This it is not. I've heard and read that the characters are not worth caring about. That is all personal choice. You choose to care about a character or not based on your own judgment of them. There is here considerably more character development than in Alien.
The naysayers are simply angry that they didn't get the movie they wanted. And some people simply can't understand this movie. One individual I know, who considers himself highly intelligent, actually believed that the setting was the same planet as in Alien. If you pay attention you will find this not the case.
I have seen this movie four times, that is how much I enjoyed it. I have seen no plot holes or any serious inconsistencies with the movie Alien, just a relatively original story. There are of course some similarities to other stories in science fiction, but most of these are still in print (Alien itself was borrowed form many stories).
Best to check out this movie with an open mind instead of going to see 'the movie that happens before Alien'.