Very Good Sci-Fi for Adults

Rating: Null/10 (14 June 2012)

Prometheus (2012)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ridley Scott's sci-fi/drama centers on a group of explorers who head out on a mission to another planet to try and see if they can discover who or what created life. I'll admit that I haven't been the greatest supporter of Scott over the years and I'll admit that this genre isn't always my favorite but I think it's clear that the director and genre go perfectly well together and PROMETHEUS is quite an achievement. I guess you could say that this here was one of the most anticipated movies to come out in quite a while and I think for the most part that it met most of its demand, although I'm sure repeat viewings will help it. I think what made the film so special to me is the fact that it was a real throwback to when sci-fi movies didn't have to be all special effects and no story. It seems for the past couple decades the majority of films in this genre have had zero brains and instead they've been replaced with loud explosions and poor CGI effects. This film here is pretty much all story, although those other elements are certainly on hand. I think it's clear that Scott wanted to take his time letting the viewers get to know the characters as well as making sure he could build up the actual story of what could be the end of Earth. All of the characters are extremely well detailed and thankfully so is the main story. The movie really does ask a lot of questions about the past, present and future situation of humans and I think the film does a very good job at letting the viewer make up their own minds. The screenplay is extremely well-written and perfectly gets all of the themes across. The performances are also exceptionally good with Noomi Rapace doing an excellent job in the lead role. She can perfectly play that strong female lead but also give emotion to the character. Charlize Theron is also very good in her role of the ship's leader who might just be hiding a few secrets of her own. Guy Pearce is also in good form even though he doesn't appear for too long. I think the real stand out was Michael Fassbender who plays a robot. Often these type of movies use CGI or some sort of stunt to give an actor a more robotic features but that's not the case here. The entire role is 100% acting and Fassbender does a terrific job and I sure think that it will stand up to being one of the best of the year. It's quite original, authentic and incredible believable considering he's playing an emotionless robot. The visual style of the film is also very impressive and especially the opening bits that really set up the mood of the film. The stuff dealing with the planet was also beautiful to see and the futuristic computers and visuals were also extremely well done. The models used for the aliens were quite good as well. I would say that I wasn't overly impressed with the 3D in the movie so I think saving money on the regular version would be just fine. PROMETHEUS is a film that doesn't try to dumb itself down for more mainstream appeal and instead it delivers good, R-rated adult entertainment. It makes you think with its story and makes sure that the story remains it's main goal. While the film falls short of being perfect I think it's certainly something original and something we haven't seen in a long time.