Prometheus (2012)

Theatrical Poster
Source: Wikipedia

In 2093 a scientific mission is sent to find out the human origin.

In 2089, archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover various sets of ancient paintings that appear to be a map of a distant galaxy.

Four years later the couple head a scientific mission to the centre of the map funded by Weyland Corporation, and especially its elderly owner Peter Weyland, under the guidance of mission director Meredith Vickers (Cherlize Theron).

There the crew finds a mysterious structure with strange cylindrical objects. As some of the crew start to disappear, Shaw begins to wonder if the map was really the invitation she interpreted it to be.

Prometheus is a big film. After walking out of the screen at the local Odeon I felt like I had been part of a big event - Prometheus is a film that touches every sense in the body. My ears were thoroughly overwhelmed by the deep bass, and my eyes were treated to a stunning pre-population earth followed by a slick foreign planet.

At heart, its a prequel to the Alien franchise from the man that started it all - Ridley Scott. As Ridley will no doubt explain it's not a true sequel in that none of the main characters from his 1979 classic feature in Prometheus, and as such Prometheus could fork and create its own franchise. It is set in the same universe, however, and many comparisons can be drawn.

Of course, with a film using as big effects as this, it should fail with pathetic acting or a storyline that would confuse even the most imaginative person. Happily, Prometheus isn't poor in either of these departments.

Sure, the story is often marginally off the scale of realism - an entire planet to explore, and the ship pulls up right next to where it is all about to kick off or Shaw's miraculous recovery from the effects of anaesthetics are just two examples - but you mustn't forget that this is a science fiction saga and these discrepancies can easily be waived off with an explanation of advanced technology. Where it does succeed though is in keeping the audience on their toes with countless scenes of action backed right on to each other.

The acting has its merits too. Ridley Scott is intelligent with this and by having each character's role distinctly categorised (science, navigation, muscle and Weyland), each actor sticks to their own role and nothing goes wrong. A special mention should go to Michael Fassbender as David, the android. He picks up from Ash's legacy in Alien and offers a brilliant emotionally-detached robot with his own hidden agenda.

Overall this, like Avatar before it, is a film that needs to be seen in the cinema to get the most out of it. There is more than enough to keep you interested whilst exploding your senses like popcorn.