Prometheus

In space, no one can hear you ponder the origins of life.

Sorry, wrong tagline.  But Alien director Ridley Scott returns to the franchise for a unique tour-de-force that is both philosophical and—at times—freaky.  A group of archaeologists including lovers Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green, respectively); David (Michael Fassbender, in a standout performance); Meredith Vickers, an employee of the Weyland Corporation sent to monitor the expedition (Charlize Theron); Janek, captain of the titular ship (Idris Elba), along with a couple of mad (read: just plain dumb) scientists (Sean Harris and Rafe Spall) investigate a series of star maps.  They believe that this is an invitation from the Engineers, a race of creatures they suspect may be responsible for the creation of humankind.

Like Scott’s original masterpiece, there is a crew of scientists who land on a remote planet, send out a search party and—spoiler warning!—it all goes to hell.  Unlike that movie, though, this one raises some interesting questions regarding mankind’s origins—and if the Engineers were even responsible in the first place.  Rapace’s Shaw is a woman of faith, and—when challenged by another character with these musings—she inquires, “And who created them?”  Yes, the question of God’s existence is certainly brought up here, making for some interesting dialogue.  It should also be noted that Prometheus is also, of course, the Greek god who stole the Fires of Olympus from Zeus, and was punished by being made mortal.  Prometheus (the movie) has quite a few twists and turns, and I’m not going to spoil any of them, but I will just say that that overt reference to Greek mythology is no accident.

But let’s not kid ourselves: this is very much an Alien prequel as well, and as such it shares quite a bit of the same acidic DNA.  It’s no spoiler, really, to say that not every crew member makes it off the ship alive, and there are some truly horrifying sequences here.  Rapace and Fassbender bring particularly strong performances to the table.  The latter, as mentioned, especially stands out in his role as the curious android with sinister intent.  Scott’s signature style returns to bring us a blend of sci-fi and horror, and the results are both beautiful and bloody.

Unfortunately, not everything about this bold prequel works. Prometheus frustratingly leaves many questions unanswered, so much so that it begs for a sequel. Not all the performances, sadly, are so strong, and some of the characters are just plain dumb, walking right into close encounters that you can see a mile away (but they inexplicably can’t). More than one character is left shrouded in mystery—and that’s not a good thing, considering the significance of at least one of them. However, I must still give credit where credit is due: Scott was able to infuse a fresh idea in an aging franchise. Whether or not audiences like his approach is for them to decide.

★★★ out of four

Rated R for sci-fi violence including some intense images, and brief language.

2 hours, 4 minutes.