PROMETHEUS

Prometheus (2012)
Grade: B
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba
PREMISE: A team of scientists looking to solve an ancient riddle about humanity's origins comes into contact with more than one potentially-lethal alien species.

RATED R for blood, gore and creature violence, sequences of terror, disturbing images, language and brief sexual content

Love the Alien movies? Want to see another movie set in the world(s) of facehuggers and chestbursters and extra terrestrial beings that have incinerating acid for blood? Then this might just be the movie for you. Directed by Ridley Scott, the Oscar-nominated maestro of the classic, original Alien (1979), Prometheus has moments of magic that will greatly appeal to anyone (like me) who obsessed over Alien and its five sequels (yes, I'm counting the sub-par Alien vs. Predator movies in that count). However, it's also unnecessarily convoluted, appearing, by film's end, to introduce about five different alien species and even some primitive (or is it advanced?) sub-humans that may or may not be working for the aliens. Named for the Greek demi-god who brought fire to humans and was punished for it, Prometheus is a film that doesn't answer every question but still registers as a heck of an entertainment.

Plot: After finding yet another millenia-old cave drawing suggesting early human civilizations were assisted, or, even, created, by extraterrestrial species, paleontologist sweethearts Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) find themselves spearheading an expedition to a distant, potentionally life-sustaining planet near the end of the 21st century. Their "find our creators" agenda is considered hogwash by Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), a tough-as-nails government employee overseeing the crew of 14 other humans and an android, the infallible David (Michael Fassbender). But once their ship (the Prometheus) touches down on the targeted planet, they begin investigating a series of domelike structures that practically have Intelligent Design written all over them. Within hours, they find hieroglyphics, statues, hologram recordings, and even a decapitated alien corpse. But when their team is split up during a devastating interstellar storm, a few of them encounter some unfriendly critters. Another is infected by alien bacteria, and the statues and hieroglyphics begin stirring, yielding some real, monstrous creatures. With the body count mounting, the crew's survivors are forced to look to David, and his advanced, non-human intellect, to save them.

What Works?
Any movie fan worth their salt knows that Scott's original Alien-as well as the first sequel, James Cameron's Aliens (1986)-are considered masterpieces of suspense and pacing, allowing you get to know the characters and their agendas but also delivering the goods in the way of action and horror. That's certainly the case here, as the first hour, while effective, is mostly setting the table for what is to come. Rapace, Fassbender, and Marshall-Green are all great, giving us characters we care about, and, in some cases, fear. Rapace (Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series) is rock-solid as the soulful heart of the film, going through a wrenching crisis of faith and bearing witness to a spectacular dissection in what ought to go down as one of the most vividly terrifying and original scenes in movie history. Fassbender, with his lightly chiseled face and calm voice, is perfect as David, making the mixed-motive android his own while also evoking Ian Holm's Ash from the original. The special effects are all great, the most important action is not filmed in shaky-cam or unnecessarily-dark styles, and the story keeps you in your seat from beginning to end.

What Doesn't Work?
As I mentioned earlier in this review, Prometheus doesn't answer every question the audience will have. Not even close. A vivid, wordless prologue that sets the tone for the story is never explained, and neither are a number of other things, such as: how many aliens are there, what are the space jockey's motives (check Google for an explanation of what the "space jockey" is), what relation do these aliens have to early humans, and how did the scientists find out about this particular planet in the first place? It's frustrating, because, while the movie pulls you in and holds your interest, questions start arising in your mind, and, afterward, you can list things on your fingers that weren't adequately explained. Also, proven talents Theron and Elba (as the ship's captain) are largely wasted, and Guy Pearce is shoehorned in late in an unlikely cameo. And, in a development that's always hard for these sorts of movies to avoid, many of the deaths (by characters both important and non) are pretty obviously foreshadowed.

Content: Remember the Alien movies? There's profanity, blood, gore, guts, dismemberment, severed limbs, and screaming bloody murder. Very rated R and sure to unsettle more than a few adults, Prometheus is a tense, dark exercise.

Bottom Line (I Promise): There are plenty of plot holes and cliche developments, but the ending leaves you wanting more: Prometheus is a generally smart and satisfying summer entertainment that sci-fi fans should love.

Prometheus (2012)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindleof
Length: 124 minutes
Rated R