Scott, who achieved most his commercial success after the cinematic debut of his Science Fiction thriller film “Alien” might best be known for his best picture Oscar winning film “Gladiator” (2000), “American Gangster” (2007) and “Black Hawk Down” (2001).
The movie invokes the age old questions of where do we come from and why are we here? The archeologist team and couple Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have found a star map on Earth which they believe will lead them to their answers. The crew of the spaceship Prometheus set out on their quest hoping to meet the creators of the human race.
The exploration is funded by the billionaire, CEO and owner of the Weyland Corporation, Peter Weyland. The crew is led by Captain Janek (Idris Elba) and company representative Meredith Vickers played by Charlize Theron. The crew consist of the robot synthetic David (Michael Fassbender) and Ford and Fifield who assist Shaw and Holloway and ship crew Ravel, Milburn and Chance.
The film takes place in a remote part of the galaxy on the distant moon LV-223 in the year 2093. The crew of the Prometheus arrives at their destination and land near a structure which they immediately begin to search for their creators, which they call “The Engineers”.
Inside the structure, the crew quickly discovers that something has killed the former inhabitants of the moon. Soon creatures within the structure start to attack the search party. Within days several of the crew are either dead or missing and internal turmoil among the crew begin to surface as their mission begins to fail.
The acting in the movie is good by Sci-Fi standards. Michael Fassbender delivers an excellent performance as the robotic android David. Academy Award winner Theron is great as a cold, detached company man, whose secret is later revealed in the movie. Fassbender and Theron’s scenes together are intense and captivating to watch their characters interact.
Rapace is spectacular as the heroin of the movie. Rapace not only is convincing as the sensitive lover and scientist, she also commands the attention of the audience as she struggles through multiple adversaries to complete the mission. Rapace somehow maintains her sexual appeal even while having an emergency abortion of a parasite alien, which she performs herself.
The development of the film had been in the works since 2002, with Scott and James Cameron collaboration. This was derailed when 20th Century Fox announced the crossover movie “Alien vs. Predator” would debut in 2004. Cameron soon withdrew from the project and Scott shelved his prequel, until resuming the project in the fall of 2010.
Overall the movie was very entertaining. Being a huge Scott and Sci-Fi fan I really enjoyed trying to tie the Alien movies and concepts to Prometheus. The landscape and scenery in the movie are fantastic, with a beautiful alien planet that still seems realistic. The movie does set up for a sequel and may leave you with several unanswered questions, but when is that not the case in a good Sci-Fi.
