Sir Ridley Scott’s long-awaited project, Prometheus, gives science fiction movie fans the classic formula that he helped define over three decades ago-a formula that has been arguably missing in science fiction films as of late.
With an all-star cast including Noomi Rapace, known for playing the lead character in the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Michael Fassbender (300), Logan Marshall-Greene, Idris Elba (American Gangster), and Academy-Award winner Charlize Theron (Monster), Prometheus gives you stunning visual effects, a bone chilling soundtrack and plot twists that keep you locked into the screen for the two-and-a-half hour thrill ride from the very beginning.
Documenting the events that precede the classic Alien trilogy of the early 80s and 90s, the first of said movies directed by Scott, Prometheus tells the story of archaeologist couple Shaw (Rapace) and Holloway (Greene), and their discoveries of what they call “star maps”, believing that the origins of mankind were born on another planet, which they travel to in the spaceship Prometheus. As time passes, events on Prometheus begin to take a turn for the worse, and the new mission is revealed: survive.
Although the acting from all actors involved is to be celebrated, the two performances that really stand out are Rapace’s portrayal of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, and Fassbender’s portray of the eerily humanlike and expert basketball playing android David. David, who despite his extreme intelligence and intellect, admittedly lacked a soul and conscience, something that comes into play about halfway into the story. Fassbender’s portrayal of David continues the Alien movie franchise tradition of making the non-human character one of the most memorable and standout characters in the film.
Despite Fassbender’s wonderful portrayal of David, it doesn’t quite stack up to Rapace’s surprising performance as Dr. Shaw, which is eerily similar to that of Sigourney Weaver’s lead character of Ellen Ripley in the Alien trilogy, giving you a strong but smart female hero that, outside of the recent Hunger Games film adaptation, has been missing in cinema. Theron’s ice-cold, almost Monster-like portrayal of corporation supervisor Meredith Vickers and Elba’s almost comedic relief turned unexpected hero and ship captain Janek round out the exceptional acting quality that will surely not go unnoticed
by critics.
Definitely not for the squeamish at heart, Prometheus does invoke questions from the moviegoer at the end of the movie, which is definitely part of a good movie going experience from a financial standpoint for the moviemaker and philosophical standpoint for the viewer. Even though some holes in the plot and motivations for certain character actions are unexplained and undeveloped, Prometheus gives the moviegoer the stunningly visual and auditory experience that one would expect from a science-fiction fantasy movie.
