Moroni's Review of "Prometheus"

I was old enough to remember the first movie in the "Alien" franchise.

Okay, I was nine years-old when it came out, and there is no way in hell my parents would let me go see a rated-R movie in the theater.  But three years later, this movie was ubiquitous on cable TV, and I watched it many, many times.

Now, the Alien  movies have had a significant impact on our culture, and we know the routine - the alien looks like an octopus, lays an egg in your chest, alien pops out of chest, and turns big and deadly.

But the first time I watched that movie, there was nothing like it.  You didn't know what to expect, and the morphology of the creature truly felt...  well, alien.  And unexpected.  The film was low budget, back in the day before there were big special effects.  The movie had to rely on good acting, suspense, and fleeting glimpses of the monster.  Much of the drama was left to your imagination.

Now jump 33 years into the future for the feature film "Prometheus".  It is no secret that this is a prequel to 1979's "Alien", and, once again, Ridley Scott is helming the project - one of my favorite directors.

My girls really didn't care to see this one, but they went with me, because they knew how much I wanted to see it.  So my feelings on it?  Kind of mixed.

Visually, the film is stunning.  The landscapes, the special effects, the cinematography - all of it very excellent.  In that way, the film blew me away.

The film tells the story of an archaelogical expedition to a faraway moon where evidence of an ancient civilization is located that might indicate the origins of the human species.  They locate evidence that this outpost met a horrific end, and soon that horror awakens and plagues the expedition.

The film truly captures the mystery and sense of the unknown that the first "Alien" film captured - the sense that we humans don't belong in outerspace, that we are out of our element, out of our domain, and that there are many nasty things out there that exist for no other reason than to do us bodily harm.

There was also a scene that will make any woman who has experienced pregnancy squirm.  My wife Temple spent most of the movie hiding behind her hands.

The acting was superb.  Noomi Rapace did an excellent job as the main character, Elizabeth Shaw.  Michael Fassbender as the andriod David stole the show.  Guy Pearce was unrecognizable in his prosthetics as the eccentric CEO of the Weyland Corp., a precursor to the amoral company that Ripley works for in the "Alien" franchise.  Charlize Theron had a disappointingly subdued role as the financier of the expedition - and daughter of Guy Pearce's character.  In fact, her role was the weakest link in the entire plot.  They really didn't explore it enough.

My biggest complaint was that they didn't explain everything.  The movie left you with more questions than answers.  When the movie ended, you felt vaguely dissatisfied with the way things turn out.

That doesn't mean that I don't recommend it.  And I truly hope that they will explore this prequel further to answer my unsettled questions.  Otherwise, "Prometheus" would become one hole in space.