Prometheus
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce
Director: Ridley Scott
Reviewed by Danielle Muir

[rating:3.5/5]

As soon as I heard the words ‘this will make you question god’ emerge from Ridley Scott’s mouth, I braced myself.  I feel like I was promised a film that would make me sit up and marvel at the profoundness of the content, an exploration into the human condition and dissecting in depth the all-encompassing origins of mankind.  I didn’t expect to believe it in my own physical reality, but rather in the universe to which I was presented.

Unfortunately, I am yet to experience such a reaction.

Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) is a scientist heading up an expedition to a planet she believes houses the key to discovering the meaning of our existence.  Reaching their destination on board the Prometheus, the crew venture into a new world – only to discover that the answers they so desperately seek may also spell the key to destruction of everything they know.

I won’t go into TOO much detail about the plot because that defeats the purpose of the entire story – knowing what really did create the humans in that world.  However, don’t expect any sort of closure on the subject.  You will only be disappointed.

The cast have good chemistry and you have your stereotypical personalities in there (the mean one, the class clown, the one who has a ‘bad feeling about everything’) but one of the disconcerting things is that there are actually so many others on board the ship who generally pop up once and that’s it.  We’re told at the start there’s 17 – but we only really know about 8 or 9.  It leaves you to question – who else is on board?  What other poor souls have been dragged into the chaos, or do they not matter.  It just seemed odd.

The visual side is absolutely stunning, and there are definitely some images which will burn deep in your retinas for a while.  The world itself is engulfed in beautiful blues and greys, as harsh as it is mesmerising as the opening shots illustrate.

So in short, I went in probably expecting too much, but I feel that wasn’t entirely my fault – I was led to believe that by the marketing team and Ridley himself.  However, it’s a good film.  But I left the cinema feeling highly unsatisfied.

Maybe they’re saving the explosive stuff for Prometheus 2.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.