When this movie was announced a lot of fans of the Alien franchise of movies (at least those that came before the whole Alien vs. Predator thing) thought that they were finally getting a direct prequel to Ridley Scott's original Alien movie. Without spoiling anything too much, that is definitely NOT what this movie is. The movie is set in 2093, several years after a star map is discovered by scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) that hints at the origin of human life as created by "The Engineers", a race of superhuman aliens. Peter Weyland (played by Guy Pierce), the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation (the same corporation from the original movies), funds an expedition, aboard the scientific vessel Prometheus, to follow the map to the distant moon LV-223 (which is not the same moon from the movie Alien). The ship's crew travels in stasis while the android David (played by Michael Fassbender) monitors their voyage. When the ship arrives at the moon, mission director Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron) lays out the mission to find the Engineers and not to make contact without her permission.
The movie is what I would call hit and miss. Some things worked well, others require massive leaps in logic, beyond the typical suspension of disbelief that Sci-Fi movies often require. Plus, the characters make some deeply stupid decisions throughout the movie. Like B-level horror movie stupid decisions. That said, the visuals are absolutely stunning in HD, and Fassbender and Rapace deliver great performances. I like that the Engineers were not really totally fleshed out and we did not learn everything about them in this movie.
The extras include two different commentary tracks on the movie; one features director Ridley Scott, while the other features co-writers John Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Then there are just under forty minutes of deleted, extended, and alternate scenes that allow the option to play commentary by editor Pietro Scalia and VFX supervisor Richard Stammers. Then there is a collection of Internet Promo Clips that run just under twenty minutes called The Peter Weyland Files which reveal a few interesting character moments and fleshes out the story a bit.
I would say if you go into this movie wanting a direct prequel to Alien you will be very disappointed. If you look at it as a movie that is introducing the "world" of the Alien franchise and clearly setting up additional movies to come after it that will (hopefully) eventually lead to a direct prequel to Alien, then I think it can be enjoyable, even if it is not as good as the original movie or the sequel Aliens. It is definitely as good, or better than the other sequels, however. So, I recommend it if you set your expectations accordingly.
The movie is what I would call hit and miss. Some things worked well, others require massive leaps in logic, beyond the typical suspension of disbelief that Sci-Fi movies often require. Plus, the characters make some deeply stupid decisions throughout the movie. Like B-level horror movie stupid decisions. That said, the visuals are absolutely stunning in HD, and Fassbender and Rapace deliver great performances. I like that the Engineers were not really totally fleshed out and we did not learn everything about them in this movie.
The extras include two different commentary tracks on the movie; one features director Ridley Scott, while the other features co-writers John Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Then there are just under forty minutes of deleted, extended, and alternate scenes that allow the option to play commentary by editor Pietro Scalia and VFX supervisor Richard Stammers. Then there is a collection of Internet Promo Clips that run just under twenty minutes called The Peter Weyland Files which reveal a few interesting character moments and fleshes out the story a bit.
I would say if you go into this movie wanting a direct prequel to Alien you will be very disappointed. If you look at it as a movie that is introducing the "world" of the Alien franchise and clearly setting up additional movies to come after it that will (hopefully) eventually lead to a direct prequel to Alien, then I think it can be enjoyable, even if it is not as good as the original movie or the sequel Aliens. It is definitely as good, or better than the other sequels, however. So, I recommend it if you set your expectations accordingly.
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