Prometheus (2012)

In 2093, a space ship arrives on a distant moon where the scientists and crew expect to find proof of man's creation via an ancient civilization of "engineers" that created mankind. However, their reception is quite hostile and their "creators" are not as benevolent as they had hoped. The long anticipated prequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 classic sci-fi/horror hybrid ALIEN is a stunning looking mess. The original ALIEN was a tight, economical fright fest with carefully drawn characters and superior performances. This one is bloated and comes burdened with heavy handed ideas about mankind's creation that weighs down the film. Most of the characters are supposed to be intelligent scientists but they act and behave as if they have the I.Q. of a flea! When the first two idiots "get it", instead of being terrified I was just relieved that that we wouldn't have to put up with them anymore. The film could have been mindless fun but Scott seems intent on being profound as if merely going "Boo!" was beneath him. The film does have one dazzling "birth" sequence that's beautifully done but would have resonated more if it wasn't such a rip off of the chest bursting scene in ALIEN. Michael Fassbender as an android manages to keep his dignity but everyone else including Noomi Rapace (the original GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Patrick Wilson, Guy Pearce and Logan Marshall-Green gets caught in the mire.