I did not walk into the theater this past weekend expecting Ridley Scott to deliver unto me all of the answers to the questions I have ever had about Alien and the origin of the xenomorphs.  That being said, I enjoyed Prometheus very much. Ridley Scott played with a lot of concepts, some worked … while some others are debatable.

The production design of Prometheus is gorgeous, there was so much attention to detail that I found myself getting lost in the smallest design elements of the titular exploratory spacecraft.  I had the opportunity to catch this in IMAX 3D and I truly feel that it was the best use of the technology to date.

As the film opens we encounter a member of a highly advanced race (later referred to as the Engineers) who through an experiment (or is a sacrifice) creates life on Earth.  Flash forward a few millennia and two archeologists find what they believe is a map, an invitation to visit the Engineer’s home world.  If you haven’t figured out where this is going, you clearly have not seen one of the myriad of trailers, or television spots, or participated in the viral campaign.

Why is everyone taking OFF their helmets?

While I’m trying to remain spoiler free during this review, there are a few things that I’d like to break out and discuss so consider yourself warned:

• Why is everyone TAKING OFF THEIR HELMETS?!?! – The crew of Prometheus is on the planet for less than an hour and during their first hasty expedition find traces of a breathable atmosphere. What’s the logical conclusion that these scientists make? “Eh fuck just take off your helmet, it’s cool”.
• Ridley Scott has a lot to say about religion, and it’s very origins –   I don’t know what Ridley Scott believes, nor do I really care. But if we were face with finding out that God did not in fact create us, but Engineers did.  Wouldn’t you want to know who created the Engineers? He’s not saying religion is a sham, or a farce but the belief in a greater, more powerful entity is really at the core of humanity.
• Why did the Prometheus not have any offensive weapons? – Look, this isn’t Firefly.  You spend 2.5 years in stasis to reach a planet were a more powerful and technologically advanced species may or may not be residing at … and you don’t have any shipboard weapons? So the best course of action is ramming speed? I get the sacrifice, as that is a theme recurring throughout the film.  You can’t tell me Weyland Industries couldn’t afford a cruise missile or two?

Are those fanboy nitpicks? Absolutely, but I think if anything Prometheus is worth seeing if only for the ridiculous conversations you’ll have afterwords.  I enjoyed the hell out of the film, and I don’t feel cheated at all.

I’m excited to see what happens next in this new proto-Alien/Prometheus universe. And for that, I feel that Prometheus rightly deserves 4 out of 5 android heads.