Prometheus (2012)

PROMETHEUS  (2012)  ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Ridley Scott
    Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron,
    Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green
Ridley Scott's disputed prequel to "Alien" has a team of scientists on a spaceship heading off to a planet in a distant solar system, where creatures just like us, or maybe the entity that created us, could be waiting. This is where the "Alien" story meets "2001", the classic monster-in-outer-space movie hooking up with the ultimate cosmic quest. It's an ambitious undertaking, with moments of wonder and horror, but the script never catches up with what it seems to be trying to do. "Alien" had a much narrower focus. Scott's aim there was simply to scare the hell out of you, and he did. "Prometheus" has a lot more characters (and not a lot of character development for any of them), we know (more or less) what's coming, and as an answer to heavy-duty questions about life, death, God and are we alone in the universe, a line like "It's what I choose to believe" seems a little inadequate. Connoisseurs of icky effects will like the part where the archeologist/astronaut played by Noomi Rapace programs her own cesarian abortion, a scene that would be even harder to watch if the actress, wearing only her space-age undies and gleaming with sweat and blood, were not so visually distracting. Michael Fassbender has the old Ian Holm/Lance Henriksen role, an android who has modeled his appearance and demeanor on Peter O'Toole's performance in "Lawrence of Arabia". Which raises another question: How come Guy Pearce, under a ton of old-age makeup, is playing the ancient scientist who created the robot, when Scott (presumably) could've hired the authentically ancient Peter O'Toole?