Prometheus

In 1979, Ridley Scott wowed cinemagoers with his deep-space sci-fi thriller Alien, that is still considered one of the greatest films of its genre, and introduced a young Sigourney Weaver to the world.

More than three decades and another century later, the veteran director has decided to return to his extra-terrestrial roots with a new space crew and an equally strong and determined young woman leading the pack.

The film follows the story of the Prometheus spacecraft which has a scientific expedition on board who are following an ancient star map through space to try and uncover the alien life form that sourced the map, which was discovered by archeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green).

Without giving too much away as it’s too good a film to spoil, true to deep space sci-fi form, nothing goes smoothly and the crew ultimately end up fighting for their lives.

It has a strong and recognisable cast including Michael Fassbender as the android David – fans of the Alien franchise will recognise the nod to previous androids in the series – Idris Elba as the laid-back Captain Janek, Charlize Theron as the cold, unemotional mission director Meredith Vickers and the cocky botanist Milbun, played by Rafe Spall.

And although he might have stressed on several occasions that Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien, there are, quite frankly, too many nods and similarities for it not to be.

Rapace, her star having risen off the back of the original Swedish Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy, is very much like Weaver’s young Ellen Ripley, her strength and tenacity echoing the former heroine’s right down to her very last scene.

Guy Pearce plays, and is unrecognisable as, the elderly corporate mogul Peter Weyland, who funds the expedition with ulterior motives and fans of the series will recognise the Weyland name from the franchise and the Alien vs Predator movie.

Eagle-eyed movie goers will also notice the ‘space jockeys’, the elephant-like creatures from the Alien movie are introduced again, this time explaining who they are and linking rather too conveniently to the 1979 film that started it all – as well as the incident in the very last scene

A prequel or not, this is definitely one of this year’s eagerly-awaited movies and it certainly doesn’t disappoint, but is also one that I cannot go into too much detail about without spoiling it for others.

But it’s another triumph from Scott, the man who brought us Bladerunner and Gladiator, and a definite must see this summer.

Prometheus is released in cinemas tomorrow (Friday June 1st)