Prometheus

A film set in the same universe, looking back before it. The same star map is found at archaeological sites far apart on Earth. Two scientists read it as an invitation. A company funds an expedition. The ship lands on the moon the map indicates and there is an artificial structure there. Inside they find cylinders and a chamber. And a colossal stone head. From there the film is a dissolution. The cylinders leak, a crew member is infected, and what happens on the ship goes out of control quickly. What the narrative is interested in is not the monster but being made: the film asks who made people and puts the same question to the artificial man on the ship. David is the centre of the narrative. He is a robot and what he feels for those who made him is not respect; the best scenes are the things he does without telling anyone. The company line is inside again. An executive is aboard and her purpose is not scientific. The surgery is the tensest scene. A woman operates on herself inside an automatic pod, and the machine is configured for men. The film deliberately leaves many questions open, which was the main criticism on release; the narrative does not complete its connection to the first film either. The visual design is its strength. The spaces, the helmet interiors and the map room were built as real sets at large scale. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce are in the cast. Ridley Scott directed. Who it is for: anyone watching for image and idea. Who it is not for: anyone looking for character logic; the scientists behave irrationally over and over, and that is its weakest point.