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Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today.

Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films.

Read his reviews online at ReThinkReviews.net. Watch his videos at www.youtube.com/user/jsjkim, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReThinkReviews. ReThink Reviews’ theme song is by Restavrant.

Prometheus

In 1979, Ridley Scott directed the science fiction classic ‘Alien’, which introduced the world to something sci-fi had been sorely lacking — a strong, non-sexualized female main character in the form of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, who must do battle with a fierce alien race that uses humans as unwitting incubators. Scott was clearly the right director for the job, since he would later direct strong female-led films like ‘Thelma & Louise’ and ‘G.I. Jane’. And, as it turned out, ‘Alien’ would spawn the right franchise, because with each sequel, not only did Ripley become increasingly tougher, but the themes of birth and motherhood became even more prominent, whether Ripley was fighting an egg-laying alien queen or perhaps giving birth to one herself.

Scott’s new film, ‘Prometheus’, is a prequel to the original ‘Alien’ films, and while it requires no knowledge of them to be enjoyed, many of the film’s themes will no doubt be familiar to fans of the series. The film’s strong female lead this time is Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace, who shot to fame playing Lisbeth Salander, the tough-as-nails punk hacker in the original Swedish version of Stieg Larsson’s book ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’. Shaw is a scientist who, along with her fellow scientist and boyfriend, Charlie (played by Logan Marshall-Green), have discovered ancient cave paintings hinting that man’s origins lie with a race of humanlike giants on a faraway planet.

An expedition to the planet is launched on a spaceship named Prometheus, where Elizabeth and Charlie are joined by the ship’s crew, some other scientists, an android named David (played by Michael Fassbender), and a representative of the megacorporation funding the trip named Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron). But while exploring a structure on the planet that was clearly created by intelligent beings, they discover that a mysterious tragedy befell these giants, and while the religious Shaw is hoping to find the compassionate gods who provided mankind’s genetic stock, it appears that they may sadly and disturbingly be all too human.

The original ‘Alien’ trilogy was a brilliant mix of sci-fi and horror, along with some intrigue surrounding the possibility of corporations attempting to profit from the weaponization of this alien life form. ‘Prometheus’ is largely successful at doing the same, though without the wonderful claustrophobia of the original film, where the crew of a space freighter was picked off one by one by an alien stalking them through the bowels of their ship. And like the original, ‘Prometheus’ does a great job of portraying the different personalities on the ship’s crew and how that’s reflected in the jobs they perform, which also gives you a sense of the unseen world they left behind. However, the technical aspects of ‘Prometheus’ are far grander than those of the original film, aided by advances in computer graphics, special effects, and a much larger budget.

The greater question of who gave birth to mankind is often humorously reflected in David. While Elizabeth and Charlie are trying to solve the mystery of who created us and why, David, who was actually manufactured by humans to be a servant, is surrounded by the beings who created him — and he clearly isn’t impressed, especially since his intelligence and abilities make him superior to humans in most respects.

But as we know, the real power to create human life resides with women, though in an ‘Alien’ movie as in ‘Prometheus’, this is taken to a squirm-inducing extreme. But Rapace is clearly up to the challenge, embodying the emotions as well as the pain and, potentially, horror that come with creating a new life, especially against one’s will. However, as a creator of life, she also displays the strength, ferocity, and bravery needed to protect it, which in this case, extends to the entire human race. And with more ‘Alien’ prequels on the way, I’m excited to see where Scott’s newest heroine will take us.

‘Prometheus’ is rated R and opens today.