Apparently this movie is popular because it raises a lot of questions about humans, their origin, and perhaps their ultimate fate. Nice, but the movie is a mishmash. One thing that future mankind has NOT learned, apparently, is to avoid sending out an exploratory ship filled with people who essentially do not know each other, like each other, or even know why they're there -- have they never watched science fiction movies? At least there are the requisite ancillary characters who are dispatched by slimy beings to set up the apocalyptic second half. Which brings us to the black goo. Why is it there? Was it produced as a biological weapon which then turned on its makers? Find out about the black goo by doing what I did -- Google it.