A prequel to Alien, Ridley Scott's return to science fiction, and, on both counts, a disappointment. The biggest differences are the films' aims: While Alien followed blue-collar workers merely trying to survive, Prometheus tackles what one character humbly proclaims to be "the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind." The scale is epic, the stakes are huge, and big questions are raised. But the answers are hollow, uninspired, and silly; the anxious horror that slicked every frame of Alien is replaced with flashy spectacle and clunky exposition; the story crumbles apart the longer one thinks about it. by Erik Henriksen