The Fires of PROMETHEUS

As I've been sitting through this Father's Day, the one thing that I keep coming back to is that....without meaning or intending to, my father gave me a lot of love of popular culture.

I've often joked that Blazing Saddles was the first movie I conned my father into taking me to see; Alien was the second. In fact, I convinced my father to take me and my mother, and let me just say....when the chestburster scene came, there was a slightly childish glee at seeing Mom's reaction.

I write the above to put Prometheus into perspective - it's been marketed and discussed as a "prequel" to the movie, and I think it's a slight misnomer. If anything, it takes some elements from the 1979 movie and uses them in a slightly different context. This is also a movie about big ideas versus big scares - if you expect facehuggers, chestbursters, and xenomorphs....you're doing to be disappointed.

But Ridley Scott gives us a well-made movie that explores the desire to see where we came from....and the cost of such curiosity. It's a shame that much of the criticism leveled at the movie has been in several "unexplained" plot points - because this is a movie whose gaps allow the viewer to imagine and explore. This is the kind of movie that is worth having a long discussion about.

(And quite honestly, without spoiling, the very last scene should have been added post-credits. It would have made a *really* good postscript. As it stands in the movie, it removes much of the impact. But if you're expecting a direct lead-in to Alien, or a quote like, "And I shall name her....Ripley!", you will be disappointed).

But this is a good movie with some strong ideas....go see this while it's in theaters. You won't be disappointed.