National Post

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Prometheus fails to live up to high expectations
Unlike your Die Hards or your Terminators — film franchises that stick to tried-and-true genre templates — the Alien series succeeds because it constantly reinvents its freaky, H.R. Giger-designed packaging.

Ridley Scott’s 1979 original was a straight-up horror; James Cameron’s sequel was a war movie that just happened to take place in outer space; David Fincher’s directorial debut was a psychological thriller cum religious allegory; and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s sex-spiked take was, well, just plain weird.

Yet throughout each film there are constants, namely a strong heroine, a crafty android and at least one drool-dribbling xenomorph. Prometheus, Scott’s return to the franchise, features at least two of these three elements, though whether he takes the series in a successful new direction is up for debate. (Illustration by Andrew Barr)