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Ridley Scott’s Prometheus opened in US theaters this past weekend, launching another salvo in 2012′s remarkably substantial summer onslaught.  As a massive fan of the Alien franchise (especially the first two but even the second two), I’ve been eagerly awaiting this movie ever since Scott let slip that it was to be a pseudo-prequel to that series.  Was it worth the wait?  Does Prometheus walk in the mighty footsteps of Alien, or does it stomp aimlessly around in the ill-fitting clown shoes of Alien 3?  I’ll get to that, but before the review proper I’d like to take a brief moment to welcome R-rated sci-fi back to the American box office.  I can barely remember the last time I didn’t have to grit my teeth through a terrible CGI sidekick’s slapstick routine, or the last time I got out of a film in this genre without going to Target and seeing an aisle filled with already clearance-priced toys that were somehow an essential part of the marketing strategy.  It’s been so long since I could tell what was going on in a sci-fi action scene without having to decipher the nauseatingly quick cuts necessitated when a director has to show the monster decapitating a few soldiers without accidentally getting any blood in the frame.  So for that, Prometheus, thank you and welcome back.  Ridley Scott and especially 20th Century Fox deserve a round of applause for this move, and lets all hope it pays off so it won’t be the last time this happens.

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