Prometheus (2012 - Theater)

As a prequel of sorts to the Alien franchise, this movie had a lot to live up to, but the expectations were a bit raised with Ridley Scott's involvement. Surely, he'd give us something closer to the first Alien movie (that he also directed) than its later dismal sequels (Alien 3, Resurrection) and spinoffs (Alien vs. Predator).

Maybe it's just not possible to ever recapture what the first film had. Some scenes do work surprisingly well. There's an impromptu surgery scene that's one of the most riveting horror movie sequences I can recall. But for every scene like this, there's one of characters doing such stupid things that if the aliens didn't kill them, I would want to. For example: Suppose you meet a strange alien lifeform whose behavior is most reminiscent of a King Cobra - you do not pet it!

Roger Ebert was always complaining about how the aliens in the earlier movies could grow without eating anything. I think this is the first time where that actually happens, and let's face it - giant, man-sized facehugger is nowhere near as scary as the little buggers that would skitter across the floor and leap out of eggs. And what was up with Guy Pearce's fake old man makeup? They seriously couldn't hire a real old man for that role?