"PROMETHEUS" (R)

HH

NOOMI RAPACE, MICHAEL FASSBENDER, CHARLIZE THERON, IDRIS ELBA, GUY PEARCE

This big-budget, special effects juggernaut is living proof that a story with holes can work as long as it looks cool enough.

Borrowing so heavily from the "Alien" films that it feels familiar from the get-go, the latest movie from director Ridley Scott overwhelms our earthbound senses after an explorer's discovery sends a team to a far corner of the galaxy in search of intelligent life.

From the cool ship they fly in to the sleep chambers they climb out of to the vehicles they use to visit a huge structure on the foreign planet, it all looks so amazing, so neatly alien.

It's a shame the characters aren't quite as strong and the story has plot holes you could drive a planetary rover through. Like when the members of an exploratory team find atmosphere inside an alien structure, then take their helmets off just moments after fretting over contamination.

Some plot assembly is required. We have to try and cobble together what the aliens were doing on the planet, and on Earth, and on a planned visit back to Earth.

If you strain and use every clue, you kind of get it. But it's fuzzy and by no means a straight line.

Just as goofy is the way the crew handles things when trouble starts to happen, including the fact that they lower a ship's gate to deal with the threat of contagion.

Did I mention that the strong female scientist in the crew (Ripley, anyone?) gets treated roughly and then some? She takes a beating, from an improvised operation in a hospital pod to doing battle with everything from aliens to sliding ship parts.

Sure, that's the stuff of sci-fi, but I would have liked to see a little smoother script that made for a few more strong characters in the cast.

But, man, does this thing look cool, with action on a scale we seldom see.

With a connection to the "Alien" franchise and a sure-fire setup for a sequel, Prometheus does what it needs to as a summer sci-fi adventure.

Rated R for sci-fi violence including some intense images, and language. 124 min. [MC, PV, RA]