'Prometheus' almost hits 'Alien' heights

Before delving too deeply into what “Prometheus” is — ambitious, tense, scary, a little silly, maybe a little lost — it’s important to note what it isn’t: a straight-up “Alien” prequel.

Yes, the story takes place before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley had to figure out a way to defeat the alien whose structural perfection, famously, was matched only by its hostility. But as director Ridley Scott has gone around telling anyone who would listen, “Prometheus” is its own film. Sure, there are nods to the later movie and its sequels, and eventually it meanders its way to becoming something of an origin story. But you’re more likely to enjoy the film if you go in thinking less about “Alien” and more about Scott, with his emphasis on images, tone and atmosphere over — sometimes at the expense of — plot and story.

Then you’ll be fine. Because “Prometheus” is a good movie, sometimes very good. It’s just not a great one.

After a prologue that recalls “2001: A Space Odyssey” as much as anything, the film proper begins in 2089, with scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) finding cave drawings that seem to confirm discoveries in other places around the world: Beings from space have visited Earth, and are inviting us for a return visit.

At stake is creation — while they disagree on precisely where we came from and how, Shaw and Holloway believe these visitors hold the key. And they want to find them.

Fast forward to 2093. Shaw, Holloway and the crew of the Prometheus are in cyber-sleep, headed for another solar system on a mission funded by a private company. The only member awake is David (Michael Fassbender), a humanlike robot with a love for “Lawrence of Arabia,” so much so he dyes his hair blond, emulating the look and speech of Peter O’Toole in the starring role. It’s a terrific detail.

As they near their destination, the crew awakens. Most notable are Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), the chief executive of the Weyland Corporation, which is funding the mission, and Janek (Idris Elba), the ship’s captain. Janek is an old-school, Hans Solo-type good-guy flyboy; Vickers is remote, cold and dismissive of just about everyone and everything.

More questions go unanswered than not, which is not always a bad thing. Here, though, it seems like a clear set-up for a sequel. That’s disappointing, but the movie is good enough that I’ll be there for it. Scott’s movies are always worth looking at.