Ridley Scott. He gave us Blade Runner and he gave us Alien: two classics that still rank among the best that science fiction has to offer. Prometheus sees him returning to the genre — and while I’d love to call it a glorious return, I can’t. Scott’s latest work is tense and it’s entertaining, but it’s also something of a disappointment.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

In the year 2089, archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) find pre-historic drawings on the walls of a cave in Scotland — drawings that match other drawings found on other…

“You’re too old to be filling your head with such nonsense,” Carmen tells her daughter, Ofelia, in an early scene in Pan’s Labyrinth. “Such nonsense” is a book of fairy tales, cradled lovingly in Ofelia’s hands.

But are fairy tales nonsense? Should they be read only by the very young? Or can grown-ups learn from them, too?

For Guillermo de Toro, the answers are clearly No, No, and Yes, respectively. Pan’s Labyrinth is an R-rated tale full of fauns, faeries, and other fantastical creatures. It’s bloody and it’s dark. But it also has much to say.

A Long, Long Time Ago…

The story takes…