Pretty much matched my high expectations, albeit not in the way I thought. Which is positive cause the movie surprised me! I loved how un-Alien it was, it really is it's own beast even though obviously set in the same universe.
First-most I must mention the visuals, what incredible visuals! Photography, camera-work, visual-effects, CGI, set-design, 3D, it all came together in an absolutely gorgeous and immersive way. Top notch all the way, oh how I have missed you in sci-fi Ridley! Visually it's a masterpiece in my mind.
Now to the script and story. Not amazing, but better then I expected! I was afraid the meaning-of-life stuff would try too hard, but to my liking it didn't try to give any answers or be too deep. Instead it focused on the actual sci-fi elements and after seeing this film I don't wanna discuss the mysteries of life, I wanna discuss the mysteries of the Prometheus universe. And what a rich univese they have created. It leaves you with so much memorable and striking imagery. Also a lot of thoughts about how it all works and how it all hangs together, even though it's not meant to have a one true answer. The movie drills into your mind and sure doesn't leave it when it's over, quite the opposite it's still drilling. Can't stop thinking about it and all I wanna do is see it again.
One fear was also that the movie would de-mystify the first Alien movie, but I loved how infact it gave more new questions than answers to old questions.
Now the movie has some flaws. As far as the narrative and pacing goes, it could have been much better. Well I loved the first and the last act, it's the middle that drags a bit and feels forced. Otherwise I love the slow and uneventful beginning of the movie. Love the scenes with David walking around the ship. Even though as a whole the movie doesn't always flow perfectly, there is always individual scenes around to blow you away. The scene when David discovers the Engineer-ship is just beautiful for example.
The last part of the movie, from Shaws operation and onwards it's just a big huge intense pay-off for the contemplating, mystery and searching. It's more intense and captivating though than horrifying, and that's where the movie surprised me and I guess will disappoint some people. But I don't mind at all, I was still on the edge of my seat in the end! The fans who wanted this to be more akin to Alien will be disappointed. At parts it's actually more beautiful than scary.
The scene where David wakes up the engineer is so tense and thrilling at the same time. Loved the engineer himself, very bad-ass and mysterious.
So about the new monster, Shaw's baby. It isn't a brilliant piece of design or anything and I know that will disappoint many fans. But damn it's freaky, it did it's job for me and really creeped me out. Especially cause it seemed to primitive and identity-less, yet so complicated. The plot-point about experimenting with DNA to create life and bio-weapons really works for me. Making the whole thing about life very unpredictable and I love how the engineers had been killed by their own engineering.
Some of the characters were weak parts of the movie, especially Holloway which is unfortunate since he plays quite a big part. Both poorly written and woodenly acted. Vickers had potential but often fell flat and the twist with her was predictable and uninspiring. Some of the characters worked great though so it wasn't all bad. Shaw and David were both solidly characterized and greatly acted, Fassbender and Rapace shined, especially together. I also liked Idris Elba's character, one to sympathize with and relate to. Something that lacked in most of the other side-characters, they never felt like real people which made a lot of the action with them feel unengaging.
Also some things in the movie I felt were missed opportunities. I would have wanted to see the new creatures have more screen-time and kill more humans. A lot of the deaths of human-characters were very unmemorable and uninspiring.
But the thing that left the biggest impression and impact on me was the last 15 minutes and the very ending. Loved how Shaw teamed up with David and how it showed that even though the events of the movie had been huge it was still just a tiny piece of an endless puzzle. Totally satisfying ending for me and I was about to prepare for credits when... Proto-Xeno!! Damn, one of the biggest and coolest nerdgasms of my life. It looked awesome!
I really hope this movie does well and that the lukewarm reviews get outnumbered by the positive ones. Cause I NEED a sequel to this, I need more of this world. I hope the making of this movie struck a nerve in old Ridley when it comes to making sci-fi, cause with this one he really showed me that he still has some of that magic in him.
A strong 4 out of 5 from me, 4,5 if you so will. Sorry for the rambling though, I'm still exhilarated from the movie.
