Below is my couple of thoughts on this film:
It arrests your attention straight away from the very first moment and dosen't let up the grip untill the last minute, mostly because of two things: 1) stunning sceneris with breathtaking sights and completely realistical industrial designs, 2) overly intense and fast-changing succession of events. Owing to this both factor you never notice the film lasts for a liitle more than two hours: so absolutely compelling and overwhelming is it! Visually and audibly the sequences of landing/taking off ships are probably the best moments to treasure here! Obviously, it requires the second watching, and probably more than that.
In addition to totally stunning visuals/sounds you have completely believable characters - I mean everybody has their role played perfectly in the frames of
what they have been entitled to embody. The problem starts when you try to understand why some character act this and that instead of what human would naturally be doing in the certain circumstances.
Spoiler
For instance I've been hugely puzzled and still don't grasp the thing who was the official leader of their mission? Saying that I mean: who was accountable and in subordination to whom? At one moment you see Vickers bragging of her company's money, at the other episode Holloway orders to go out to investigate the temple. When Fifild freaks out and all of a sudden decides to go back and takes Milburn with him, nobody bothers to get both to work...
On the other hand all characters behave towards each other like they don't give a shit about what happens to your crew member. Janek gets connection re-established with lost Fifild and Milburn and dosen't really show any signs of anxiety or hurry to resque both out of there ASAP.
Moreover, even praised performance of David and Show seems somewhat superficious to me, not mentioning other one-minute screen-time personages. Seems like hardship, tragedy, loss and terrible things done to main heroine don't affect her neither phyisically, nor mentally.
Spoiler
She is still springy on her legs after surgery and shedding tears at any subject of her belief after finding her gods are naturally malicious beings.
But I won't blame Scott for this, Lindeloff was eager to take the responsibility, so it's his fault. As well as rushed flow of events, especially to the end of the film, as if they were running of time and ideas how to cut it down seamlessly strictly to 120 minutes.
Spoiler
David, directing Show at the end of the movie, seemed somewhat out of place, at least to me.
But, probably, my main compliant with this film would about necessity to use Giger original images and connection to Alien series. Why all this, if you have such marvelous opening scene that perfectly works on its own? What was the need to resort to 30-years masterpiece conception, if you could create totally independent Universe and story without teasing all fanbase and cannibalizing
Alien's mystery? In this connection I totally agree with the one idea shown here: some thing should have been left unanswered. Really, I wish this film didn't detract from the classic.
Spoiler
To use previously rejected Giger's designs just for the sake of them having been exploited somewhere or for the reason new production designers totally lack imagination to invent/draw something fresh?
As a conclusion: the film is worth watching at any rate! And I guess those who aren't so much into
Alien series will like it more, than hardcore fans.
