Like some of you other guys I just got home after the midnight showing - kind of tired but need to put some thoughts down. Please - this is just my opinion - go see the movie and make up your own mind.
First of all, I went in to the screening with a completely open mind, with the exception of a massive amount of faith in Ridley Scott. I've read various reviews on here and elsewhere, and tried to dismiss some of the more negative comments. When NGR01 came back tearful and disgusted I just thought, 'calm down darling, get a grip' and then when this board went mental with negativity, particularly towards Lindelof, I just couldn't be doing with it any more.
But, I really thought it was dreadful. I am terribly disappointed, after following the production for two years, watching all the trailers and videos, I was so excited. I'm not gonna cry - I have a sense of perspective, it's just a movie and life goes on. But what a wasted opportunity.
Scott has made a beautifully designed and gorgeously shot piece of drivel.
The script is terrible, in my opinion. The overall plot has (had) some potential. The structure of the movie and the scenes themselves lack all logic, the motivations of the characters make no sense, and some of the dialogue is risible.
I'm not sure if a spoiler tag is warranted here, but best to be safe.
Spoiler
Example of illogical scenes.
The arrival. This trillion dollar ship is manned by a crew who get nothing more by way of a briefing on the mission than 2 minutes of blurb from Charlie Holloway and some laughable inferences from Shaw. To their credit, the others do laugh. I had the same feeling as Ripley when she said, "This is a maximum security prison and you have no weapons of any kind"
Yes, we the audience are indeed "f**ked"
Then they land. Coming down immediately on the valley with the pyramids. Out of how many million square kilometres of the planet's surface? Now, the opening blurb says they arrive on Dec 21 2093 (I think), but when they land Charlie says it's christmas and wants to open his presents. Maybe they spent four days surveying from orbit and the movie is edited badly, or maybe Charlie mis-spoke.
Whichever it is, Shaw definitely signs off the movie on "New Year's day 2094" so somewhere from 7 to 10 days has passed. Funny, only feels like a day and a bit. Certainly only the one night when F and M were stuck in the pyramid. Sigh.
In Shaw and Holloway's quarters, he upsets her by accidentally referring to her inability to have children. Then, to shut her up, they get it on. Mmm, I'd be giving him the cold shoulder. Despite the fact that he is jolly fit - I'd gladly take a dollop of squiddly...
Yeah, anyway, LMG is okay - his character is obviously meant to be slightly twattish, and that's fine - not everyone in movies is meant to be likeable. I would have like to seen more of him though, to understand why Shaw was with him, how their relationship worked, but he ended up being crisped all too quickly.
So, Shaw is to be frozen, but she knocks out Ford and someone else and rushes to the medpod to remove squiddly. Despite it being such an advanced piece of kit, one of only a few in existence apparently, she knows how to work it. Meanwhile, nothing's done to chase her - everyone else calmly gets on with waking up Weyland. When she returns covered in blood, no-one's surprised, no-one asks her where she's been or even if she's alright. It's like, oh f**k, we were gonna freeze you weren't we, duh - just clean forgot. silly us.
Character motivations. Well, where to start. Ravel and Chance commit suicide with Janek because "he's a shit pilot" and then they say they'll collect their bets on the 'other side'. Please. Then Holloway also willingly gets fried. If I was infected and in pain I'd be screaming for someone to help me - get me to that amazing medpod (that you can work Eli), but work like f**k to keep me alive. Don't burn me to death... HELP ME.
Fifield and Milburn. Why? So, a geologist, even a slightly balmy geologist, shouts right in the face of a meek woman after ten minutes in a dark tunnel because there are no rocks for him to look at? Then, as others have pointed out, the guy responsible for mapping the tunnels gets lost!
And when things start to go pear shaped, there's no evidence of a command structure or of mounting a logical response to events, even though they apparently occur over several days. When F and M are lost in the pyramid during the storm, the most helpful thing that Janek can offer is a suggestion that they shouldn't bugger each other. I mean, WHAT? You said WHAT??
Other niggles.
Peter Weyland. Why is he played by Guy Pearce? The makeup is terrible. Get a decent old actor.
The new xeno - looks like Sil. Shit.
Little squiddly looks cool. Big squiddly you don't see too well. I'm not sure what these creatures add to the movie at all.
God, that's it, I'm going to bed. If I think of anything else I'll add it later, I just had to unload.
