I got to see the leaked scenes. Offhand thoughts.
- The multiple Engineers look very Star Trek, and I'm glad they went.
- The Millburn/worms scene was indeed filmed, and would've been a nice addition. He explains it's their first real alien contact in many systems of exploration.
- The Alien Fifield rampages around like a deranged monkey. I'm not totally sure if it works. Shaw is not present in this version, she's still wandering around the bowels of the ship. Where is the Shaw version?
- The long version of the "Paradise" scene has its moments. Noomi Rapace's performance is really something, especially when she spits out, "I want to go to Paradise" with no small degree of contempt. But it's also thoughtful and musing. I think one key change is the final dialogue between her and David ("well, that's because I'm human...") was originally here, and was much more aggressive. She's very hostile to him, calls him a "f**king robot" and shoves him into the bag with no apologies over his protests, as opposed to the gentler scene in the final film.
I prefer the theatrical version of that final byplay because in that take of the scene, Shaw's reaction to David is much more ambiguous and intriguing; she treats him almost like a naughty student or child, firm but not without some measure of understanding. She knows what he's probably done and is pissed, but she is disciplining him, not treating him with contempt like Holloway did; she is much softer with him, perhaps because she thinks she can educate him in a way Weyland didn't. And I think that's really interesting, because it makes their future relationship that much more layered.
