I love the Dutton, damn. He brings that sort of weighty power to every role he does. You can just tell he gives a shit.
This is such an interesting example in Prometheus, because they clearly got
half of the pieces right. I can see this being used in future film school classes to analyze how the many pieces of a film must all hit their respective notes and gel for you to get a solid final product.
Sure, films can be carried to a 7/10 on great visuals, acting, and hype, but you've honestly got half a film without the rest.
Frankly I think that a good story is the soul, my evidence being that a good story will lead you to compensate for things that are visually unappealing, because you know the bones are there... but most viewers that like to think about their films are so put-off by bad writing that the visuals just become tragic, especially if they're beautiful, i.e. Prometheus.