However, for those of you like myself who had high hopes that this movie would at least approach the level of excellence of Ridley Scott's Alien or Blade Runner, I am sad to say it ultimately fails. I have been disappointed with Ridley Scott since Blade Runner, and before seeing this movie, I retained a glimmer of hope that this time, since it was remotely connected to Alien, that it might be at least a respectable work. While the movie was visually stunning and I was initially overall pleased with what I was seeing, about halfway into the movie, the plot began to crumble. Unlike Alien, this movie begins to have a plot that increasingly becomes juvenile, unbelievable and soon develops holes the size of the Grand Canyon.
[This next section assumes you have seen the movie. If you still want to see the movie without prior information, then stop reading and come back to this after you have seen the movie]
Here were my major complaints of the film:
How is it that a 8+ foot, hairless humanoid with solid black eyes and who demonstrates amazing strength and resistance to modern weaponry would have identical DNA to that of a human, as claimed by the scientists?
How realistic is it that the geologist who is mapping the complex (accompanied by a biologist) would get lost?
Why do two characters (the geologist and biologist) that are supposedly too afraid to even proceed when they see a dead alien suddenly have a complete change of character when they encounter an actual living alien species. In other words, why would the biologist suddenly be more than happy to attempt to touch an unknown, cobra-looking alien?
How is Shaw even able to walk after giving herself a Caesarean section, let alone run?
Why does the crew just mindlessly open the door to the ship to an unknown creature (which ends up being the "transformed" geologist) when just a short while before, the mission director refused to even let an infected crew member come back on the ship?
Why does Shaw assume that she knows that the revived alien "Jockey" intends to destroy Earth simply because he attacked a few humans who revived him?
How realistic is it that, based on Shaw's unsubstantiated claim, the captain and his crew would then be willing to happily commit suicide by ramming their ship into the alien vessel?
Some minor complaints but complaints nonetheless:
Why not begin the movie with the archeological find instead of showing as your opening scene the humanoid consuming the liquid? Showing the alien visitation to Earth in the opening scene not only ruins the mystery and gives away what they look like, but the reason the alien willingly consumes the liquid that disintegrates him and scatters his DNA into the ocean is never explained.
Why give the date (which, by the way, was first 2089 and then later 2093 A.D.)? The power of the first movie (Alien) was the fact that it was simply in the future, and thus always possible. In science fiction, dating anything within a span of a few hundred years from the actual time of the movie is almost always a bad idea.
It seemed implausible that Holloway, a scientist, in direct violation of the orders of his mission director, would simply take off his helmet because the readings say the air is breathable. What about bacteria or other dangers? Why would the captain and the mission director subsequently not punish him by forcing him to go through quarantine for 48 hours?
With such a large crew, why does the captain not have at least one person monitoring the two men lost in the alien complex, especially when they just had a reading of "movement?" Instead, he soon after abandons the bridge to have a casual fling.
Additionally, the movie was plagued by a significant amount of odd behaviors. Even if Weyland believes the scientists are correct and there are aliens in the star system they are travelling to, why would Weyland also believe they have the secret to preserving his life? The android is doing all of these menacing things (infecting Holloway, ignoring the mission director, trying to keep Shaw's alien baby alive, etc.), yet without any explanation or any discernable logic to its actions. Shaw also seems rather forgiving of the actions of the mission director and the android, both of whom were responsible for her lover's death (Holloway). She also seems unphased by the fact that she just removed an alien from her stomach that is still alive in the medical lab.
My list of complaints goes on, but I have addressed the major ones. It is simply suffice to say that the movie was a major disappointment. It now joins with the other alien spinoff movies, all of which simply make money from what originally was one incredible work of art. It is just a shame that Ridley Scott did not have more respect for his own masterpiece.
