Actually A Pretty Good Alien Film - One Of The Best, Few Flaws

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 2017)

What is it with all these 1 and 2 star reviews? I just watched this on DVD, a little wary of the criticism I'd heard it had received, and was pleasantly surprised. It's a really good sequel to Prometheus; in fact I'd probably rate it the second best movie of the franchise (it's an impossible task to better the original Alien).
First, the visual effects, the mood and the Gothic theme of the movie are captivating. The action is good, and original. Scott manages to choreograph some original alien violence. The CGI special effects are just about reined in enough. The interior of the ship has that perfect coffin appeal you would expect from an Alien movie.
OK the characters aren't all heavily developed, but hang on this is an Alien movie. There are 14 members in the team; we should know not all of them are going to get to the end credits. I did find some of the flashback script lines to earlier movies a bit irksome. I did like the married couples aspect of the crew - it helped ramp the emotional stakes.
Spoiler alert: Some reviewers have complained about bad decision making, but remember the team are essentially rudderless after the solar flare storm. The actor who plays Oram does a good job of portraying his lack of suitability for the role as leader. Quarantine rules are observed; just a little too late. The poorly led expedition team are likely to be panicked. Peering into the egg daft? Don't forget John Hurt did precisely the same in Alien. No-one complained about that.
To call the crew morons is going a bit far. To be sure Fassbinder's performance rises above the others, but that is testament to his acting skills. True, Waterston is no Sigourney Weaver but does an above par job. The android switch (or not) at the end; well I for one wasn't entirely sure how it would pan out. The scene at the end with Daniels going back in the pod was played absolutely brilliantly. There's more than a few nods to the original Alien in the last quarter of the film, but it's not overdone. It still feels fresh to return to the spartan environment of a spaceship as the final battleground. I would add though that I thought the final action scenes seemed a bit rushed; more tension could have been wrung from this part.
All in all a surprisingly good film which I don't believe deserves the rubbishing it's been getting. No film is perfect and neither is this one, but Ridley Scott manages to create a gripping, dark, profound film which will entertain you throughout.