Does it live up to expectations? Nope. But Prometheus remains an excellently executed, competent sci-fi film.

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2012)

*PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS REVIEW HAS SOME MINOR SPOILERS IN THE BEGINNING AND MIDDLE, WITH MAJOR ONES TOWARDS THE END, IN ORDER TO BEST CONTRAST THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF PROMETHEUS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.*
Right from the first few minutes of the movie, it's clear that this Alien prequel is entirely it's own beast. The sweeping natural landscapes are combined with a powerful orchestral soundtrack, and as the origins of man are revealed to the audience the 3D only helps to add immersion to this moment. It is miles away from the desolate and tense few minutes of it's masterpiece of a precursor, representing how the movie is approached as a whole - and it unfortunately never manages to reach the ridiculously high heights of Alien. Yet at the same time, Prometheus manages to step out of the shadow of it and stand on it's own two feet. And it still manages to be a slickly executed, intelligent sci-fi film.
The opening half especially demonstrates this. It even manages to remain reminiscent of Alien while it introduces Michael Fassbender's character of David, mimicking the atmosphere right down to the scrolling text describing the titular ship. Shortly afterwards, however, the remainder of the first half instead becomes a well-done ensemble sci-fi film. The (mostly archetypal) characters are slowly introduced one by one, yet they are strongly developed and all have something about them that makes them more memorable. There are light moments of humor to keep proceedings dark-but-not-too-dark, and the tidbits of information that are added to the universe's main mythology are well-timed; although some answers to long standing questions raised by Alien are a little too convenient. Damon Lindelof even visits ideas of faith versus science, though understandably electing not to answer these far too complex questions. But as newly designed creatures are introduced into the proceedings, all Hell begins to break loose. And all of these interesting elements are slowly lost. Disappointingly the film becomes a relatively straight forward monster movie from this point, and while the strong characterization is kept many of the script's other key elements are abandoned. And while it manages to answer some of the questions raised by the film itself, Prometheus concludes with an open ending. An open ending that leaves the viewer with more questions than when they started watching the film, suggesting answers in a possible follow-up instead.
Yet while Prometheus is not perfect in terms of it's core narrative, it is executed to near-perfection, with little to no weaknesses in terms of it's presentation. This is helped in part by the brilliantly consistent performances, where every character has been cast perfectly and acted even more so. As mentioned before Fassbender is fascinating to watch as the android David. He lacks empathy and emotion, yet enjoys the film "Lawrence of Arabia" so much that he dyes his hair blonde and starts mimicking Peter O'Toole. He is an intriguing character from the outset, and the fantastic performance Fassbender delivers only makes his character stick out even more. The same can be said of Charlize Theron as the cold corporate figurehead, and when the small flashes of actual emotion to her character are seen, they are made all the more powerful by Theron's acting. Noomi Rapace does quite well as the religious scientist also, and Idris Elba's character as the captain of the Prometheus is very believably wry. Yet once more, it should be said that there is not a single weak performance or character throughout the film. Some are simply more memorable than others.
But many of the more important elements for the presentation are entirely in the director's hands, and Ridley Scott's proficiency is flawless in this regard. His introduction of stunning landscapes happens with such frequency and such fluidity that it makes other sci-fis look pathetically small in scope. The action sequences are also well-directed and nicely done, with some brilliant body-horror moments towards the middle portion of the movie. The soundtrack is similarly epic in scale, and can be surprisingly nostalgic at times when it lightly plays on a chord or two from the original film's music. Many of the CGI effects as well are very naturalistic and fit in perfectly within the film, and there was not a single moment where use of it seemed unnecessary or even noticeable at all.
And during the climax of the film, several characters confront their "makers". These creatures are the ones responsible for the aliens of Alien. They are the ones reasponsible for the creation of human beings. Rapice's character of Shaw is on the verge of breaking down, demanding to know why they were sending a ship full of alien biological weapons straight to Earth. And when David translates, how does this "maker" respond to their inquiries?
By ripping off his head.
And so with Prometheus, the core storyline leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. Yet at the same time this becomes irrelevant, because the film could not have been presented or executed in a better manner. Ridley's return to sci-fi is completely triumphant in this regard. And it still manages to be one of the better sci-fi films of the last few years.