A quasi-prequel that delivers nice FX but corrupts the Alien canon

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2012)

I know many have already stated this, but here goes: the film looks great, but the pseudo-philosophy and ersatz science of the story and premise are pretty weak. And why must every space faring crew include unlikable morons and goof-balls with anger-management issues? These are supposed to be top-notch scientists and some behave like horny juveniles and cyber-punks on meth. The characters are stereotypes and clichés. Having said that, the links to the original Alien universe are welcome after the lousy AVP series muddied things up. The set design and H.R. Giger motifs are beautifully rendered. But again, the script has serious problems in logic. Why must an advanced race of space travellers sacrifice themselves to "seed" a planet with DNA? We in the 21st century are able to extract organic material without killing ourselves - why can't they? If the Engineers' DNA is a "perfect identical match" with our own, after millions of years of evolution, why aren't we 10-foot-tall white-skinned humanoids with big black eyes like them? It'd be more plausible if the match were 99% instead. The Engineer/Space Jockey who's revived erupts into a homicidal rampage for no apparent reason. Pretty primitive behavior for an intelligent, enlightened being who supposedly fathered our species. I just wish somebody with more knowledge in science, biology and human behavior had worked on the script before Ridley Scott was given $150,000,000 to spend on this ambitious, but seriously flawed production. It could have been a worthy entry in the franchise instead of a half-baked hodge-podge mess.