Great cinematography, decent acting, mediocre character design, extremely flawed story line

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2012)

First of all, cinematography was excellent. Scott implemented the same typical design as he did in the alien series.Overall, the acting was alright, not great, alright. Especially Michael Fassbender shines in his role of an android with its own agenda. I found character development throughout the movie to be flawed. Especially the character played by Charlize Theron. She plays the daughter of a rich entrepreneur: a physically tough, cold hearted woman desperately to fulfill the role of the son her father never had. However, despite her harshness and tough manners, she easily beds the captain of the ship halfway through the movie, and also her demise at the end of the movie leaves questions as to what her purpose in this film really was. Other than David, an intelligent parallel to the struggle between mankind and its creator(s), the rest of the characters consist of archetypal tough guys, scientist and fools and do not add much to the movie. The storyline, to my opinion, is extremely flawed and leaves the watcher with lots of questions: In the opening scene, an 'engineer' drinks a substance after which his body falls apart. Did he sacrifice himself on purpose to create life on earth? Also, the star system depicted by the several different cultures, why did they all point to an 'engineer' military outpost that was purposed to wipe out humanity? Why does the Fifield character gets lost in the complex whilst he has 'pups' that had just mapped the complex entirely? Why do some of the infected ones become raging zombies and why do aliens larvae explode from the bellies of others? And lastly, the operating scene: very, unrealistic, anatomically incorrect and over the top.
All in all, I was disappointed in a movie that had great potential.