Impressive visuals-- damning plot holes

Rating: 8/10 (10 June 2012)

I liked the visuals. Wide, epic, cinematic, atmospheric. The imagined technology was beautifully executed.
The problem that I see will be with the Sci-Fi crowd that actually CARES about the details of the Alien Universe. The people who keep track of the story timeline (as in what year was Nostromo's discovery of the the alien? and how does it line up with Prometheus?) And for this same audience, this movie is less a action/horror movie and more of the Thinking Sci-Fi Horror movie. That means the details MUST MAKE SENSE. That means Plot Cohesion ACTUALLY Matters.
Like-- You find a place where there is a pile of alien bodies that doesn't look like they all laid down and expired peacefully...yet you take your HELMET OFF? Like-- The Captain of the ship SEES these piles of dead aliens-- and HE LETS YOU BACK ON-BOARD? Remember that the FIRST 'Alien' had Ripley locking the contaminated crewmembers OUT of the Nostromo as part of Biological Contamination Protocol-- and they WERE NOT Scientists!! Like-- The Engineers had been around for MILLIONS of YEARS, had Started Life on Earth-- and left cryptic messages to 'Come Back to these Stars where we maintain a Mass Death Weapons Facility so we can Kill all of you anyways? And Many Many other questions for things that make NO PLOT SENSE, but were perfectly reasonable for a plot put together by a Hollywood-Blockbuster-Committee instead of truly competent writers.
That said-- the average Movie-goer just going for a thrill ride will get it. In Prometheus' Case, I can happily say that the slew of Previews will not spoil the movie for you. If you Saw the Previews-- you did NOT see the movie.
And yes, some of the scenes are. . .hard to stomache. In my theatre, quite a few of the GUYZ had their hands in front of their eyes, catching wincing glimpses between fingers. Yeah-- That Bad.
Oh-- The Line for the 2D version was LONGER than the 3D one.