Rich in visuals, tone, and themes... plot has gaps

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2012)

I first want to state that I personally rate movies on two scales:
1: The technical aspects (characters, plot, cinematography, execution, etc.)
2: Did I actually like the film, and does it stay in my thoughts long after I've left the theater
On the first scale I give it a 7 out of 10. Ridley Scott captures some remarkable imagery especially with landscapes. The cinematography is simply grandiose without becoming pretentious. The themes explored and hinted at, are basically that of humans meeting gods. Tone-wise, this was reflected perfectly. Humans just felt small compared to the structures and landscapes around them.
Plenty of people have complained though. Namely gaps in the plot and lack of characterization. I partially agree with the former, and disagree with the latter **possible spoilers**. I don't feel there were sloppy mistakes made in the plot, as some have stated. I simply feel there were GAPS in the plot.
With enough imagination I was able to fix these by speculating causes not revealed in these "gaps". Some have cited the engineers creating and then wanting to destroy earth and humanity, others confused by the nature and inconsistent workings of the black goo. There's a whole list of parts in the movie that people question. Most of them were not a problem for me.
I had no problem with the characterization. Shaw was straightforward but compelling. Her boyfriend was a bit of a dope, but charismatic. You had a rambunctious character (the mohawk guy), and a very rich android character; which to me was on par with Bishop. It's true, some characters were one dimensional... but these were stock characters and didn't need to be fleshed out. I'm not sure what the nay-sayers are expecting here.
Now...
In regards to how much I liked the film. I give it a 10 out of 10. I had very high hopes when first hearing about the project a year ago, but slowly I started to dial it back to a reasonable hype for myself. In the months leading up to Prometheus's release, I came to fully understand what Scott's intentions were for this film in relation to Alien; a prequel to alien, but not an alien film. Because of this, I distanced Alien from my expectations.
Seeing the movie on it's midnight release, I told myself just to sit back and enjoy the ride. Take it all in, and scrutinize it later... almost like a philosophy lecture. After leaving the theater, instead of picking apart details with the group of friends I came with, we talked about the implications of this movie on the others in the same universe, and even what the sequels may look like. We weren't looking back, we were looking forward.
To me, that's what this movie represents. It's less of a ride like some short, intense roller-coaster of ups and downs. It's a sandbox littered tools. If your imagination runs wild like mine does, you'll have hours more fun tinkering with ideas in your head long after the credit roll.
For those who like to wonder, and ponder "what if's", see this movie.