Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (1 June 2013)

I suppose I'll start with the plot, at least in so far as Prometheus has a plot. There are holes big enough to drive a tractor through. The most frequent problem is that throughout the film either things happen for no reason whatsoever or that the characters come to conclusions without any real reason to. An example of this, without spoiling it for you, is a scene where one of the main characters goes through a very grueling surgical ordeal, only to come out the other side, covered in blood, and be completely ignored by the other characters as well as the plot. Another example is a character who spends the entire film doing next to nothing to contribute, yet somehow towards the end he magically knows exactly what is going on. I can't even begin to sum up the sheer amount or holes in the plot, suffice it to say there are a lot.
As for the characters, if you can call them that; I can draw stick figures with better personalities. One of the crew is a robot, but in my opinion they might as well all have been robots for the sheer lack of emotion and growth they showed.
The acting is reasonable, given the material the actors were given they did a competent job. I sensed there was a lot of ad libbing going on, most likely desperate attempts by the actors to squeeze a few drops of personality out of their cardboard cutout characters.
So the writing is mediocre at best, what about the directing? This is where Prometheus salvages itself. Scott is a competent director, even if the script he was working with was a more horrible abomination than any of the monsters in the film. The tension is first rate, and despite all the holes he manages to still keep you wanting more. As for the visuals, if you have seen any of Scott's other films (Ailen, Blade Runner, Gladiator, etc.) you should know by now that Ridley Scott is very much a visual director. The cinematography is amazing, and the stunning visuals alone are reason enough to watch this film.
So is Prometheus worth watching? I have to say when I left the cinema the first and only thing in my mind was: What did it all mean? And that wasn't just because of the bad writing, but by the questions raised by the film overall, and a film that makes you think and try to interpret it afterwards is a good film, regardless of its flaws. Therefore, in my opinion, Prometheus is worth watching. However there is a lot of wasted potential here. Going in I thought: this is a prequel to the Alien franchise, by the creator nonetheless, he couldn't possibly go wrong. Little did I know that Scott had gone full George Lucas on it. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
Whatever the case may be, I can recommend you watch Prometheus, just don't expect too much from it.