I saw Prometheus for a second time today, curious to discover if my opinion of it would change any with a subsequent viewing.
Short version: there was no ambiguity walking out of the theater this time. I really liked it now that I'd had ample time to process what I'd seen last Friday night.
The plot holes that stood out so starkly upon my initial screening weren't so bothersome the second time around. The cut from the archeological site to the ship in space, however, remained just as jarring for me. There simply wasn't enough transition; none of the backstory to support Vicker's statement later on to Shaw that, "You convinced him [Weyland] to finance this trip." (I'm paraphrasing.)
The things that I hadn't even noticed on first viewing were more pronounced this time after reading reviews online; especially Elizabeth Shaw running all over creation after just having gone through major abdominal surgery. To the actor's credit, she did double over in pain a few times to remind us that she shouldn't be doing this stuff so soon after having a squid cut out of her uterus.
The other thing that was annoying to the point of distracting from the story is the ton of prosthetic makeup that was necessary for Guy Pierce to portray the aged Weyland. Really? Did they do this simply because he appeared as a young man addressing TED in one of the pre-release videos? Why not simply find an older actor who looks like what Pierce would at that age? If they were concerned about the voice they could've always dubbed it. This one really left me scratching my head.
But then it dawned on me: Weyland's aged appearance was one of two nods to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. (The other being the voice of the ship's main computer.) Weyland in his dressing gown looks uncannily like David Bowman at the end of Odyssey.
I also came away with a completely different take this time on Shaw leaving to seek out the Engineers' home world . I think she not only wants answers, but having one of the Engineers' own bioweapon ships under her command, if she doesn't get what she wants she's more than prepared to rain down destruction.
If nothing else, a second screening provided more food for thought, and a lot of speculation about where exactly Ridley Scott intends to take this rebooted franchise…
Don't know if you saw this yet….
http://youtu.be/yFYmv6t_Xyg
I loved your review and recommended it on my blog. What bothers me about Shaw's c-section was the stapling! Really?? All that technology and they staple the incision?
Second was Jenkins—she piloted the ship to have power over the company? With her dad on the ship the company should have been hers if she had stayed on earth.
I saw it opening day and liked it too for all the same reasons you did. I guess my biggest beef is that I didn't think that the whole infection/alien baby thing had any reason for being in the script other than it being a means to introduce the whole gestation facet of the alien development. Well, that and the gross out abortion sequence. They could have cut that whole story line out and found another way to kill off half the cast. Maybe I missed something.