I liked Alien a lot, and having read all the reviews for Prometheus, went tonight (also the first time for me ever seeing a movie on opening night).
I have to say, I was for the most part let down. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't the A or A+ I thought it would be. I'd give it a B.
I didn't think the casting was that great. The Charlize Theron character wasn't convincing or compelling to me. The Guy Pearce old man makeup was almost comical. (Not much better, if at all, than the Johnny Knoxville "bad grandpa" makeup).
Not sure why they didn't just cast a real old man.
There were a few too many cliches in it. From the "UN Style" crew, to the obligatory tough black guy with a moustache ship captain, and a lot of the lines I thought to myself "Did he really just say that?!?").
I thought it dragged at times, the characters weren't that well developed for the most part (I didn't really care when most of them died).
That being said, it had a lot of good things, too. Of course, the production and visuals were amazing. The Engineer aliens were very cool. It had its toe-curling moments, for sure.
I could see this being a movie that I might appreciate more as time goes by, or if I saw it again.