Alien Covenant - directed by Ridley Scott
Remember Prometheus?
The 2012 Ridley Scott helmed Science Fiction flick that was oh so coy about whether it was an alien movie or not?
Of course we all hoped that it was because what could be better than the creator himself stepping up to the right the ship that had gone so far of course with "Alien: Resurrection" and those two pretty horrible Alien vs Predator movies. (yeah, yeah- he didn't write the script but the look and feel of "Alien" is all Sir Ridley)
Well here we go again because even though this movie is again helmed by Scott and it does indeed contain the word 'Alien' in the title this time it still isn't really exactly the alien movie that many people will be looking for.
From the start we are firmly in Prometheus territory with Michael Fassbender and Guy Pierce reprising their roles from that movie.
Fassbender's David and Pierce's Weyland have a conversation about creation and existence before we shoot off aboard the giant colony ship "Covenant" where Fassbender plays Walter - a new model of the synthetic David.
He is monitoring things and takes action when a freak accident causes the crew to be awakened early.
Before you can say distress signal most of the crew are in a dropship headed down to the planet from which the signal originated.
Now that will be enough plot from me because this movie is best enjoyed with as little knowledge going in.
At least I think it would be.
I don't actually know because the trailers, clips and tv spots that Fox released prior to today have shown altogether too much already and several times throughout the movie I could see exactly what was coming.
Given that this is basically the same Ten Little Indians / Friday the 13th who dies next kind of deal that the very first film employed this is a problem!
Yes- there is an alien in this film but it isn't exactly the good old shiny black acid bleeder that we all know and love.
Clearly we are heading towards it but I am rapidly getting the feeling that all of this stalling had better pay off in a huge way because it all makes me want to slip the blu-ray director's cut of "Aliens" in the player.
And that might be the real problem here.
It isn't so much that Scott has his head more in the "Prometheus" universe than the "Alien" one but more that James Cameron's 1986 film still stands as far and away the best film yet made in the series and each film that followed including this one does enough Alien-y stuff to remind you how good they can be before missing the target by some margin.
And with repeated shots of steam filled corridors with flashing lights, cargo bays with familiar looking machinery, weapons that look very close to Colonial Marine gear and of course a central female warrior figure it is hard not to think of Ripley, Hicks, Bishop, the bark of pulse rifles and phrases like 'Get away from her you bitch!'
As I said - kind of an alien movie but just not quite ready to fully embrace it.
So what we have here is something pretty much smack dab in the middle of "Prometheus" and "Alien".
Once again it seems reluctant to fully commit to being an Alien movie and when your poster (that one right there at the top of the page) screams 'I am an Alien movie!!' I fear that many people will roll their eyes as the Xenomorph bug hunt that they were expecting just isn't there.
It kind of is.... there is definitely a greater move to bring what "Prometheus" presented closer towards the original Alien movie but I wonder what the big plan is here.
Scott has already said that a further movie is planned and that there is a path towards linking the two strands together (source)
I fear that the road ahead will be a rocky one because even though I enjoyed "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant" maybe even a little more there was still the same 'is that all?' feeling as I got up out of my seat at the end.
It's a tad too predictable too often and at pretty major points (if you can't see the final 15 minutes comin a mile away you clearly don't go to the movies much)
There is one key action scene that is pretty much worth the ticket price and Scott sure knows how to make a tasty looking science fiction movie.
The visual effects and set design are amazingly good here.
Also the Milford Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand are wonderfully other-worldly and provide a great setting.
There is enough to like about "Alien: Covenant" to make it easily worth a look and if nothing else it definitely earns it's R rating.
There is plenty of the red stuff splashed around, loads of F Bombs, some smutty talk and even a sex scene with nudity.
Crudup, Fassbender and Waterston do fine work and even Danny McBride - best known for low brow comedy roles- does a terrific job in a very serious role as pilot Tennessee.
There are at least two action scenes of note and some staggeringly effective visual effects shot.
One scene shows the dropship landing and it is terrifically well done.
The ship interiors, computers and even Mother's voice (Lorelei King but damn does it sound like Sigourney Weaver) are beautifully done.
I like much of what this film does to stitch the two franchise strands together but enough with the teasing already.... give us the balls-out Alien flick that we all want.
RATING: 80 / 100
CONCLUSION: Wonderfully well made it may be but the predictability and the feeling that the franchise is being milked for all its worth on the way to a 'real' Alien film may ironically put under threat the film that this one and "Prometheus" before it seem to be leading to.
Starring: Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, James Franco, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce, Billy Crudup, Carmen Ejogo, Danny McBride, Callie Hernandez, Demian Bichir, Tess Haubrich, Amy Seimetz
Screenplay: John Logan & Dante Harper
Music Score by: Jed Kurzel
Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Edited by: Pietro Scalia
Running Time: 125 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16 - Violence, Profanity & Brief Nudity
Running Time: 125 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16 - Violence, Profanity & Brief Nudity
The 2012 Ridley Scott helmed Science Fiction flick that was oh so coy about whether it was an alien movie or not?
Of course we all hoped that it was because what could be better than the creator himself stepping up to the right the ship that had gone so far of course with "Alien: Resurrection" and those two pretty horrible Alien vs Predator movies. (yeah, yeah- he didn't write the script but the look and feel of "Alien" is all Sir Ridley)
Well here we go again because even though this movie is again helmed by Scott and it does indeed contain the word 'Alien' in the title this time it still isn't really exactly the alien movie that many people will be looking for.
From the start we are firmly in Prometheus territory with Michael Fassbender and Guy Pierce reprising their roles from that movie.
Fassbender's David and Pierce's Weyland have a conversation about creation and existence before we shoot off aboard the giant colony ship "Covenant" where Fassbender plays Walter - a new model of the synthetic David.
He is monitoring things and takes action when a freak accident causes the crew to be awakened early.
Before you can say distress signal most of the crew are in a dropship headed down to the planet from which the signal originated.
Now that will be enough plot from me because this movie is best enjoyed with as little knowledge going in.
At least I think it would be.
I don't actually know because the trailers, clips and tv spots that Fox released prior to today have shown altogether too much already and several times throughout the movie I could see exactly what was coming.
Given that this is basically the same Ten Little Indians / Friday the 13th who dies next kind of deal that the very first film employed this is a problem!
Clearly we are heading towards it but I am rapidly getting the feeling that all of this stalling had better pay off in a huge way because it all makes me want to slip the blu-ray director's cut of "Aliens" in the player.
And that might be the real problem here.
It isn't so much that Scott has his head more in the "Prometheus" universe than the "Alien" one but more that James Cameron's 1986 film still stands as far and away the best film yet made in the series and each film that followed including this one does enough Alien-y stuff to remind you how good they can be before missing the target by some margin.
And with repeated shots of steam filled corridors with flashing lights, cargo bays with familiar looking machinery, weapons that look very close to Colonial Marine gear and of course a central female warrior figure it is hard not to think of Ripley, Hicks, Bishop, the bark of pulse rifles and phrases like 'Get away from her you bitch!'
As I said - kind of an alien movie but just not quite ready to fully embrace it.
Once again it seems reluctant to fully commit to being an Alien movie and when your poster (that one right there at the top of the page) screams 'I am an Alien movie!!' I fear that many people will roll their eyes as the Xenomorph bug hunt that they were expecting just isn't there.
It kind of is.... there is definitely a greater move to bring what "Prometheus" presented closer towards the original Alien movie but I wonder what the big plan is here.
Scott has already said that a further movie is planned and that there is a path towards linking the two strands together (source)
I fear that the road ahead will be a rocky one because even though I enjoyed "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant" maybe even a little more there was still the same 'is that all?' feeling as I got up out of my seat at the end.
It's a tad too predictable too often and at pretty major points (if you can't see the final 15 minutes comin a mile away you clearly don't go to the movies much)
There is one key action scene that is pretty much worth the ticket price and Scott sure knows how to make a tasty looking science fiction movie.
The visual effects and set design are amazingly good here.
Also the Milford Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand are wonderfully other-worldly and provide a great setting.
There is plenty of the red stuff splashed around, loads of F Bombs, some smutty talk and even a sex scene with nudity.
Crudup, Fassbender and Waterston do fine work and even Danny McBride - best known for low brow comedy roles- does a terrific job in a very serious role as pilot Tennessee.
There are at least two action scenes of note and some staggeringly effective visual effects shot.
One scene shows the dropship landing and it is terrifically well done.
The ship interiors, computers and even Mother's voice (Lorelei King but damn does it sound like Sigourney Weaver) are beautifully done.
I like much of what this film does to stitch the two franchise strands together but enough with the teasing already.... give us the balls-out Alien flick that we all want.
Check out some of the behind the scenes stuff Adam savage has been able to see - https://www.youtube.com/user/testedcom/videos
ReplyDeleteReally interesting.
That is interesting stuff! Love the makeup effects stuff
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