 | Director: Ridley Scott Writers: John Logan and Dante Harper Starring: Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup and Danny McBride. Review Written By: Michael Dalton, Prime Minister |
When Prometheus was released in the summer of 2012 anticipation was high for Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien franchise. His 1979 original made a hero out of Sigourney Weaver and contained one of cinema’s most shocking scenes. The subsequent sequels tarnished the brand, resulting in the low point that was Alien vs. Predator. Prometheus was not only supposed to mark Ridley Scott’s return to the science-fiction genre, but also the franchise’s return to its bloody roots. However, Ridley Scott had other things on his mind, such as the meaning of life, and delivered a film that left people confused both by its tone and the dubious decisions of its characters. Despite its mixed reception, one thing that all reviews of Alien: Covenant seem to agree on is that it’s better than Prometheus. I disagree, and think that Alien: Covenant actually shows just what a good film Prometheus is.
Prometheus, for all its flaws, at least had an air of originality. In fact, the film was so original that it would have been better served had it been its own entity, merely taking place in the Alien universe but not directly connected to the original. As an Alien movie it is disappointing. The Xenomorph hardly appears and, one sequence aside, it doesn’t contain any of the original’s visceral horror. However, what it does contain are some superb performances, principally from Michael Fassbender as the android David. The film also boasts some stunning imagery and production design, as well as dark and mature themes. In an industry that is devoid of big-budget, original science fiction, it’s reasonable to assume that had it arrived without the pressure of being an Alien prequel, the reception to Prometheus would have been much kinder.
Prometheus, for all its flaws, at least had an air of originality. In fact, the film was so original that it would have been better served had it been its own entity, merely taking place in the Alien universe but not directly connected to the original. As an Alien movie it is disappointing. The Xenomorph hardly appears and, one sequence aside, it doesn’t contain any of the original’s visceral horror. However, what it does contain are some superb performances, principally from Michael Fassbender as the android David. The film also boasts some stunning imagery and production design, as well as dark and mature themes. In an industry that is devoid of big-budget, original science fiction, it’s reasonable to assume that had it arrived without the pressure of being an Alien prequel, the reception to Prometheus would have been much kinder.
However, the reception wasn’t kind and Ridley Scott (or at least the studio) was listening. Marketing for Alien: Covenant has put the Xenomorph front and center and would almost have you believe that this film has nothing to do with Prometheus. And yet, as the film progresses it becomes clear that it wants to have its cake and eat it, revealing itself to be both a sequel to Prometheus as well as essentially a remake of Alien. It feels like two separate scripts were fused together and the result is a dishonest and disjointed mess.
For somebody who’s called it, ‘the thinking man’s horror film’, Ridley Scott insults the audience’s intelligence in many ways throughout Alien: Covenant (No reference or allusion can be made without aggressive citation from the characters). However, perhaps the most galling is the film’s implicit suggestion that all we wanted was a by the numbers retread of Alien and some Xenomorph action. All of which is phoned in to disguise the film’s true intention, which is a doubling down on Prometheus. It defenestrates the film to try and gain some geek cred, yet also wholly embraces it. Not only that, it embraces its worst aspects, with Covenant’s script making Damon Lindelof’s words sound natural and subtle.
For somebody considered an auteur director, Alien: Covenant is Ridley Scott filmmaking by focus group. To add bewildering insult to injury, it’s done to cynically dispose of a film whose style and plot it lovingly continues. And if that sounds like a contradiction it’s because it is. And so is this film. Either make Prometheus 2 or a true Alien prequel, all this disjointed mess serves to do is undermine what could have been an interesting sci-fi series in its own right, and further saturate the Alien franchise. You’d think if anybody could make the Xenomorph scary again it’s Ridley Scott and yet the film’s desire to explain the origins of that classic movie monster only serves to rob it of the qualities that made it so terrifying in the first place.
If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t think that this film was from the same director as Alien; such is its fundamental misunderstanding of what made that film so scary. Like George Lucas and Peter Jackson before him, in going back to provide his classic with a prequel trilogy, Ridley Scott seems to have forgotten what made his own film so good in the first place. Watching Alien: Covenant, the film I was most reminded of was not Alien, but rather Attack of the Clones. That film got good reviews just for not being The Phantom Menace, but that didn’t make it any good.
With this prequel series, Ridley Scott is following the George Lucas mold of providing utterly unnecessary backstory in the most ponderous of ways. To extend this Star Wars comparison further, Alien: Covenant represents the worst of both worlds, having the portent of the prequels and the pandering fan service of the latest sequels. However, whereas The Force Awakens was good, all the Alien moments here feel utterly generic and unspectacular. Who would have thought that a chest-bursting scene could feel like such a non-event?
For somebody who’s called it, ‘the thinking man’s horror film’, Ridley Scott insults the audience’s intelligence in many ways throughout Alien: Covenant (No reference or allusion can be made without aggressive citation from the characters). However, perhaps the most galling is the film’s implicit suggestion that all we wanted was a by the numbers retread of Alien and some Xenomorph action. All of which is phoned in to disguise the film’s true intention, which is a doubling down on Prometheus. It defenestrates the film to try and gain some geek cred, yet also wholly embraces it. Not only that, it embraces its worst aspects, with Covenant’s script making Damon Lindelof’s words sound natural and subtle.
For somebody considered an auteur director, Alien: Covenant is Ridley Scott filmmaking by focus group. To add bewildering insult to injury, it’s done to cynically dispose of a film whose style and plot it lovingly continues. And if that sounds like a contradiction it’s because it is. And so is this film. Either make Prometheus 2 or a true Alien prequel, all this disjointed mess serves to do is undermine what could have been an interesting sci-fi series in its own right, and further saturate the Alien franchise. You’d think if anybody could make the Xenomorph scary again it’s Ridley Scott and yet the film’s desire to explain the origins of that classic movie monster only serves to rob it of the qualities that made it so terrifying in the first place.
If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t think that this film was from the same director as Alien; such is its fundamental misunderstanding of what made that film so scary. Like George Lucas and Peter Jackson before him, in going back to provide his classic with a prequel trilogy, Ridley Scott seems to have forgotten what made his own film so good in the first place. Watching Alien: Covenant, the film I was most reminded of was not Alien, but rather Attack of the Clones. That film got good reviews just for not being The Phantom Menace, but that didn’t make it any good.
With this prequel series, Ridley Scott is following the George Lucas mold of providing utterly unnecessary backstory in the most ponderous of ways. To extend this Star Wars comparison further, Alien: Covenant represents the worst of both worlds, having the portent of the prequels and the pandering fan service of the latest sequels. However, whereas The Force Awakens was good, all the Alien moments here feel utterly generic and unspectacular. Who would have thought that a chest-bursting scene could feel like such a non-event?
Whilst Prometheus may not have lived up to its billing as an Alien prequel, it is a far more ambitious and original film than Alien: Covenant. The characters are better realized, with the crew of the Covenant being more disposable than the cast of a slasher movie. This is a point of view that the film itself agrees with, as despite Katherine Waterston’s great performance, Michael Fassbender’s David is the true protagonist. The film starts and ends with him, being his story more than anyone else’s. This would be fine if what we were watching was a straight-up sequel to Prometheus, but it’s fundamentally at odds with the Alien film it presents itself as and reduces all the other characters, and the time spent with them, to nothing.
Meanwhile, there is no sequence in Covenant as compelling, or disturbing, as the one in Prometheus where Noomi Rapace’s character has to perform self-surgery in order to remove an Alien fetus. Alien: Covenant may dial up the Xenomorph action but it doesn’t do so to any great effect. Whilst we all remember sequences from Alien, Aliens and Prometheus, I’d be willing to bet that in a few years time people will struggle to remember anything from Alien: Covenant. And perhaps that’s the film’s biggest crime beyond its dishonest disjointedness…it just isn’t scary.
Meanwhile, there is no sequence in Covenant as compelling, or disturbing, as the one in Prometheus where Noomi Rapace’s character has to perform self-surgery in order to remove an Alien fetus. Alien: Covenant may dial up the Xenomorph action but it doesn’t do so to any great effect. Whilst we all remember sequences from Alien, Aliens and Prometheus, I’d be willing to bet that in a few years time people will struggle to remember anything from Alien: Covenant. And perhaps that’s the film’s biggest crime beyond its dishonest disjointedness…it just isn’t scary.
Closing Remarks
Ultimately, Alien: Covenant is an unimaginative retread of Alien fused with a Prometheus sequel that dials up the portent and feels a need to justify its existence. The result is a hybrid so horrific, it challenges the monster that used to be at the centre of it all.
Movie Parliament Rating: FRINGE PARTY
Movie Parliament Rating: FRINGE PARTY
What do you think? Is Alien: Covenant a better film than Prometheus? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
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