2017: The Year in Film "Alien: Covenant" Review

The Alien franchise is, at this point, nearly as inexplicable in its survival as the Fast and Furious franchise. After 4 individual Alien films (only 2 of which are evem good - although those 2 are obviously great), 2 awful Alien v. Predator films and innumerable aborted starts, stops and would-be reboots, cinema master and director of the original Alien, Ridley Scott returned with an ambitious vision of the world that's home to the franchise with 2012's Prometheus.  While Prometheus is by no means a perfect film, it is incredibly ambitious, gorgeous, incredibly well-made, and gorgeous to look at. Michael Fassbender's performance alone is worth the cost of admission. Personally, I'm a fan of Prometheus, and even though several of the characters are inexplicably idiots, the film simply has a vision and an ambition that is sadly empty from most major studio releases, and especially sci fi.

Alien: Covenant is a direct sequel to Prometheus, and thus a prequel to the 1979 original. As Prometheus ended without revealing the classic xenomorph monster, Alien: Covenant has work to do.

It's 10 years after the exploration vessel Prometheus was lost, and humanity's first large-scale colonization mission to the stars has been undertaken to a distant world. After a fluke occurrence leads to the discovery of a mysterious distress beacon, the crew decides to investigate a seemingly hospitable world, with predictably dire consequences.

The Good: This film manages to ground the speculative ambition of Prometheus more firmly within the world of the first film, successfully bringing the story to a place where the origins of what will come to pass in the original films actually make sense within Scott's framework. Like every Ridley Scott film ever, this one is absolutely gorgeous, with top notch effects, cinematography, world-building and filmmaking across the board. Michael Fassbender is, as he was in Prometheus, far and away the best part of this film, this time playing two separate "brother" androids who drive much of the plot. English actress Katherine Waterston (I recognize her from Inherent Vice) channels her inner Ellen Ripley and Danny "Kenny Powers" McBride transitions to a serious role rather seamlessly. The plot is smarter and more sensible (if less ambitious..) than Prometheus' was, even if some of the characters yet again make inexplicable decisions. It IS a horror movie, after all.



The Bad: Billy Crudup's character (the acting captain) is a straight-up idiot. It's not even Crudup's fault, although his performance isn't going to win him any forgiveness here, as it's fine but not great, but the decisions of his character are throughout stupid at best. The film is occasionally clumsy and obtuse in its efforts to link it with the original film, with many, many explicit homages throughout. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think the film could have been more subtle about it, as "Alien" IS right there in the title after all. I think, even though it's absolutely a good thing that the series has become more grounded in the world of the original film, that abandoning a good chunk of Prometheus' ambition and speculative vision are a mistake, even if this film is ultimately satisfying, I think it could have potentially said even more than it ultimately did.

In all, if you're a fan of Alien, Aliens, Prometheus, or the franchise as a whole, you won't want to miss this one. A talented cast, gorgeous filmmaking, fun world-building and creepy space horror all combine to make a successful film that stands among the best sci fi films of recent years. I'm a little disappointed that it didn't build more on what Prometheus had suggested, albeit in a more sensible way, but ultimately Michael Fassbender and Ridley Scott make a pair that fans of the genre won't want to miss.

8/10.

2012: The Year in Film: "Prometheus" Review.

Ugh, let me apologize again for taking forever with this review.. I wasn't quite sure how to treat it. Spoiler fest or straight review? I elected to go with the straight review b/c the number of people likely interested in a spoiler-heavy discussion of a nerdtastic work of fiction was likely to be lower than the number who read the regular-old reviews. Let me make a confession here... I sort of love "Alien" and "Aliens", and I think the xenomorph is one of the most badass movie/sci fi monsters of all time. Alien3 and Alien Resurrection? Not so much, and I won't even talk about the crossovers with the "Predator" franchise, they don't deserve mention.. but there are two legitimately great entrants to this franchise, which is more than just about every movie franchise can say. Maybe someday I'll rank movie franchises, but for now it suffices to say that "Alien" and "Aliens" are both classics. Not just sci fi classics, but classics. Straight up. "Prometheus" has been burning up the interwebs for months. As another fun aside, while driving to Northwest Ohio the week that Prometheus opened I heard a DJ on a Dayton radio station do his little movie review bit.. he thought Prometheus was "horrible" and "didn't understand it", while he thought the new "Madagascar" movie was "great" and "perfect for adults and kids". So for what it's worth, if you're a mouth breathing Dayton resident who plays soul-sucking music for $22 grand a year, you won't like Prometheus. 

Is "Prometheus" a prequel to "Alien", or isn't it? What we do know is that it's Ridley Scott, one of the top 3 or 4 directors working today, returning to sci fi, where's he's responsible for little flicks called "Alien" and "Blade Runner". The legend is that Scott was upset that he was never given a chance to continue the Alien franchise and has been working on ideas in the same universe for the last 30 years or so.. so the long-gestating "Prometheus" is his vision of what the "Alien" universe has to offer.

This is not an "Alien" prequel in the direct sense of the word. It informs Alien without being directly related by anything other than occurring in the same universe. So don't come in expecting eggs, facehuggers, chestbursters, impaling tails and all the rest and you won't be disappointed by expecting a straight prequel. The year is 2089 and a discovery in a cave in Scotland leads to an expedition to a mysterious, far-off star system that seems to be described in ancient ruins across the planet. Funded by the Weyland Corporation, the group of scientists, soldiers, technicians, corporate stooges and one android sets off to the mysterious, earth-like moon to see who, or what, may be out there. The expedition is seeking answers, or at least riches, and of course encounters much more than they could have possibly anticipated. The mission quickly degenerates from mission of discovery, research and exploration into one of danger, death and destruction, as it becomes clear that the forces on this mysterious moon are not benign.
The cast is top notch. Noomi Rapace (most recognizable as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish versions of the "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" series) and Logan Marshall-Green play the scientists responsible for discovering the cosmic link to earth, Idris "Stringer Bell/Luther" Elba is Prometheus' captain, Charlize Theron is the ship's corporate liason/boss and Michael Fassbender plays the mysterious android, David. Fassbender especially, shines. There is an extended period where he alone roams the corridors of the empty ship that is as compelling as any other in the film.

This is a Ridley Scott flick, so you know it's going to look incredible. I do not exaggerate when I say that it may be one of the 2 or 3 most visually stunning and occasionally beautiful films that I've ever seen. The landscapes, ship, and alien structure combine into a lovely and unsettling techno-gothic and tomb-like organic motif that serve to escalate the impending sense of dread. The story is strong if far from perfect, as it ponders and examines some serious questions while also systematically killing off the bulk of its cast. Written by Damon Lindelof, the story has its LOST-esque flaws, but is by and large quite effective and pretty damn audacious in its own right.

First, the film's strengths. Fassbender, Rapace and Elba in particular are great. They are fleshed-out characters who bring the requisite gravitas to what could easily be a silly endeavor.  It's no mistake that the best scenes in the film (excepting the opening... which you'll see when you watch it) feature those three heavily.  Visually, this film knocks it out of the park.  You will not see a better looking film this year, and there are few available.  The entire thing looks like a work of art.  The sets, shots and overall direction are an absolute strength.  The ambition of the film is absolutely a strength.  It would have been extremely easy for everyone involved to rest of their laurels, do a straight action-sci/fi origin story, make a crap load of money and call it a summer, but the attempt to create something lasting and truly great is alone worth recognition.

Now for the weaknesses.  I'm not as down on the film as some, having seen it twice, I feel that most of the alleged plot holes can be reasoned out and aren't plot holes so much as choices not to hold your hand and spell out every single detail in minutia.  With that being said, there are some moments that don't make much sense.  Some characters appear to be incomplete and the film suffers as a result.  I'm interested to see the director's cut (which allegedly has another 30 minutes of footage) to see how much of those are due to pre-release editing and how many are truly due to plotting choices.  The somewhat inexplicable scenes are what separate this film from true greatness.  It looks great, it feels great, but it just falls short.  There are too many questions.  Too many characters sold short and moments that make little sense to excuse away.

With those criticisms in mind, what the film does well it does exceedingly well.  This is a sci-fi thriller for thinking adults.. who demand more than shit blowing up.  I would applaud it for that alone, even if it didn't feature an outstanding cast at the top of their games, astounding visuals and an overall satisfying plot.  What the film does most effectively, as opposed to straight-line explaining how we arrived at the events of "Alien" and "Aliens" is enrich the universe of those films.  We now know who the Space Jockeys were, what they were all about, and ultimately where the xenomorphs come from.  The attempt to get to life's deeper mysteries and ask ultimately unanswerable questions puts it above your typical blockbuster, and indeed makes it one of the more ambitious studio films in recent years.  However, the inexplicable moments and the film's ultimate inability to strike a proper balance between 2001-esque philosophy class entrant and sci-fi thriller in the vein of "Alien" cause it to fall short of ultimate greatness.

In conclusion, a strong, often audacious film that is occasionally beautiful and very watchable, but suffers from some weaknesses that cause it to miss "classic" status.  8/10.