![\"aliencovenant\"](\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/aliencovenant.jpg?resize=202%2C300\")
\nDirector Ridley Scott returns to the franchise he created, and boy howdy has he forgotten how to build suspense.<\/p>\n
\nDirector Ridley Scott returns to the franchise he created, and boy howdy has he forgotten how to build suspense.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0colony ship Covenant, housing over 2,000 people in suspended animation, experiences technical difficulties in its long voyage and at the same time, detects another habitable world and a strange signal originating from it. Looking at a longer time in stasis or an immediate colony, they go towards the newly discovered world.
\nThings… don’t go well for them.<\/p>\n
However you slice it, Alien: Covenant<\/em> is not a great movie. There’s a lot to unpack (this is the sixth<\/em> movie in a franchise after all) and whether this film is better or worse than 2012’s\u00a0heavily divisive Prometheus<\/em> is actually difficult to say. Erm.<\/p>\n A lot of the\u00a0problems of Prometheus<\/em> still exist in Alien: Covenant<\/em>. Principally of which is script. We still have incredibly reckless and stupid characters to contend with. A lot of the mess they get into is simply because they land on a planet they know nothing<\/em> about without any protective gear beyond caps and jackets. The characters are a dime a dozen; we have fifteen of them and honestly you catch maybe three of their names. Which is sad considering these are meant to be “couples”, who have strong\u00a0emotional bonds between them. Scott has clearly taken the criticism of the xenomorph-less\u00a0Prometheus<\/em> to heart and in response created a 1980s slasher movie of the worst kind. Then there’s the special effects. Yes, this hole keeps getting bigger. 1986’s Aliens<\/em> won awards for special effects, and Covenant<\/em> is a massive step backwards. Which is deeply upsetting to say about\u00a0a Ridley Scott movie; who’s trademark is exceptional<\/em> visuals. Possibly the most gutting, depressing moment was this film’s rendition\u00a0of 1979’s chestbuster sequence. Wow. Did they just forget how they did it before? Are they retconning Alien<\/em> now?<\/p>\n Whether it is a case of “the devil you know over the devil you don’t”, I am not sure, but I am struggling to defend Covenant<\/em> whereas Prometheus<\/em> had some merit. Here, Ridley Scott gave the audiences what they wanted, the xenomorph, and yet killed any<\/em> tension or suspense that it should invoke with its mere presence. I guess if I had to direct towards positives, I would say the gore was suitably gory; in fact it pushes the boundaries of a UK 15 certificate.<\/p>\n A director generally has a style: Spielberg, Scorsese, Abrams, Blomkamp… It is hard to believe the man behind this comedy of errors also made Alien<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Additional marshmallows: Hm. Seven years in the company of friends and loved ones to an idyllic home that has been predetermined by months-if-not-years of scientific research, the\u00a0perfect plan… or<\/em> land on a planet that no one knows anything about, it just appeared out of nowhere and has a creepy signal coming from it? Oh, and you are carrying over 2,000 sleeping souls on board your ship and they could possibly be the only hope for humanity. Tough choice.<\/p>\n Additional, additional marshmallows: If you think I enjoy writing a negative review for Alien: Covenant<\/em>, I really, really don’t. In fact writing this makes me sad and puts me in a state of disbelief.<\/p>\n [youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=svnAD0TApb8]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Director Ridley Scott returns to the franchise he created, and boy howdy has he forgotten how to build suspense. The\u00a0colony ship Covenant, housing over 2,000 people in suspended animation, experiences technical difficulties in its long voyage and at the same time, detects another habitable world and a strange signal originating from it. Looking at a… <\/p>\n
\nBut one thing defensible about Prometheus<\/em> is Scott’s own admission that it had little to do with Alien<\/em>, in fact a lot of audiences who like that film say its best enjoyed without expectations. Alien: Covenant<\/em>, evidently, wears the Alien<\/em> brand with pride, and since Prometheus<\/em>\u00a0Scott has said he wasn’t entirely happy with how it turned out. So, the new film\u00a0is a return to the successful franchise, Scott is refocusing and redoubling his efforts?<\/p>\n
\nThere’s a lot of cliche, which would make the film’s ancestor – a testimony to original writing – cringe. Come to an alien world, immediately put your face against a\u00a0weird spore-releasing fungus. You should be utterly traumatised, but nah, let’s have shower sex before being murdered instead.
\nThe tone of the movie is bizarre. Throughout the second and third acts we are accosted by philosophical waffling and intense body horror, literally edited side-by-side. This kills any kind of suspense, making a lot of what’s in the script feel comical, despite our earnest characters. Strange, strange creative and directorial decisions that… frankly… aren’t welcome.
\nIf you are hoping for answers (like we all did with Prometheus<\/em>) you don’t get them, in fact this “only raises further questions”, and the film remains coy with specific details. Is the film going to tell\u00a0us how someone just acquires alien eggs? No, instead here’s an extensive flute-playing scene with some of the most awkward dialogue ever written. Are our characters going to show an iota of concern about a colossal plaza full of incinerated corpses, numbering in\u00a0the millions, beyond just saying “This is strange, ain’t it”? Nope, here’s more flute playing and ill-conceived\u00a0exposition.<\/p>\n
\nWith Alien<\/em> in the title, Covenant<\/em> must<\/em> be compared to the legacy it is extending, and by that measure it is a trashy, bizarre, off-kilter experience made in response to another discredited movie.<\/p>\n![\"ef158-2-0\"](\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/04\/ef158-2-0.png?resize=260%2C50\")
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