SuperStiltzkin
Member
Could you even tell it was Franco if you didn't watch the prologue or look up imdb?
Alien: Covenant |SPOILER THREAD| With more Christian subtext than BvS
- Thread starter Toa TAK
- Start date
Could you even tell it was Franco if you didn't watch the prologue or look up imdb?
Bobby Roberts
Banned
None of these movies really have any sort of plausible deniability, though.
Again - it's a standard the series has more or less failed very consistently. It stood out in Prometheus because even by Alien's lax standards, these scientists were acting very stupidly. But there's nothing too out of the ordinary on that front in Covenant.
The Star Trek example still holds, for me. Just because they've done it a lot before doesn't make the decision to send down away teams (usually consisting of the ship's fuckin' captain and some disposables) in their jammies any less questionable if you're going to apply any sort of real-world logic to it.
But you only apply that shit to a point because otherwise what you're really wanting to do with the fiction becomes really encumbered with nerdy bullshit that more or less exists solely to ward off nitpicking, and not to advance story.
It really helps, though, when the story being advanced is worth a shit. Which is what we're both basically getting at in our examples of movies/stories where logical scientific procedure isn't used in movies where it probably should be.
Which also doesn't happen in Prometheus. So there's even less of a reason to give it the pass it needs, whereas audiences have zero problems giving it to Aliens, or Alien, or Star Trek, or any other sci-fi that flouts basic scientific convention for the sake of telling a good story.
Basically: Hammering on Covenant for "dumb scientists" reads more like a means to hit Prometheus again because hitting Prometheus for its dumb scientists basically became not just a valid criticism, but a talking point.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
I like the Jurassic Park expedition look of the Covenant crew. They'd be fine if they kept their damn earflaps down and didn't bury their faces in mysterious spore and egg sacs. I expected that one guy to take a big chomp out of that alien wheat.
Remember, use the bathroom before you leave the ship and everyone tuck your pants into your socks.
Remember, use the bathroom before you leave the ship and everyone tuck your pants into your socks.
TheChewyWaffles
Member
This is a spoiler thread, man. No need for spoiler tags.
edit: oops, my bad - didn't actually read the spoiler and assumed it was for the movie
I was thinking of the movie again this morning and it dawned on me that all of these gestations were so stinking rapid. Think about the chest-burster in Alien - it took days before the thing came out. Now the stupid things are born in 1 or 2 hours. Good stories take time to tell, and I feel like movies today have no patience to let a story evolve, and this collapsation of time for these events is just one symptom of that impatience.
B-B-Bomba!
Member
Same, I couldn't tell it was James Franco until he was already dead and she was watching a video. And I watched the prologue! Something about the pod made him look beefy, and blonde, to me ...
Bobby Roberts
Banned
He's actually tagging the end of a video game, not this movie.
(granted, the game is 3 years old at this point, so it's probably past the statute of limitations, but I get it)
CartridgeBlower
Member
So it made 36 million opening weekend.
Maybe Ridley Scott hated Bloomkamp's idea so much he self-immolated the franchise.
Maybe Ridley Scott hated Bloomkamp's idea so much he self-immolated the franchise.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
They were pretty bummed about it. Wew.
Satan
Tony Redgrave
Member
More like, it's a nice movie, I'm just tired of the same stuff.
At this point even Scott is tired of it, all the Xenomorph sequences were uninspired and by-the-numbers. The fact that the Prometheus parts are the most interesting of the film is telling.
I'm glad he spoilered tagged it cus I'm still building up the courage to play it. I will one day.
Thought it was ok! Enjoyed it more than Prometheus for the most part. Don't like that David is the big bad in this new series. The movie is called Alien Covenant not David's Covenant. All the story around the engineers was pretty much thrown away. Heck the Xenomorphs are pretty much thrown away. Having an Aliens/Blade Runner cross over would be cool if this is where the franchise is heading but I doubt it!
Perhaps Im just easy to please, but i loved it!
My first movie was Prometheus, then Alien, Aliens and now Alien Covenant. I like the worldbuilding, sure the movies are all the same (people looking, find a monster, monster kills, some escape), but the universe is more than enough to forgive that formulaic story.
I like the grandness of it all: i assume that David is responsible for creating the alien in the first movies?
I can understand why people dont like these movies (especially because they are so different from the first few), but for me: they are darn entertaining: offering some steady worldbuilding and some pretty sweet mysteries.
Cool, cant wait for the next one
Also a disclaimer: perhaps the reason why i like prometheus and this one so much is because I dont know much about the backstory adn im finding out more and more.
My first movie was Prometheus, then Alien, Aliens and now Alien Covenant. I like the worldbuilding, sure the movies are all the same (people looking, find a monster, monster kills, some escape), but the universe is more than enough to forgive that formulaic story.
I like the grandness of it all: i assume that David is responsible for creating the alien in the first movies?
I can understand why people dont like these movies (especially because they are so different from the first few), but for me: they are darn entertaining: offering some steady worldbuilding and some pretty sweet mysteries.
Cool, cant wait for the next one
Also a disclaimer: perhaps the reason why i like prometheus and this one so much is because I dont know much about the backstory adn im finding out more and more.
Yeah lmao, I don't even dislike the "silly scientists" trope in sci-fi/horror movies that much, but that fungus sniffing was off the charts.
I watched the original movie recently. I'm pretty sure the alien came out of the chest within the same day he was infected by the face hugger
This exactly. Hope he goes 100% Prometheus for the next one, but given the BO performance alas aren't exactly guranteed a sequel
ronaldthump
Member
AC is opening in China. It should do okay. There should be a sequel but its the prequel... (??!)
so... I do prefer just getting the sequel.
NealMcCauley
Member
I agree with a lot of what they said. Worth watching for this exchange:
"Wasn't that sexy shower scene bizarre?"
"Oh God. Yeah."
Jay's tone says so much.
Biggest-Geek-Ever
Member
The best thing about this releasing is I won't have to see that fucking shower scene during the trailer whenever I go to an R-rated film.
Randy Lanzarote
Member
It really was. Felt like they had spliced in a scene from a random 90s teen slasher horror movie. Right down to the 'We can't hear the phone ringing to warn us of danger because we're playing loud young person music'.
I was glad when hey brought this up the the RTL review, I didn't feel like such an old fart... ( or I did, but at least others agreed with me.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8LJSuO4aXA
So do we know what happened to all of the scenes in e.g. the above trailer?
Feels like at one point there were more survivors before shit goes down on the ship? (playing poker scene)
And then the xenomorph being an infant in the "4meters above you" scene?
Or is this just FOX marketing using shots from before major reshoots happened to suggest more of an "ALIEN" experience than the movie actually provides?
So do we know what happened to all of the scenes in e.g. the above trailer?
Feels like at one point there were more survivors before shit goes down on the ship? (playing poker scene)
And then the xenomorph being an infant in the "4meters above you" scene?
Or is this just FOX marketing using shots from before major reshoots happened to suggest more of an "ALIEN" experience than the movie actually provides?
Randy Lanzarote
Member
I wonder if those scenes were shortly specifically to make a trailer that was reminiscent of the first Alien movie.
Because I can't see how some of those shots would appear in the final movie, unless the last 30 minutes was essentially an entire reshoot.
(Although there is a several week gap at the start of the movie from awaking from cryosleep to arriving at Davey's planet. Maybe they had planned to have more crew interaction during this time?)
I came to submit my opinion of Covenant into the aggregate, not re-litigate Prometheus' problems. I can't help that the problems I had with Covenant were the same problems I had with Prometheus which, in fact, regressed further in the example of first landing protocol. I get that it's becoming a "thing" of the series but that doesn't change the fact that it detracts from my enjoyment overall.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
It would explain why people are fucking in the shower almost immediately after rescuing people from surely the most amazingly lethal horror they've ever encountered in their entire life.
Because when that scene was shot, it wasn't immediately after rescuing people. It was 3 or 4 weeks down the line, when their guard was down.
The movie opens with Daniels losing her husband. She's emotionally shredded from the get-go and consistently exhibited pretty rational responses to seeing the rest of the crew get dismembered by a hostile alien, while also in danger herself.I'll take this badass over Daniels who's always crying when she see a dead body.
Overall, I just prefer Prometheus over Covenant. It's an opinion, nothing more.
I would not be keeping myself together to nearly that degree.
That said. This movie should not have dropped Shaw, because she was indeed a badass and the film was worse for not having her in it. Not to mention the frustration of her story ending the way it did.
That explains a lot. Where did you read that?
Considering Prometheus' and The Martian's similar campaigns, I think Scott firmly believes in making the most out of the various multimedia available. He's having that moment that the Wachowski's did with their Matrix sequels back in the day.
Which can be problematic because I don't think he realizes that he doesn't need it.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Prometheus also had a couple of great scenes on youtube pre release. They get a lotta views and they surely help promote the movie. But damn, I'd prefer a cut with those scenes in it.
There's always fan edits. Which some of you may see as a 4 letter word but I think they're ok sometimes.
Tony Redgrave
Member
It's not 'too much', there's a total of two relevant scenes and one of them (dinner) isn't really important.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
I didn't, was just guessing - been thinking that a lot of these "prologue" pieces were actually deleted scenes for awhile now, that post is just more of me speculating, I hadn't actually read anything that would confirm my suspicions one way or the other.
Sure as shit FITS though, right?
I believe the other guy at the poker table is the shower dude, isn't it?
brandonh83
Banned
<3 Shaw, and Noomi's performance was great.
Warm Machine
Member
I'm glad the scene was in the movie. I can't remember a mainstream movie with a sex scene in it since the 50 Shades of Grey series and that is entirely expected.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
One of the ladies playing poker is Tennessee's wife, so that scene is before they land on David planet. The shower scene might have always been right after the rescue because the xeno incubation and growth time is pretty fast.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Oh shit, is it?
So much for that hypothesis, then.
Thanks for the clarification!
Tony Redgrave
Member
I still can't believe how they went totally no fucks given with the Xenomorph growth and implantation periods. Even if they used the "not yet completed Xeno, so it's different" card, the fact that the second facehugger implanted the guy who got acid in his face literally in seconds makes me want to bang my head into the wall. How?
Fancy Clown
Member
Actually thought this movie was pretty alright, and much, much better than Prometheus. The Alien stuff in the third act felt weirdly perfunctory, and far too much of the cast was just there for body-count (which makes the stupid antics stand out more, since unlike say Oram there isn't any tangible characteristics to hold on to beyond their "obviously does *thing* just so the movie can kill them".
But I really enjoyed the measured build up of the first act, the neomorph stuff, and then the gothic wackiness with David was absurdly entertaining. The backstory to the alien is still not something that enhances the original in any way, but taken on its own this is probably the most entertaining way they could explore that because Fassbender is brilliant and this film explored David in a more cohesive way than Prometheus.
If the third act were better, and more of the characters at least as developed as Oram and Daniels so they could have distinct personalities and motivations, then I'd say this would be decisively the third best movie in the series. As it stands I think Alien 3 is still a hair better than this, but even that this movie is just pretty good is a pleasant surprise to me.
Flute scene was the best part of the movie.
But I really enjoyed the measured build up of the first act, the neomorph stuff, and then the gothic wackiness with David was absurdly entertaining. The backstory to the alien is still not something that enhances the original in any way, but taken on its own this is probably the most entertaining way they could explore that because Fassbender is brilliant and this film explored David in a more cohesive way than Prometheus.
If the third act were better, and more of the characters at least as developed as Oram and Daniels so they could have distinct personalities and motivations, then I'd say this would be decisively the third best movie in the series. As it stands I think Alien 3 is still a hair better than this, but even that this movie is just pretty good is a pleasant surprise to me.
Flute scene was the best part of the movie.
hopefully the next prequel involves Shaw and David's years on the Engineer's planet, full of political drama with some engineers not accepting them as they view them as lower beings, then they are accepted after a while, but David's crazy ass still bombs them regardless.
Scott left a lot of leeway to spend some time on that planet with the next one as we don't know if David bombed the city right away or after a period of time. It also does suck what Scott did with Shaw but hopefully her character arc gets proper closure in the next one. also hope for minimal Alien involvement
Scott left a lot of leeway to spend some time on that planet with the next one as we don't know if David bombed the city right away or after a period of time. It also does suck what Scott did with Shaw but hopefully her character arc gets proper closure in the next one. also hope for minimal Alien involvement
The most tense and well shot scene in the film. Everyone at one point thought David was going to ram the flute right up to Walter's AI brain.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
I think with the box-office this one got, the likelihood of Scott having the luxury of going backwards in time instead of forwards to directly connect Covenant with Alien got a lot lower.
BattleMonkey
Member
I can't really stand RLM anymore, and really disagree with this. The shower scene was just the most old school horror feeling scene in the entire film. It was well shot, the Alien was not doing crazy CG filled stuff, it was simply horror that the movie overall lacked. I frankly wanted more of this than wild ride CG hanging off the shit battling a Xeno in the daylight, or CG spectacularly dull pushing the xeno into space once again scene.
Implement the important beats of that story as flashbacks in the next flick
I guess.
This film felt like a comedy. did laugh at the most inappropriate times I brought my misses to tha flix and she pissed herself during this shit. Now she keeps calling it Carry On Alien. Sigh. Didn't mind it meself but preferred prometheus loved the wonder and where it was going. Oh well. Evil robot creates toy.
BuckRobotron
Member
Been watching this thread and it seems like almost everything went in the opposite direction I would have wanted, from Shaw (I liked Noomi) being tossed to the apparent dimunition of the Engineers and possible spectacle involving them (but Engineer spectacle probably would be costly...). Didn't actually want too much time spent on more wayward dimbulbs getting offed by Aliens, and also didn't want such a strong focus on David.
Mind, I've found some entertainment in even the weakest of the Alien series/offshoots and I expect to like how this looks. Whenever it gets to Redbox.
Mind, I've found some entertainment in even the weakest of the Alien series/offshoots and I expect to like how this looks. Whenever it gets to Redbox.
Fancy Clown
Member
I think my thoughts on the movie mirror the AV Club's review pretty well (although my overall praise is a bit more tempered). This is totally a Hammer mad scientist gothic horror movie at heart, and though it has plenty of dumb, goofy shit in it, but it's (mostly) so entertaining that I don't mind. Stuff like David hamming it up in his giant spooky castle as rain pours down, as a severed head floating in a pool like some sort of Caravaggio painting hit the right notes on the horror/cheese balancing act.