ALIEN: COVENANT Thread v.2 (Dragonlord's Review, post #1)

[usulrah]

Well yeah, the costumes for Aliens may not look as good, in fully lit closeups.

I'm referring to how they appear in each movie, and in Aliens they don't look like a tall guy wearing a rubber suit.

Cameron purposely kept the detail of their costumes in shadows and in obscured glimpses. He also had more of a focus on their movement, hiring stuntman with dancing blackgrounds to wear the costumes, and they practiced animalistic movements for the scenes.

So it wasn't just the costumes, but how they were presented that displayed the character of the respected Xenomorph/s of each film.

What I don't like about that model of Xenomorph, is that it walks upright. What's the point of the tail and protrusions from it's back? Certainly not balance.

To me, THIS is a Xenomorph.

Gotta agree with the close-up shots of the double set of teeth. Those were horrifying.

If your referring how the look in the actual film maybe dont use a production pic as your example of how it doesn't hold up.

Ridely also purposely kept the details obscure and in the shadows, I would say more than Cameron till the final. So I dont understand the point your tying to make. The big chap alien also moves in a specific very deliberate and strange way, its just not like a rabid animal. Yeah he hired stuntmen and dancers and it shows all the aliens look way more stocky and less sleak except for a few scenes with a puppet that has radically different proportions than the suits.

Too me the alien in the first looks way more like a living creature than the aliens drones. the queen though was done very well, which I suspect took a lot of the budget away from the drone costumes and it shows to me(also taking away the dome was a shit idea and lazy because Cameron had concerns of it breaking, fucking hate domeless aliens). Of all the first 4 films i think aliens had the worst costumes.

Why would you say that a quadrupedal xeno is what is a xeno to you ?, its not presented as such in the first(except i assume it was in the ducts when it gets Dallas) and in the second they are a mix both. I just dont understand how you can even say that shitty pic is WHAT a xenomurph is to you, how do you ignore the original. The tail is a weapon the the flutes on the back could be anything from how it breaths to cooling it down to how it shits.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

If your referring how the look in the actual film maybe dont use a production pic as your example of how it doesn't hold up.

Point taken.

I'll respond to the rest of your post tomorrow. Gotta hit the sack.

 

[Punky]

it suuuucked! and i waited the whole time for the tits but it only happened at the very end of the movie.

 

[europe1]

It's a solid movie. 7/10

* I want some sort of round-table discussion on the themes Ridley is trying to weave in this film and Prometheus. The self-sacrifice, creator/creation, biological/synthetic themes that he has been playing with. They're the most interesting parts of these films were not a part of the original Alien films. I refuse to believe that Ridley is infusing these themes just for some mumbo-jumbo. Covenant definitively was playing off the ideas established in Prometheus, expanding them and making them a bit more overt.

* I'll watch Fassbender in anything.

* The film was it's weakest when it was going through the horror tropes. It almost seems that Ridley wasn't very interested in doing a "typical" horror movie and just slogged through those moments to get to the stuff he was really interested in (a more thematic film). The alien isn't as central as one would think. Prometheus was made the same way.

* The movie definitively played fast-and-loose with the natural sciences.

* Interesting... ending.

* Quite jarring how they disgards some things from Prometheus.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

 

[Urban Youth]

I gotta say, this ranks as one of Ridley's best films. Really surprised with Dragonlord's review.

9/10 and damn near a masterpiece for me. It could have used some more cinematic moments shot wise, which is why I held off from a 10/10.

This movie is incredibly deep and Ridley is coding a lot of social commentary into this film. Cool action, nice suspense. It's a combination of his original Alien and Cameron's Aliens, with Prometheus as it's foundation. The most graphic violence in any of these movies, it's just brutal.

Visual speaking it's a modern film with modern effects, give me that over making a retro movie à la The Force Awakens. I can appreciate the craftsmanship of the original movie anytime.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

i just got back from the thursday early release - Saw it in IMAX.

Great movie IMO. 8/10.

*I didn't write a big long review as I'm still trying to let everything sink in. I may see it again - but not in Imax.

Spoiler

the surprise end - was not a surprise at all. It was pretty obvious it was David IMO.

 

[chrisdiaz]

Thought it was real good. The only question that wasnt answered that bummed me out was Why did the engineers want to kill the humans? Im assuming its cause we suck but still.

 

[thomnasty]

I went in saw it opening night. I'm one the people who enjoyed promtheus. Its been interesting reading all if your reviews and comments. Here's my take....

Spoiler

The good:
-great cinematography. The enviroment and the world they visited was very fascintating. The reason why I love sci-fi movies like this is because of their ability to take you unexplored or interesting planets. It was super important that they do this well.

- one scene I particularly enjoyed watching was David releasing the engineer juguanaut's payload over the skies of the engineer city.

-great soundtrack. I loved how it incorporated the original theme from the first Alien.

- Fassbender was good. He's such a good actor overall. I was impressed with how he played two different robots. His Walter reminded me of Bishop. David really pisses me off though in how he seems cool at first but does all this fucked up shit. That engineer in Promotheus might have been onto something when he ripped his head off. Props to him for seeing through David's b.s.

- this movie was very gruesome and at some points very disturbing. The way the neomorphs burst out people was very raw and random. One bursts out the guys back and the other out the guys mouth. This was a suprise and it contrasted the more refined proto morph which utilizes the normal chest bursting method. Another highlight for me was during the shower scene, was when the protomorph thrusts his inner mouth through that dudes head. Finally, the most frightening part of all can at the end when David was freezing Daniels in her cryo sleep as she realized what had happened.

The bad:
-The neomorphs cgi looked too unrealistic at times.

- David seemed a little rapey.

- the life cycle of the aliens seemed too rushed.

- I'm dissapointed there was no neomorph vs protomorph battle. I feel they missed a golden opportunity here.

- poorly developed characters. They had large shoes to fill in following the characters from promoetheus, such as shaw and vickers. They missed the mark on this one.

- probably my biggest greivence, is how they threw away Shaw. It really frustrates me that at the end of Promotheus, she pretty much forgives David for all the fucked up shit he does and he still goes and screws her over. She such a great character and I really wanted to see her story continued. It feels like such a waste and that her choice to go the engineer home world was in vain. Plus if you had watched the prologue trailer for this film, you get the idea that this was going happen. To watch my suspicions confirmed was so disssapointing.

- the lack of engineers. Ever since the first glimpse of the engineer, or space jockey, I've been fascinated by them. I liked their portrayal in Promotheus, but mostly, I liked the mystery behind them. In Promotheus, we were to introduced to them but were allowed to develop many questions about them. To me one of the greatest things about Promotheus was that it was a movie that didn't just spoon feed you information but forced you think and form your own theories. There was none of that here. The engineers were just an instrument for David to experiment on. I was pissed at the end, when the survivors flew off and we saw that final shot of large head carved into the wall of the mountatin. It only added extra sting to the lach of engineers.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Never seen an alien film in theaters

So im going to go see this in the morning

I just want good action and some good on screen deaths. I am not really concerned about the lore at this point.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Spoiler

Nope
I've read or heard somewhere Scott didn't like the idea of the Queen. At least the originally planned life cycle of the xenomorph in the first movie didn't involve a queen.
I personally don't like the idea of a queen and a hive because it basically turns them into bugs. Which IMO goes against what makes the xenomorph scary

Spoiler

of course he doesn't like the idea its cause he didn't come up with it

 

[KhabibTheBeagle]

As a horror-action movie, I quite enjoyed it. While the storytelling wasn't up to scratch, and most of the characters weren't worth caring about, I liked the horror element of Covenant.
The atmosphere felt very creepy, and unnerving, and the xenomorph actually made for some good scares. Ignoring what it left out, and how much better it could have been, my friends and I still had an enjoyable viewing experience.


(Spoiler Alert)

Spoiler

A big complaint I have, is with the 'twist', and how obvious it was. Specifically, how no-one noticed that Walter was killed and replaced by David during the final act. Had they not made it so obvious to the audience, it would have been a much more satisfying payoff in the end, imo.

 

[Just Creed]

I don't know if anyone has touched on this yet, but the whole Alien vs Predator story has gone to shit after this movie..

Spoiler

In the AvP movie, the predators had been using the Aliens for ritual hunting for 1000's of years.

But David only created them recently.

No big loss....especially with AvP 2

 

[dawnignited]

Saw it last night and it's still fresh in my mind, but I'm incredibly disappointed.

The funny thing is the xenomorph isn't the most dangerous thing in this film. The dumbasses onscreen were more a danger to themselves. Prometheus had stupid characters, but somehow the folks in this movie have the Prometheus crew trumped big time. Prometheus at least had the strength of Noomi Rapace as the lead and I still rooted for her despite all the stupidity abound. I don't want to hate on Billy Crudup as an actor, but goddamn, the character he's playing and the decisions he makes... I'd say he's Fifield and Millburn dumb, but that would be an insult to Fifield and Millburn. The only characters I even gave a fraction of a shit about in Covenant were Danny McBride and Michael Fassbender. And yeah, then there's the "twist..."

Spoiler

...which anyone with a brain should be able to call, because really, who wasn't expecting David to kill Walter?

I would never go so far as to say this is the worst movie in the franchise-- not even close-- but it's definitely not the kind of Alien film I would have hoped for from Ridley Scott, as inconsistent a filmmaker as he is.

3/10

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

No big loss....especially with AvP 2

AVP 2 would have been better if I could actually see what the fuck was happening

I swear most scenes are pitch black

 

[TrueBias]

AVP 2 would have been better if I could actually see what the fuck was happening

I swear most scenes are pitch black

I am one of the very few that prefers avp requim over the pg13 version.

 

[TrueBias]

I am going to see it tonight, despite dragons review. Im afraid om gonna walk away....hurt. Yeah, it hurts me when these movies suck. I was hurt after alien 3, then pissed with resurrection. When the avp movies came out, i kept thinking, god dammit!

Finally, prometheus. This was a movie i pretended to understanf, but lets face it, no one knows what the fuck was happening because its an unfinished movie.

This appears to be more of the 'same,' which places my needs in the middle ground. Thats all im hoping for and I should get it.

Still.....i fear the hurt.

 

[BuffaloEmperor]

I went and saw Alien Covenant last night. I give it an 8/10.

Danny McBride, Katherine Waterson, Michael Fassbender, and Billy Crudup all gave great performances. The Alien's looked great. I loved nearly the whole film. The only reason I did not give the movie a 9 or 10 out of 10 is the ending. I understand the direction of the ending, but thought it was too predictable. I will either go to the theater to see again, or buy when it comes out on blue ray. Alien Covenant is a must watch for all Alien fans.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

I liked it. The 3rd act was kind of a mess and incredibly rushed. It could have used more run time. They lost me with the android Paul Greengrass style fight scene. It was ridiculously out of place in an "Alien" film. The shower scene was also ridiculously out of place. Overall, it was quite enjoyable, but very forgettable.

The scene where the first guy gets infected and the girl locks the other in the med bay was fucking excellent. The suspense was incredibly well done.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Also, great troll job with the James Franco. Props for that.