In space, no one can hear you scream
Ridley Scott is a famous horror film director known for his bone-chilling franchise called “Alien”. On May 4th 2017, Scott announced his release of a new film in his series known as“Alien:Covenant” However, to understand the new film, Ridley Scott fans found themselves re-watching the original alien film. The classic story of “Alien” deals with a crew of 7 on a ship called the “Nostromo”. Within Nostromo, the ship’s command center, nicknamed “Mother” quickly alerts the crew in their cryo-sleep capsules about a distress warning. As it turns out, this distress warning came from an alien vessel. Furthermore, the crew embarks on a journey to seek out this distress signal, only to realize the horror begins once an organism latches onto a crew member’s face. Due to the success in Ridley Scott’s first film Alien, fans immediately flocked to the theaters to witness the latest edition in Scott’s phenomenal franchise, only to realize Alien:Covenant was a disappointment.
According to an article entitled “Alien: Covenant is worth screaming about: review” from Peter Howell, a reviewer from The Star, the new alien movie was better than any other previous films in the alien series. As stated by Howell: “Alien: Covenant brings back the visceral panic that fans expect from the franchise, along with the show-stopping title creatures: among them the face-hugger, the chest-burster and the canoe-headed xenomorph.” Howell believed Scott’s films were successful due to his famous creatures depicted in the original alien film, as well as the acting. (Howell). Peter Howell argued that “Alien:Covenant” was filled with suspenseful acting, which brought the story to life.
A second article from Todd McCarthy, a reviewer from Hollywood Reporter, had a similar view to Howell, but McCarthy focused on the plot and drama within the film, rather than the creatures and acting. McCarthy described Covenant as “ Intelligent speculation and textbook sci-fi presumptions, startlingly inventive action and audience-pleasing old standbys, philosophical considerations and inescapable genre conventions, intense visual splendor and gore at its most grisly.” McCarthey further explained one particular scene in the Covenant film. The crewmembers, were embarking on a 7 year journey to a planet called “Origae-6” to provide a new shelter for human life. The overall goal was to transport 2,200 humans, as well as 1,140 embryos safely to Origae-6. In a turn of events, a space storm hits the crew’s spaceship, leaving their main captain deceased. Now, with a new leader, the crew decided to embark on a new planet, closer to them, rather than taking 7 years to reach Origae-6. (McCarthy) But, with the crew being on an uncharted planet, anything can happen. In response to the scene, McCarthy stated“there’s trouble lurking in the magnificent flora and fauna and, given the particulars of this bloody franchise, it doesn’t take long for humans to fall ill and start bursting with nasty and ferocious critters they never imagined could spring from their innards.” In other words, McCarthy believed the film’s success came from the unpredictable mindset of this uncharted planet. With the crew unaware of possible situations, the drama will build up, causing suspense throughout the film.
According to another article entitled “Alien: Covenant May Be the Biggest Disappointment of the Summer” from Germain Lussier, a reviewer from Gizmodo, the Covenant film may was the ultimate letdown of summer 2017. Lussier argued “ There’s just nothing that memorable in the movie. The gore and creature work make for some fun or gross moments, but nothing in the film stands out as something worthy of the name “Alien.” Germain further elaborated that Covenant had all of the action scenes towards the end of the film, making the rest of the film anti-climatic. Lussier also included how Ridley Scott lacked to include the close-off from the previous film in the alien franchise known as “Prometheus” Looking through Lussier’s eyes, there was no clear explanation of what happened after Prometheus, and no further analysis of what to expect in Covenant. (Gizmodo). Now, looking back towards the introduction of the film all the way to the climax, Germain voiced his opinion on Scott’s lack of action. He implied the film focused too much of the characters and their backgrounds, rather than the film focusing on dramatic action scenes, until the ending. However, due to the action scenes being thrown towards the end of the film, Lussier closes his argument by reassuring that Scott embedded too many action scenes in the end of the film, ultimately causing the overall tension of the ending to be mediocre. (Gizmodo). From this unique perspective of having too many actions scenes at the end of a film, Lussier believes the audience will become distracted, and therefore confused about what’s happening. I think Lussier’s argument is valid, because our brains can only focus on one specific thing at a time. In other words, we’re not wired to multi-task. So, Ridley Scott’s epic finale in Covenant ended up being a huge interruption, rather than a noteworthy ending.
An additional article “Alien: Covenant review: a terrifying return to horror that doesn’t quite click” from Bryan Bishop, a reviewer from The Verge, believes the Covenant film didn’t click well in the alien series. In Bryan’s words “There’s no escaping the fact that as a standalone film, Covenant is wanting, neither truly making its own thematic points nor carving out its own unique place in the legacy of the franchise.” Bishop provided further information throughout his article suggesting Covenant took the alien series in a different direction. He claimed the film focused more on human origin, and our place in the universe. (The Verge) For example, throughout the entire film, Ridley Scott’s ideas were slightly altered, to fit the theme for human population. This explains the main goal in Covenant is to provide a new shelter for future humans and embryos. Ultimately, Ridley Scott’s drive on the “alien” topic has shifted. In other words, the show-stopping idea of horror from Scott’s first film back in the 1970’s has become extinct. Throughout the majority of this article, Bishop’s tone shows disappointment in Scott’s idea shift. So, from Bishop’s’ perspective, if Covenant focused on a primary “alien” idea, the film would be a million times better.
I agree mainly with Germain Lussier, because I was disappointed in the Covenant film as well. Once I heard Ridley Scott released a new film, I was ecstatic! I was like a child going to see their favorite Disney movie! During these movie premiers, it was common to see children dressed up in costumes, holding their favorite action figure, etc. This childhood fantasy was created due to Walt Disney’s remarkable success. However, Disney movies never disappointed me. Walt Disney always lived up to his expectation of providing clever yet humorous storylines. I always looked up to Ridley Scott as the Walt Disney in horror films. But, I guess Ridley Scott disappointed thousands of “children” in Covenant. Adding on to this, I thought Lussier provided valid and descriptive explanations for his reasonings behind his argument. He first explained how Covenant lacked action-packed scenes throughout the film, up until the ending. Lussier preached how this film was unsuccessful, because the audience had to wait until the finale for suspense. Moving Forward, Lussier provided an additional argument regarding the action scenes. In the whole duration of the film, Ridley Scott put a tremendous amount of effort on focusing on the characters and their backstories. Unfortunately, because of this issue, Ridley Scott provided a huge-let down to alien fans. To be fair, it’s crucial to explain each character in a film. But, if a character’s backstory makes up the entire film, then what’s the point in seeing the movie? Films with too much backstory leaves the audience bored, which is how I felt after I saw Covenant. Finally, I strongly believe that Covenant reminded me too much of the original alien, and therefore, there was nothing new or special about Covenant.
If Lussier was to argue against someone, I think Lussier would argue with Todd McCarthy. McCarthy believed Covenant was a success due to Ridley Scott’s unpredictability. Furthermore, with Scott’s unpredictability, McCarthy believed each scene in Covenant left the audience on the edge of their seats. However, Lussier would disagree with McCarthy, saying there was no action-packed scenes at all. I believe Lussier would enlighten McCarthy about the characters and their backgrounds, rather than the scenes. The characters and backgrounds are the foundation of Lussier’s argument against the film.
Overall, the famous Ridley Scott produced an ultimate trainwreck. This trainwreck hurt Scott’s reputation, and therefore, affected his fan’s trust in his work. In my opinion, Ridley Scott hurt my love for the alien franchise. In the past, I used to become ecstatic whenever a Scott film was released. Now, after Covenant, the alien franchise gives me a repulsive feeling. The plot, ideas, and scenes in Covenant also left me disappointed. In addition, the film left me wondering “Now what?” The story didn’t make any sense to me. Once the film was over, I left the movie theater confused, and with several unanswered questions. My main point however, comes from the original alien movie released in 1979. I recommend for Ridley Scott fans to stick to the original alien, because Covenant is a pathetic excuse for a remake. When I say remake, I mean the overall creatures, and characters were similar, so I classified Covenant as a remake, although the plots were completely different. So, if you are on a tight budget, don’t see Covenant when you can stream the original alien film for free.
Works Cited
Bishop, Bryan. “Alien: Covenant review: a terrifying return to horror that doesn’t quite click.” Www.theverge.com, 20 May 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/5/6/15570852/alien-covenant-review-ridley-scott. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.
Howell, Peter . “Alien: Covenant is worth screaming about: review.” Www.thestar.com, 18 May 2017, www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2017/05/18/alien-covenant-is-worth-screaming-about-review.html. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.
Lussier, Germain. Alien: Covenant May Be the Biggest Disappointment of the Summer, 7 May 2017, io9.gizmodo.com/alien-covenant-may-be-the-biggest-disappointment-of-th-1794898330. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.
McCarthy, Todd. “‘Alien: Covenant’: Film Review.” Www.hollywoodreporter.com, 6 May 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/alien-covenant-review-1000832. Accessed 22 Sept. 2017.