I can talk all day and night about the issues Prometheus had, but the things it did well, the questions it asked? They REALLY dropped the ball in this movie. It doesn't deliver on any of the promise of Prometheus, nor did it really answer the questions people had after that movie imo.
My own feelings are that they wasted Shaw. They wasted the Engineers. They completely bum-****ed the lore by taking away what was one of the key, defining themes in the Alien movies:
That no matter how advanced or how clever you are, this is a species that cannot be controlled, and cannot be contained. Even Alien Resurrection got that right.
And that's not all. They ****ed with lifecycles, they made [SPOILER - highlight to read]: David the ****ing creator, which for me, just ruins twenty years of established lore. The Xeno birthing scene was AWFUL.
If not for Fassbender and McBride, I really wouldn't have cared about any of the characters in this movie.
The one thing I will say though, based on what I've heard people saying online: I don't think that we were supposed to be unsure that [SPOILER - highlight to read]: David had switched places with Walter. I think the intent was for us to know without any doubt, and to wonder when the characters would find out. It was just so badly done (like a lot of the movie).
And sure, people might say that not agreeing with Ridley's vision/decisions doesn't objectively make it a bad movie. And they'd be right. It makes the movie less likeable to me, but as far as quality goes, the bad writing, unfulfilling (not to mention stupid) characters and what ends up being a huge lack of tension, do that just fine.
Well said. Yeah, Prometheus brought up questions like...
-Where did the black goo come from?
-Did the Engineers create it or find it?
-What sort of rituals do they use it for?
-Why were they going to take it to Earth?
-Why did the Engineers create mankind and then decide to destroy them?
-etc
But they ignored all of those interesting questions and instead explain where the xenomorphs come from, with the stupidest explanation possible. [SPOILER - highlight to read]: Mad scientist David with Daddy issues is the worst explanation for the xenomorphs they could possibly explore.
Shaw and Engineers wasted indeed. I fear my interest in this series died with this movie. Truly heart breaking.
And another thing I find odd: Ridley Scott changed his filmmaking techniques. The CGI was not well integrated with live puppetry at all and there was even some stupid shaky cam. I'm pretty sure that was why he didn't use the CGI Fifield in Prometheus because it took you out of the movie. Well that's exactly what happened to me with AC.
Basically what everyone else said. Screw David. Poor Elizabeth. Liked Walter the most in the entire movie. Lore screwed. Neomorph coolest things in film
It would've been more interesting if they had Shaw become the creator out of some messed up twist of her faith after finding the engineers and getting her answers than have David do it. Or at least have her deliberately sacrifice herself to get some kind of revenge on them for destroying her faith.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: After their fight. We don't see it, but we see Walter about to smash his face in, but he doesn't realise David has a knife in his hand. That last speech to Walter was a distraction.
Yeah, that was the kind of stuff going through my imagination for the past 5 years. Although I think they should have stuck with the Engineers creating the xenomorph (which I'm pretty sure was the original plan) through some ritualistic, ceremonial religious practice. At least then it would have some mystery surrounding it. An android in a cave is fucking stupid. Fuck Ridley Scott for not having the balls to carry on with his original vision. And all the complaints about Prometheus where the scientists take off their helmets and expose themselves to pathogens actually does apply here in Alien Covenant. In Prometheus they were under the impression that they were invited there. In Alien Covenenat they stop at an uncharted planet and just get off without a care in the world, no one even mentions that they should wear helmets and masks and suits. THAT is fucking stupid.
Blomkamp's film would probably just be another exercises in stupid fan service, though. And it would retcon Alien 3 and 4, which I don't think they should do.
The film itself isn't that bad (at least the first half or so), but what it did to the Alien lore and all the potential intrigue in Prometheus is catastrophic. That's why it's bad. And the last act of the film is horrible. "Let's blow it out of the airlock." Jee, where have I heard that before? The Alien was the most anticlimactic ending possible and the CGI looked horrible. And David controlling the neomorph? Fucking hell that was stupid. And the most predictable shower scene, what the fuck, the writers for this need to be crucified... Why didn't they bring back Jon Spaihts? He at least had some inventive scenes and kept the mystery intact.
If someone had told me 4 years ago that Ridley Scott would manage to destroy Prometheus and the Alien films in one fell swoop I never would have believed you. But that's exactly what happened here. The Alien franchise is now dead to me. It was probably a combination of stupid fans bitching about Prometheus, the studio wanting nostalgia, horrible writers, and senile Ridley Scott that brought this into being. What a perfect storm of fail. The flawed Alien franchise finally had the last nail pounded into the coffin...
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May 20th, 2017 02:40 AM
