Alien Covenant Review Roundup

[PsyKore]

However, if they would've ditched the entire barge/crane scene and sequence and instead just had ONE Protomorph running around, all of this could have been avoided. The movie really DIDN'T need the barge/crane scene and sequence - it doesn't add anything to the movie other than a completely unnecessary action sequence that feels out of place.

I felt it was an unnecessary sequence too. It just feels like a lot of fluff. They should have cut it and just kept it simple. I would have preferred it if David, posing as Walter, simply brings Oram back and they all make it back to the Covenant. From then on David could reveal himself to Oram and do his "creation" line, Oram then bursts and then you just have the one Alien. And subsequently the last part of the film could have better pacing since the barge scene is cut and there's more time..

Characters like Lope and other red shirts aren't even needed in the movie to begin with, imo.

[tleilaxu]

Nah, the barge scene was cool, even if I was a bit put off by the xeno attacking the crane, but that could be explained by untamed aggression (it was a young xeno after all).

[windebieste]

Ya.  The heavy lifter scene was great!  Importantly, at that point in the movie, it needed a heavy action scene to placate the attention deficit audiences of the 21st Century who've just been exposed to a dose of 'gay android' narcissism. 

You can bet the V1.0 Covenant Aliens will be improved upon in David's 'Perfect organism', V1.1 in the next movie.

People are too quick to dismiss the Covenant Aliens for what they are - not too bright.  Significantly, they're the first stage in a progression of development and that intelligence will most likely be honed in successive versions. 

-Windebieste.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

Ya.  The heavy lifter scene was great!  Importantly, at that point in the movie, it needed a heavy action scene to placate the attention deficit audiences of the 21st Century who've just been exposed to a dose of 'gay android' narcissism.

That made me laugh. So true though!

[Scorpio]

So they strapped the actress/stuntwoman onto a jet powered craft and let her fend for herself while slamming into life-size props at full speed? Those physical/practical stunts don't even remotely compare to what is presented on the screen.

And again, I know mountain climbers, and climbing steep mountains don't prepare you for swinging about attached to a space craft slamming into everything in its surroundings while at the same time one has to fire a gun at some blood-thirsty monster that is much faster than you.

Now, let's say that Daniels was one of the people repairing the solar sails on the Covenant earlier in the movie, and then we switch the order of the barge/crane scene and the "flush the Alien into space" scene, we would have a more believable progression of Daniels character and abilities - the crane fight would've felt much more believable. A part of me wonders why Scott didn't have her suit up to repair the Covenant in the first place in the name of believable character progression.

How is it less realistic than Aliens.  She fired the gun, didn't even hit the alien, she wasn't killing half a dozen aliens.  If it wasn't for the crane, she would be dead.

Also, they're all scared shitless of the Neomorphs and they die like flies around them and there is a clear sense of panic. But once they get on that crane barge thingy they just stop giving a damn. Tennesse (or whatev this name is) hasn't even seen the Neomorphs and still he's like "Yikes, that's one scary dude! Heh! Whatever..." once the Protomorph is crawling over the window trying to crush it with its head. Daniels gladly straps herself to a cable, grabs a gun and runs outside as if she can't brace herself from the fun awaiting her outside.

The fact that the android doesn't offer to go outside and deal with alien is weird in itself - an android would never allow a human to risk its life like that, and even though David (pretending to be Walter) would never sacrifice himself for a human, he would still take the opportunity to accidentally "save" his creation from being killed, or at least he would take the opportunity to get closer to the creature. He could've done all of that while still pretending to be Walter. It would've also been more believable to see an android doing those suicidal stunts, especially since we have already seen the martial prowess of Walter and David in an earlier fight scene.

David/Walter was in no condition for that, even if he wanted to.

And I don't get your complaint about Tennessee, he saw the Proto and said "Holy Shit", that's what anybody would say.

Then I don't know what to say. I guess you and I have different ideas of what unrealistic/realistic entails.

With that said I find the end part of the Powerloader vs. Queen scene in ALIENS to be extremely unrealistic, and before the crane/barge scene in A:C, that was the one scene in the series that I dislike the most (not including AVP or AVP:R, or PRED, P2 and PREDS, as I don't count them as bonafide Alien movies) as it breaks the illusion of realism and wanders into into the lands of ridiculous Hollywood heroics.

I'm not going to change your opinion and you're not going to change mine.

It might be slightly ridiculous, but it's fun, and fits the tone of the movie.

The Neomorph did't attack right away when it encountered Rose(?) - it studied her a little. Also, the Neo studied and interacted with David as well. The Protomorph did that only when it was born, then after that it just went straight for whatever was in its way, including a freaking crane (!). The Neomorphs progressed in their behavior as they grew whereas it seems like the Protomorph did the opposite - it regressed in its behavior.

Anyways, since the Protomorph isn't the final version of the Xenomorph, I guess all of that can be hand-waved as an "evolutionary flaw" of the Protomorph, or something along those lines.

However, if they would've ditched the entire barge/crane scene and sequence and instead just had ONE Protomorph running around, all of this could have been avoided. The movie really DIDN'T need the barge/crane scene and sequence - it doesn't add anything to the movie other than a completely unnecessary action sequence that feels out of place.

Did you miss the shower scene because the Proto didn't attack right away, it snuck up on them like the Neomorph did.

[Highland]

Ya.  The heavy lifter scene was great!  Importantly, at that point in the movie, it needed a heavy action scene to placate the attention deficit audiences of the 21st Century who've just been exposed to a dose of 'gay android' narcissism. 

You can bet the V1.0 Covenant Aliens will be improved upon in David's 'Perfect organism', V1.1 in the next movie.

People are too quick to dismiss the Covenant Aliens for what they are - not too bright.  Significantly, they're the first stage in a progression of development and that intelligence will most likely be honed in successive versions. 

-Windebieste.

Or David's version is just thick as shit and the Engineers have the good models. I like that better.

[HuDaFuK]

How is it less realistic than Aliens.

I'd say the simple fact it necessitated a substantial dose of CGI to achieve automatically makes it less realistic than what Ripley does in Aliens.

[dave1978]

The crance / barge scene was totally necessary.   If you watch closely the Xenomorph see's the crane move and open its claw,  the reaction of the Xenomorph is the important thing,  it doesnt see a crane it see's it as something to attack and attacks instantly and aggressively, rather foolishly considering the size.

[Paranoid Android]

The crance / barge scene was totally necessary.   If you watch closely the Xenomorph see's the crane move and open its claw,  the reaction of the Xenomorph is the important thing,  it doesnt see a crane it see's it as something to attack and attacks instantly and aggressively, rather foolishly considering the size.

...And that was necessary why exactly?

[HuDaFuK]

Yeah, I thought that scene simply made the Alien look disappointingly dumb.

[SM]

I thought it fit in with O'Bannon intention of the Alien being "ignorant".

[skhellter]

Big thing with what looked like "teeth" coming its way...
Xeno still attacks it.

Xeno doesnt afraid of nothing.

Respect the V1.0 Xenos.

[Paranoid Android]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Just the other day I was walking by and saw a cat attack a moving car.

Had so much respect for that cat in that moment.

Maybe one day the cat will get its own film franchise.

[SiL]

Are we really saying the alien should intrinsically know what a crane is? Really?

[kwisatz]

Maybe one day the cat will get its own film franchise.