Alien Covenant Fan Reviews

[Mr. Clemens]

Ah, the internet. We've got the sum knowledge of all mankind at our fingertips, but nah, let's watch a video of some wanker complaining about a movie. 

[Hubbs]

Ah, the internet. We've got the sum knowledge of all mankind at our fingertips, but nah, let's watch a video of some wanker complaining about a movie. 

I hear you, but listen to what he questions, the man has got some good points.

[Nostromo]

So I gather this thread and the community as a whole has been going nuts with opinions on the film ranging from it was great to what the Hell was Ridley thinking?

I thought it was decent at first. The first hour which was all about exploration was nice because that's what I enjoy the most in a space-centred film; exploration and learning new things. But the problems started to crop up (at least to me) as early as

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when buddy removes his earpiece for literally no other reason than so the virus can float inside his ear and infect him. It was so obvious it was done purely for the sake of moving the plot forward.

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Everything went downhill after that, the most egregious of issues I thought was

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how the Alien's gestation cycle has now gone from what, two days in Alien, 15 minutes or so in AvP, and instantaneous in Covenant and hell, even the film can't be consistent. The first chestburster that comes out of dude in the spacecraft is a youngin' but then later on, the one that comes out of Oram is already a subadult!

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The reintroduction of David made me optimistic at first because I thought, "Great, now we can tackle the questions from Prometheus." Well obviously that didn't happen because we learn that

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Shaw is dead (likely because Noomi Rapace couldn't come to terms with the studio on a pay cheque)

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, and David is a homicidal maniac because...he has daddy issues. And apparently he's bisexual too. f**king, what?! Those of you  who have seen the film know which scenes I'm referring to in this regard. I literally threw my hands up in the theatre and asked, "What?"

Farris was a complete moron. I'm sorry but there was no reason for her to

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lock Karine in the medbay. All it would have taken was a couple of seconds to open the door, quickly let Karine out, then lock it again. Alien is contained at least for a few seconds and it would have avoided the disaster that soon followed.

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Much of what happens to forward the plot once they land on the planet seems to happen only because the characters are behaving in stupid ways. Come on, just look at

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Oram's interactions with David. Oram couldn't have made it any more obvious that he didn't trust David one bit yet he somehow believes him when David says the egg is perfectly safe.

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.

SiL said to me that he felt the only reason the Xeno was in the film was because fans whined about no Xeno in Prometheus. I fully agree with that sentiment. The Xenomorph's presence is forced in and the uber-quick gestation period was obviously done that way because, well, you can't really have a chestburster scurrying around on the planet now can you, while it takes 40 minutes for it to grow into a subadult like in Alien.

How can a person with an IQ even if 10 or under edit the movie and not see all these flaws and the ones mentioned by Ridgetop and others? I would love to know what was going on in the editors minds when they were looking through the final cut...Oh wow this looks believable enough let's leave it in there...the theatrical version should be called the stupid version. This one had more flaws than Prometheus actually. Incredible crap.

[DoomRulz]

The studio, writer, and director made the choices they did because they know that something too different would not be well-received by fans and something too familiar wouldn't be well-received either.

You're speaking about fans, which is a limitation : fans represent a tiny fraction of the audience.

There is also the fact of how you consider the movie.
I've watched numerous times Jurassic Park and Star Wars when I was a kid, with much pleasure. And I found that Episode VII was extremely disappointing, and I don't even speak about Jurassic World. It felt like variations of already known things, in a less good way.
I'm of those who expect originality. The problem with many prequels or sequels today is that they've got little of that. They tend to play safe, even with new things, and that's why I, like others, go less and less often to watch this kind of great cinematographic productions. Last week, I've watched at home The Wailing, a really well made movie (imho) by Na Hong-jin. It's not an "author film" (in French we say un film d'auteur) for a tiny audience, but a movie for a great audience, and it still is beautifully done and clever.

I feel like we're agreeing here. That's my point. If you can't come up with something new and original, then just leave it be.

[Ulfer]

I feel like we're agreeing here. That's my point. If you can't come up with something new and original, then just leave it be.

Or, make it in another genre or medium.
I was elated (and of course terrified) when I played Alien Isolation for the first few hours, for example. I would like a sequel, maybe expanding on some directions (or adding RPG elements, I don't know). But it's not the same thing, I'm the player, the alien chases a character whom I play, it's a whole different experience.

[Mr. Clemens]

If you can't come up with something new and original, then just leave it be.

That would require integrity on the part of the suits! 

I like Covenant and Prometheus well enough, but I've long since accepted that the days of films like Alien coming out of Hollywood are well over. Best to stick with indie film, overall. That's where the thinkers are these days.

[DoomRulz]

I feel like we're agreeing here. That's my point. If you can't come up with something new and original, then just leave it be.

Or, make it in another genre or medium.
I was elated (and of course terrified) when I played Alien Isolation for the first few hours, for example. I would like a sequel, maybe expanding on some directions (or adding RPG elements, I don't know). But it's not the same thing, I'm the player, the alien chases a character whom I play, it's a whole different experience.

Yes, certainly the EU allows for a whole range of ideas that don't necessarily translate well to the film's continuity. I guess I should get back to playing Isolation. I've barely touched it.

[Ulfer]

But there is a problem with the fact there seems to be - not every time, of course, but maybe more often than before - a gap bewteen sometimes clearly unambitious (at least given possibilities of scenarios) blockbusters and very clever but with a limited budget indie movies.

Yes, certainly the EU allows for a whole range of ideas that don't necessarily translate well to the film's continuity. I guess I should get back to playing Isolation. I've barely touched it.

It's not my point here actually.
To sum it up : if someone comes to me and ask if I'm willing to spend money for an Alien-bis or Aliens-bis movie, I will say "no". Even though of course it's cool to see aliens in action, if it's well made, but I wish more ambition for this series of films. However, if he proposes me a good videogame with aliens, à la Alien Isolation, I will maybe say yes (but I expect some imagination and "more" here too, but that's not the same thing).

[Snake]

Haven't seen the film, sounds a bit divisive so far. This guy is making complaints but his points seem to be very good to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-OczgEWO4

You should see it dude. Best Alien-movie since forever!

What an idiot, really, can't believe this guy. Again, I marvel at the stupidity of his complaints. They are so ridiculous it makes my blood boil...I can counter ALL of his arguments but I'm getting tired of it to be honest. Pfffff.....This movie obviously wasn't made for the masses and I'll have to live with that.

Oh well, I'll do the first one just for the sake of it:
How come he doesn't know who Tennessee's wife is?! When they were going down to the planet they were having a conversation which went like this:

Tennesse: 'love you cheesetits'

Rosenthal: 'Love you too, sugard*ck'

I mean, c'mon guys! What's wrong with people nowadays? I believe this guy was born ass first!


And the CGI looked fantastic! Without a doubt, there aren't 2 Fassbenders on this planet, but could you all tell the difference from the real and the computer generated one? I haven't heard anyone say anything about this!

[Engineer]

I noticed Walter was taller than David. But that doesn't really matter... lol

[HuDaFuK]

And the CGI looked fantastic! Without a doubt, there aren't 2 Fassbenders on this planet, but could you all tell the difference from the real and the computer generated one? I haven't heard anyone say anything about this!

You realise they can just film him separately twice and put both of them in the same frame... Neither Fassbender was created digitally.

[Tangakkai]

So... am I the only one who has a problem with the following discontinuity:

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David being the one who created

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the Xenomorph?

How can it be that in Prometheus we see: 

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And yet at the same Time it's only later

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that the Xenomorph is actually created

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?

It makes no sense to me at all.

And what about this guy:

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Since when can David time travel and go back to design a Deacon?

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This movie has Plot Holes the sizes of Pangea, unless someone cares to help me out here.

[Ulfer]

@Tangakkai : The mural represents the Deacon. There is no problem here...

[Snake]

And the CGI looked fantastic! Without a doubt, there aren't 2 Fassbenders on this planet, but could you all tell the difference from the real and the computer generated one? I haven't heard anyone say anything about this!

You realise they can just film him separately twice and put both of them in the same frame... Neither Fassbender was created digitally.

Please enlighten me. I went to film school at Brussels and received a remakably high score for analysing a movie that wasn't even up my ally. (Vera Drake). I have noticed you're zeroing in on my comments. I expected more from a guy with 7000+ posts. The least you could do is welcome me, but if your purpose here is to pick on new members, I guarantee you picked the wrong one!

[Robopadna]

So... am I the only one who has a problem with the following discontinuity:

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David being the one who created

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the Xenomorph?

How can it be that in Prometheus we see: 

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[close]

And yet at the same Time it's only later

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that the Xenomorph is actually created

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?

It makes no sense to me at all.

And what about this guy:

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Since when can David time travel and go back to design a Deacon?

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This movie has Plot Holes the sizes of Pangea, unless someone cares to help me out here.

Because Scott likes this vision more.  And that mural isn't the xeno.