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Post by Ingram on Mar 20, 2024 22:24:38 GMT
Boy, if ever there was a franchise that would come to so perfectly embody the core conceit of its original storied premise: a thing that hatches, attaches, grows, mutates, replicates, as a species evolves...or de-volves. Embody or dis-embody.
Now, Romulus.
Any thoughts on the series? Your favorite or least? It's certainly one with ups and downs, and downs. And then one or two more mild ups. From the the pinnacle of rarefied and refined genre art to pure disposable schlock and many a back-n-forths in between.
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Post by Seeker of the Whills on Mar 23, 2024 8:08:51 GMT
I liked Covenant. It seemed like a good middle ground between Prometheus and a more classic Alien film. I liked the expanded lore with the engineers, and the character of David. I feel the less than enthusiastic response to Scott's newer ideas to expand the lore mirrors that of Lucas' prequels.
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Post by Ingram on Mar 23, 2024 9:12:30 GMT
So did I.
Prometheus really irked me. It set itself up as a lofty departure from all the then-tired monster beats which had come before, in turn promising an alternatively cerebral appendix focused on Replicant android angst and cosmic god-men from some ancient Lovecraftian prehistory. But instead of committing to the bit proper it too quickly submits to inane 'creature feature' cliches reliant upon nonsensical character actions and is moreover taxed with superfluous dramatic subplots while the main heroine is a pious idiot surrounded by generic cutouts, save only for Fassbender's excellent turn as David. The movie starts off composed but, really, just becomes loud and dumb.
Covenant, then, is an odd one because I enjoyed it where perhaps I should've otherwise further dismissed for the above reasons. Yet it pleases me as a more self-assured mischievous affair. The change up in crew is from smug assholes to earnestly gullible, at the mercy of a marooned David amidst the Engineers' homeworld rendered a Nyxian Necropolis; Scott's window dressing therein feels more purposeful. Fassbender's David opposite Fassbender's Walter makes for a treat and the way the proceedings gradually slide into glossy xenomoprth schlock feels more honest, or at least less confused, than the prior film. Still, the sly opening title sequence established a theme of cyclical 'mad science' destiny that remains up to the final closing scene not only integral but morbidly humorous. The film ends up rather celebratory in that sense.
Romulus? The from teaser, anyways, it just looks like they're settling for the lowest common denominator, and I mean that as a neutral rather than a negative. It's like: "Fuck it. Let's just take the most general lasting impressions of the Alien series and fashion it all into a theme park ride movie." So we're getting highlights & facsimiles from classic Alien and Aliens combined (along with a dash of Alien 3 and, hell, maybe even Alien: Isolation). That means Nostromo-like corridors and flashing lights, facehugger mayhem and not-Riply slowly emerging from vented steam holding a big gun. Alright, I guess. Even keel. I'll buy a ticket for that ride. Of course there might be more to the story, possibly yielding upended premises and subverted franchise tropes. If so, neat.
I'm not holding my breath, though.
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Post by Seeker of the Whills on Mar 23, 2024 15:46:52 GMT
I agree. Covenant was a bright spot in recent franchise storytelling to me. I'm just now starting to remember, thanks to your analysis, how much I liked it when it came out. I think I saw it twice in theaters. I haven't seen any of these movies since 2017, so I think it's time for a refresher so I can better provide my takes on them.
It's hard to tell much of anything about Romulus yet based on that teaser, except that it looks like Alien. So at least that's something. But then again, a slavish adherence on a surface level to what came before doesn't necessarily make a good film, as seen with The Force Awakens. That film is the pinnacle of a theme park ride movie. I've often likened it to a rollercoaster. There's a lot of hectic running and shouting, and this teaser had some of that. The suspense in the original Alien was built much more deliberately, and the characters moved mostly quite slowly and quietly through the ship's dark corridors. This looks a lot flashier. With Scott out of the picture, I do have worries that this is going to be a "Best of" compilation like TFA and Jurassic World.
Say what you will about later career Ridley Scott, but he had some interesting ideas for the Alien universe, and I wish he could have completed his prequel trilogy.
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