Jef1988
MemberOvomorphMay 11, 2017Hi. First time poster here. Signed up to do this.
Was lucky to see an advance viewing last night. I'm not going to suger coat anything either. I am really upset; I think Covenant is awful.
I am really sorry for voicing this opinion. I want to like this film. Alien has so much potential to tell thrilling, emotive, tense and horrifying stories. I want that. I want to like this film but I do not.
I have seen all of the Alien films, love them. Seen Prometheus, I thought it would have made a good film if it wasn't Alien.
The problem is that Covenant isn't a good film at all as far I can see.
I want opinions from people who have seen it as well. And also to advise people on issues, so that they can make an informed purchase decision, without spoilers.
The only good thing I can say here is that Michael Fassbender performs as good or better than his performance in Prometheus. I can't see any other merits that the film has.
There is little to no tension, so it falls down as a horror film. At most there is maybe 30 seconds before a monster shows up of tension. Sound design is used quite well for those short periods but there isn't enough build up to utilise it. Rapid pace seems to be the name of the game.
The opening is poor. A cluster of contrivances occur at the beginning to set up characters and setting but it is let down by poor choice of plot devices, implausibility and honestly mediocre acting and dialogue.
The action scenes are unoriginal, they do nothing new, similar to Prometheus however so if you liked it this might be OK for you. There is a lot of implausibility here again, threat levels from creatures change drastically as the drama requires.
The Alien, as seen in the trailer, acts like the creature from Alien3, no real signs of intelligence or of being an unpredictable alien thing. However the creature designs are quite good - although we directly see far too much too quickly as soon as it is introduced, again no sense of tension or dread.
The introduction of the Alien was also handled in an odd way also, in contradiction to everything we have seen so far in several ways. It's handling was also off, used as a chance at symbolism and character development instead of horror. I truly do not understand film if this will be looked back on as a good scene.
The story itself is made overly complex half way through, shoe horning in additional narrative that is executed poorly, through exposition, that detracts from the survival storyline.
The storyline is again let down by bland dialogue, unimpressive acting and poor writing in terms of plot points. The crew of the Covenant do not act in naturalistic ways, it is either complete insensinate panic or blasé pragmatism. Neither is there any kind of common sense which made me disconnect from the characters. They were actors in a story, not people acting naturally. There isn't the feeling of fraid nerves from Alien or Aliens. I never got the impression that the characters were real people, they never acted in a believable way for me.
To sum it up...
The Bad : unimpressive acting for the most part, contrived plot points, little effort toward tension, little effort toward believable character actions or reactions or development.
The Good : Creature design, Michael Fassbenders performance.
I'm sorry. I am really not trolling or stirring up trouble.
Please, explain to me how I am wrong, I hope I have missed the point. I want to like this film, I want another good Alien film.
(Mild Spoilers)Thanks for speaking your heart guys.
Am afraid ...not that afraid.
Thats my main criticism. Covenant is solid. Photography is superb. Good acting. Half smart and existentialist and half action packed with a few cockroaches. It's half android half alien to me so it will fail both in a way.
The problem when you try to reHash (lol) for newbies and consumers is that you tend to spoonfeed them what they need instead for expressing yourself as an artist.
These films need alot of dosh and to spread stories over 4 5 episodes will take both time and resources and studios will want returns on investment.
And that is when it all falls down what is the most frutrating is that we don't have a protagonist who can share our pov anymore these new heroes serve their action purpose not our desire for clarification. I was confident Shaw would be the new Ripley like smartie who unravels it all whether it goes tits up or not. In that respect am way disappointed. The only true recurrent theme is that machines can't be trusted and we swim here in replicant territory not alien(s) which should be all about frightening the shit out of us. Alien was a revolution is that it was well crafted smart sci-fi horror but the build up...was wow!the Nostromo itself was a decorum scarier than the 8th passenger you could only catch glimpses of.
Here the cat is out of the bag in the open and scenes with it seem like easter eggs. You wanted it here you have it so the pacing is off once it's revealed.
It comes to a point in a singer's life a director's when you just want your work out there for as many ppl as possible for success when you lose your vision. RS expressed he was impressed by Michael Bay success that says alot.
The original trilogy was great in that each film was convoluted on itself with a narrative and an arc for Ripley, in just that they were satisfying. Their approach was a different matter. The films completed each other but were self sufficient also.
Now we have to wait for decades to see the sagas make sense. Besides we are asked not to care much for the human characters who keep mastering the art of stupidity (Please punch whoever wrote that idiotic biologist in Prometheus). Remains David the sensitive robot I think he is a metaphor for us: we care but watch films in the assembly line but how could we ever emulate him... doesn't work for me or his brother. Yet Fassbender is so talented and bankable.
I had my money worth though but I expected much
better.
