Alien Covenant, much like its predecessor Prometheus, on a cursory glance seems to be so good at being just a lush, sound and fury action film, that when it's headier ideas start to motivate the story beats more than the characters themselves, it starts to feel slowly lacking. That said, I did only say on a cursory glance. Taken in the context of the allegory that drives the Alien films Covenant is composed in ways that may be scathingly relevant to the modern world that we live in. It might stretch its story out to fit the parameters of this allegory, but in doing so Covenant is still imbued with a burning sense of wonder, earnestness, and just overall nastiness of both the topic it wishes to discuss with its audience, as well as the films that it aspires to be. Covenant picks up on the Covenant, a colony ship traveling to a planet where a colony of humans will be established. The crew of this ship (primarily made up of couples) is prematurely awakened by a technical malfunction and lead to a planet where secrets of the events following Prometheus lie. What follows is a film of such visual tact that it almost effortlessly takes one’s breath away. Ridley Scott really does know how to make a small conversational scene beautiful, while also not forgetting to make the epic sweeping shots be both beautiful, but also leave an empty hole in your stomach. Alien Covenant, much like Prometheus, doesn’t lend itself well to analysis unless one has the core ingredient to the who franchise, but it also like the latter, is a terrifying, yet controlled exercise in gore and dread. As far as the level of intensity here goes, one 15 minute sequence made me just about hyperventilate, which kind of explains what you’re going to be dealing with gore wise. I have a strong tolerance to violence but there were moments that had me feeling numb and scared for my life, both because of the excellence of the direction of such scenes and the genuine care I had for the characters. The film is punctuated with moments of earnestness, the likes of which haven’t been seen around blockbusters in a while. There are scenes with Michael Fassbender that my audience laughed at that are some of the best scenes of the film, giving the film a full blooded beating heart and making one question why the likes of earnestness at the center of films like E.T. and other science-fiction masterpieces is lacking in the realm of “dark and gritty” modern blockbusters and the “safer” fare like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is amazing). These moments come off as flawed and flabby on the sides of a film that is grungy and dreadfully violent, but they also humanize the proceedings, an all too important aspect of the allegory at the center of the Alien franchise. The film begins and ends with a masterpiece of connecting scenes, sickeningly terrifying and hauntingly beautiful. There’s a masterful music cue that can’t help but gain classic status as it unfolds. As Ridley Scott continues to prove to us, he is one of the best visual directors of all time. In the original Alien, characters were the same archetypes, but similarly, characters were embodied by actors who were personified themselves by such archetypes. Billy Crudup seems like the slightly weak-willed captain who is eventually going to be disadvantaged by his trust in people and overall lack of strength. He’s an actor that can embody those flaws well. Yes, I can believe Katherine Waterston as the person that has the strength that the Captain may lack. Yes, I can believe Danny McBride as a pilot nicknamed Tennessee. This is casting that falls into place and explains half of the movie just by existing. Fassbender, though, much like last time, steals the show. It’s a physical performance embody embodying something that is not human but seems close to it, that isn’t over or understated. WARNING! THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS AND DISCUSSION OF THE COVENANT UNDER A POLITICAL LIGHT. 8.5, skip to the end, go see the movie. Every horror film needs to be based on something that is scary to people in real life. It has become widely accepted that the Alien franchise is based on the fear that comes from rape. That’s what I think actually makes Prometheus and Alien Covenant such interesting beasts. They’re films where the logical and emotional effects of a birth stemming from the circumstances of rape are actually pondered over rather than just perused, as it is in the first Alien film. The Engineers in Prometheus hate us. They antagonize humanity, their creation, because of some unforeseen reason, but that is not the case for the xenomorphs and the humans that the xenomorphs attack. The xenomorphs actively enter our bodies without permission and implant us with a seed that then painfully bursts from us. A seed that sucks the life out of us. No this is not subtle, but it brings to mind the questions as to whether or not the destructive creation of a living organism is an injustice or not, especially when relating to a rape? Seeing how a discussion such as this isn’t anywhere near a level of relevance in modern discussion in this country, I can’t imagine why it isn’t so difficult to analyze the film in the context of a pro-choice lens. Seeing how the rape allegory has been backed up by Alien co-writer Dan O'Bannon, I don’t think it’s too far to say that a movie in which a group structured around monogamy is ripped apart violently by the rape and birth by alien creature leaves much to the imagination as to the allegory of the self-harming, imploding conservative values. There is of course also the fact that the android, David, from the Prometheus has survived and created the xenomorph as the next level predator to humanity. He pities humanity and wishes to destroy it. That may be slightly problematic, even attached to context, but it provides another layer to the way that the creations of humanity can lead, directly and indirectly to our harm. That’s all a lot more political than I wanted it to be, but it was necessary to deconstruct the reason why it doesn’t actually matter that much whether or not the thematic ambitions of the film take over the story rather than the characters. Thematically, what is there is so true that the film almost deserves to be swept off the ground by its themes. In this time that we live in, there’s a crazy amount of importance to a film that explores themes that we need to desperately understand as well as just be a white-knuckle blend of philosophy and gore. Alien Covenant scares the shit out of me and I hope it does the same for you. I give Alien Covenant an 8.5 out of 10.
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For the record, the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY has somewhat faltered in my estimation since I first saw it. It’s still good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the type of film that after you see it a couple of times, the corporate soul of the thing slowly starts to leak from behind the badass music and beautiful candy-colored visuals. It’s a fine film, maybe slightly compromised by the fact that it goes weird...but not too weird. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. is really, REALLY, weird, and it’s all the better for it. Seriously, guys GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. feels like a full length film of James Gunn taking all the good will that he has banked from the first film being such a gigantic hit and making a movie that pushes the Troma energy that he started with back into it. If one thing helps Guardians succeed where some of the other Marvel movies seem to fail, it is this particular energy, summarized best as what happens to a homogenized Marvel movie when the energy of a grindhouse 80’s film is peppered throughout the film just enough to turn funny but forgettable into, Holy Shit! That’s a lot of dead people and a tiny tree man holding a severed toe. If there’s one moment of the first movie that describes the tone here, it’s the scene when Groot skewers a row of guys and slams them all about. It’s a moment of hilarity, but also one where you’re left thinking about how all of those guys just got brutally killed. Vol. 2 is full of moments like that which benefits the film which actually focuses less on the banter this time and actually telling a story that is pretty interesting and dark when you get down to it. The Guardians themselves aren’t as excessively bantering, but we still know more about them by just the way that they react to situations like, intentionally, but not technically intentionally declaring war on a race of beings who believe themselves to be the perfect race in the universe. What often made the first film though, that returns in a big way are the use of music and the way these cues could support the tone and here that comes back in a big and better way. The first moments that we spend on a foreign planet just about drops the best use of a song in the entire series, until it is all but topped by an escape scene later in the movie. If there’s one thing that the creative team of these films understand, it’s the intertextual weight that each of these classic tunes can bring to each audience member and the way that can manipulate the tone of a given scene. There’s joy to be found within the chords of “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Lake Shore Drive,” and as shamelessly manipulative as they are, each of these cues, much like in the first film, work better than you could ever imagine. Of course, the returning cast and added ones are all brilliant. One hesitates to really call the acting in Marvel movies great, but performance is a huge aspect of making these movies tonally work out as multiple different genres start to compete for the spotlight. The core is great, much like the last time, but the inclusion of Kurt Russell is just incredible. Having just watched ESCAPE FROM NEW YORKfor the first time a few days ago, it’s nice to see Russell embrace the same powerful presence, but with a little bit of mania behind it rather than bravado. New addition, Pom Klementieff, as Mantis also fits well into the series, showing a character that is not jaded like the rest of them, but more innocent and trusting. It’s interesting to see her contrast alongside the rest of the cast. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. is certainly the movie to see this summer. WONDER WOMAN nor JUSTICE LEAGUE nor SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING look of the quality on display here, so I don’t think it’s too far to say that this may be the best superhero movie we get all year. Then again, if we do get a better one...well that would be great because this movie is a wonderful experience. I give GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. an 8.5 out of 10. |
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |