Prometheus Sequel (ALIEN: Covenant)

[Rorywan]

Anyone like to explain the biological spore/pathogen emitting plant/fungi that were growing in the forest?
Not a spoiler as they were in the trailers.

Spoiler

Since David very specifically told us that the pathogen only effects biological life on a planet and not botany. Why the **** would pathogen spewing plantlife be growing wild in the forest. And why would said plant life be spewing biological pathogen "spores" in the first place, I guess it looked cool this whole concept is blown to ****, make it up as you go along kind of plotting.

 

[GasparZizou]

Could've been a living creature.

 

[Rorywan]

Could've been a living creature.

..How?

 

[GasparZizou]

Like a coral.

It's an alien planet.

 

[Wor-Gar]

This movie sounds confusing.

Is there a scene of an alien chewing on a person?

 

[Rorywan]

Like a coral.

It's an alien planet.

A coral that spews the deadly pathogen that was used as a weapon of mass destruction, but also used to seed other planets by our gods, by melting them into bio DNA, and it is used to create life by the engineers? but it doesn't kill everything, just some creatures, others it transforms, others it grows inside then bursts out in a variety of forms, some of which seem to want to eat and kill everything and others who just stand around, and others that turn into eggs. Some turn into dog shaped creatures after gestating inside a dog (or ox) some turn into dog shaped creatures on all fours that gestate out of a humanoid. And it hatches out of one of it's creators as small blue pointy headed creature, but now hatches out as what exactly? Where are all the thousands of creatures that came from our engineer friends on this new planet. And god knows where all the eggs are supposed to have come from. I could go on.. it makes zero sense.

It's just silly. I really liked the idea of it but expected it to be rationalised somehow.

 

[Wor-Gar]

But does it chew on a person...?

 

[Rorywan]

But does it chew on a person...?

yes.
It's probably the best shot in the movie, you've probably seen the empire pic of it.

 

[Wor-Gar]

yes.
It's probably the best shot in the movie, you've probably seen the empire pic of it.

That's all I want to see.

Coral and engineers and monotone David and bad acting have no meaning for me.

Aliens jumping out of the dark and chewing on ya, that's good stuff.

 

[Rorywan]

That's all I want to see.

Coral and engineers and monotone David and bad acting have no meaning for me.

Aliens jumping out of the dark and chewing on ya, that's good stuff.

And for the most part that saves Covenant, there's just so little of it though. There are a few terrific "...aaaaahhhssssssss" moments of pure brutality.
Then a lot of flute playing (I joke not) and dodgy stone temple set, with yawnsome character interactions.

Alien, Aliens even Alien3 = To Kill a Mockingbird.
Alien Covenant = 50 Shades of Grey.
Prometheus = Lovely colouring book.

 

[GasparZizou]

A coral that spews the deadly pathogen that was used as a weapon of mass destruction, but also used to seed other planets by our gods, by melting them into bio DNA, and it is used to create life by the engineers? but it doesn't kill everything, just some creatures, others it transforms, others it grows inside then bursts out in a variety of forms, some of which seem to want to eat and kill everything and others who just stand around, and others that turn into eggs. Some turn into dog shaped creatures after gestating inside a dog (or ox) some turn into dog shaped creatures on all fours that gestate out of a humanoid. And it hatches out of one of it's creators as small blue pointy headed creature, but now hatches out as what exactly? Where are all the thousands of creatures that came from our engineer friends on this new planet. And god knows where all the eggs are supposed to have come from. I could go on.. it makes zero sense.

It's just silly. I really liked the idea of it but expected it to be rationalised somehow.

I didn't know you were an Engineer

Again, it's an alien planet, the fact that there's a living creature that dosn't look like one, isn't outlandish in the slightest, much like a coral. The fact that it propagates the plot goo isn't any crazier than the plot good itself.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Just got out of a screening.

Better than Prometheus for me, but not great.

Some cool moments but the main problem for me is that the whole thing feels really rushed. Scott just doesn't let any tension build. (I noticed a bit of that in Prometheus, too, but it's more obvious here.) He cuts too quickly. It almost feels like he's bored. The pacing is way too brisk. He doesn't let the audience marinate in dread like he used to. He doesn't let the atmosphere work on your nerves. By cutting too quickly, he diffuses the tension and you don't get the dramatic payoff. The pacing also undercuts any sense of awe you might otherwise expect from a Ridley Scott Alien movie. Even Prometheus had some moments where I was wowed by the visuals. Not so much here.

The most dread I felt in this entire movie was in the Walter/David flute scene (which I thought was the movie's best scene) ... and it doesn't feature any aliens. (However, that scene also has a visually confusing and borderline hilarious ending.)

The cast is mostly likable, Fassbender (no surprise) is great, but they don't get a lot to work with. The script's character work is really thin. I think the two previously released scenes, the "last supper" and the "prologue" sequence with David and Shaw, should have been included in the film. Both would have helped us care even a little bit about these characters. Or at the very least, they could have helped us identify some of the red-shirts. (It's a little tricky to figure out who's who in the early going.)

Overall, worth seeing. But temper your expectations.

 

[crows]

He cuts too quickly. It almost feels like he's bored

Well millenials will certainly love that editing.
I think he knows he has to keep people engaged

 

[theuzi9mm]

The trick....alien fans, is not minding that the movies are painful to follow...

 

[Rorywan]

I didn't know you were an Engineer

Again, it's an alien planet, the fact that there's a living creature that dosn't look like one, isn't outlandish in the slightest, much like a coral. The fact that it propagates the plot goo isn't any crazier than the plot good itself.

The perfect organism. A killing machine.
A simple yet terrifying life cycle.


What is the black liquid?
And more importantly what does it do?

After two movies about it now I still have no idea except that it does everything.
Everything the script demands without a moment of logical rational.

 

[Rorywan]

Just got out of a screening.

Better than Prometheus for me, but not great.

Some cool moments but the main problem for me is that the whole thing feels really rushed. Scott just doesn't let any tension build. (I noticed a bit of that in Prometheus, too, but it's more obvious here.) He cuts too quickly. It almost feels like he's bored. The pacing is way too brisk. He doesn't let the audience marinate in dread like he used to. He doesn't let the atmosphere work on your nerves. By cutting too quickly, he diffuses the tension and you don't get the dramatic payoff. The pacing also undercuts any sense of awe you might otherwise expect from a Ridley Scott Alien movie. Even Prometheus had some moments where I was wowed by the visuals. Not so much here.

The most dread I felt in this entire movie was in the Walter/David flute scene (which I thought was the movie's best scene) ... and it doesn't feature any aliens. (However, that scene also has a visually confusing and borderline hilarious ending.)

The cast is mostly likable, Fassbender (no surprise) is great, but they don't get a lot to work with. The script's character work is really thin. I think the two previously released scenes, the "last supper" and the "prologue" sequence with David and Shaw, should have been included in the film. Both would have helped us care even a little bit about these characters. Or at the very least, they could have helped us identify some of the red-shirts. (It's a little tricky to figure out who's who in the early going.)

Overall, worth seeing. But temper your expectations.

Similar feelings but I preferred Prometheus because of the visual entertainment.
And there is nothing as good in Covenant as (a) Shaws abortion, (b) the first temple entry (c) the silica storm.

 

[GasparZizou]

The perfect organism. A killing machine.
A simple yet terrifying life cycle.


What is the black liquid?
And more importantly what does it do?

After two movies about it now I still have no idea except that it does everything.
Everything the script demands without a moment of logical rational.

It does whatever the writer needs to advance the plot

 

[Rorywan]

It does whatever the writer needs to advance the plot

Exactly.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Similar feelings but I preferred Prometheus because of the visual entertainment.
And there is nothing as good in Covenant as (a) Shaws abortion, (b) the first temple entry (c) the silica storm.

I may yet come round to that opinion. Think I need to see it again. You're right, Prometheus certainly does have a lot more of the visual awe one expects from Scott and a good deal more tension, especially in the sequences you mention. On the other hand, Covenant, while lacking those positive things, also lacks most of the negative stuff that drove me crazy about Prometheus. Like irritating characters making random and totally unmotivated choices. I may need to watch them together once the Blu comes out to figure out my final ranking. Either way, both of them fall in line behind Alien and Aliens on my personal list. Maybe even behind Alien 3, which I think is underrated.

 

[abake]

Anyone like to explain the biological spore/pathogen emitting plant/fungi that were growing in the forest?
Not a spoiler as they were in the trailers.

Spoiler

Since David very specifically told us that the pathogen only effects biological life on a planet and not botany. Why the **** would pathogen spewing plantlife be growing wild in the forest. And why would said plant life be spewing biological pathogen "spores" in the first place, I guess it looked cool this whole concept is blown to ****, make it up as you go along kind of plotting.

Why wouldn't it be growing in the forest? The idea behind the black goo was for it to be used as a bioweapon that could wipe out mankind. Obviously David figured out it could also destroy the engineers and used it against them. It's not clear whether the black goo would also attack other lifeforms (maybe he said it, but I don't remember), what is clear though, is that David started doing experiments to make the bioweapon even deadlier (perhaps also "smarter" in its grown "xenomorph" form). Either way, he wiped out all biological, non-botanical life in that planet. Within that context, there is no reason why either he mutated the pathogen so it could lie dormant in the shape of those spores until a new lifeforms awakened it, or the black goo was designed from the get-go to work like that. In Prometheus we only saw the original canisters, but never what happened to the goo after prolonged exposure.

My thoughts in the spoiler tag.