Yes No Maybe So: "Alien: Covenant"
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 3:00PM Colony ship Film Experience crew member Robert here!
Since Prometheus blasted us back into the Alien universe to mixed reaction (hey, I really liked it!) there has been a flurry of talk about what the next entry in the franchise would be. For a while it was looking like Neill Blomkamp would get his shot at reviving the franchise with original star Sigourney Weaver, but Ridley Scott's sequel to Prometheus – originally not related to the Alien franchise, now called Alien: Covenant – put those plans on ice.
After a very tense teaser a few months ago we have a full trailer and it looks like it will be a bumpy ride for all. Trailer with the accompanying "Yes No Maybe So" after the jump...
Okay let's get into it:
YES
- Katherine Waterson's amazing Sig-Weavie style throwback hair
- Michael Fassbender playing a different android that is not just a detached head
- Georgeous landscapes and cinematography
- "Who planted it?"
- The subtly creepy "no birds, no animals" realization
- OH SHIT IT'S THE WRECKAGE OF THE ALIEN SHIP FROM PROMETHEUS DON'T GO IN THERE!!!
- Are those facehuggers I see?
- It appears to be a return of the classic Alien formula after Prometheus played around with it too much for people's liking
- That brief shot of the xenomorph barreling down the tunnel is already nightmare inducing
- Lots of tension
- Lots of running
- Lots of screaming
- Lots of xenomorphs
- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
- A lot of these action set pieces look stunning
- KATHERINE. WATERSON'S. HAIR!
MAYBE SO
- Not sure how I feel about the reveal that all of the people on the expedition are couples on their way to repopulate a new earth like planet. The "Paradise Hotel" but in space and with xenomorphs instead of sexual temptation thing could work well if the writing and acting is top notch, but if the chemistry isn't there it will just be a total drag
- No sign of Fassbender's deceitful android David or Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw. How big, if any, of a role they will play in this installment remains to be seen
- Also no notable presence of big name stars James Franco, Billy Crudup or Demian Bichir. The cast is pretty stacked with great actors (hey Carmen Ejogo and Jussie Smollett!) so this hopefully bodes well for more of an ensemble effort rather than a few notables hogging all the screen time
- Danny McBride
NO
- This trailer, along with so many others, gives way, way too much away. Anyone who is a fan of the "scientists/astronauts stuck in a remote location with a monster" genre will be able to pretty much piece the entire plot together after a few viewings
- Honestly not enough shots of Katherine Waterson's hair
Alien: Covenant is in theaters May 19th. Are you a Yes, No, or a Maybe So?
Reader Comments (17)
So is this the same planetary setting as Prometheus? Consider me confused about the connection between the two.
"Prometheus" was beautiful and thrilling but utterly stupid in its character dinamics. And yeah, Charlize Theron's character's death has to go down as one of the most unintentionally hilarious deaths in film history. And it has strong competition within the same film itself... it was like a "Darwin Awards" competition.
Have better hopes for this one... but with Franco and McBride being involved... I don't know. Can be genius casting... or just Scott not caring anymore.
HUGE Alien fan. I like Fincher's and Resurrection and Prometheus, and hell I even like AvP, all with a few caveats. But, this trailer seems like the most uninspired of all of the films. The previous films were all daring and took chances, even if they failed at times. But, this trailer left me feeling "meh" which makes me sad. I hope the film itself surprises.
Just as an FYI, from what I've heard, this trailer really doesn't give that much away at all. Far less than the Prometheus trailers did, for example.
Also, keep in consideration that we saw "David" dying his hair in Prometheus. There's no reason to think that he'll look visibly different from the new Walter android, so he might actually be in this trailer and we just don't know it.
I spotted Crudup and Birchir,Birchir is on the field crying over a body and in other shots,crudup is face hugged and writhes around in pain on the floor,Franco dies before they get to the planet so he's not here but he is in The Last Supper viral teaser where all the crew are introduced..
I love this series (the good and bad) and will probably see this, but I agree that James Franco is a red flag. He looks really ill and hopefully his character dies off early. What happened to Noomi Rapace? Is her Captain now gone? And is David the android programmed to age (?) because in the 2-minute prologue clip recently released Fassbender looks much older than in the previous Prometheus film. I hope for the best.
This look great and pretty old school. Prometheus had LOTS of problems so cautiously very excited about this one.
No Weaver no care.
Ridley Scott is the David Lean of sci-fi
I will skip this.
This looks like a rehash of Prometheus and the other Alien movies with nothing new added. And way to go showing pretty much the enitre movie in the trailer.
I think I'll pass.
So basically a digitally shot remake of Alien with extra CG and some plot threads from Prometheus so they can milk more $ from a franchise that should've ended with a flawed but conclusive installment in 1992. The last two also had well-cut trailers, but when ya been burned, ya been burned.
I'm excited about this... but i'm torn as to the 'couples repopulation/colonization' idea.
Are they just ignoring the fact that the Prometheus ship didn't return or communicate back?
"Let's start setting up shop here now"
Though, I love the Alien series and though Prometheus being a huge disappointment for me, I do respect the patience and time they seemed to put into trying to cultivate an 'origin prequel'. This film looks like it could rectify some of the magic from the original films.
Eagerly and cautiously anticipate this.
I vote for a new Sigourney Weaver nickname in this forum.
This film will explain a lot, its a link between alien and promethous myhtologies so i dont think it will dissapoint.
... after actually having watched the film itself... I think I'm out of anything Alien till the whole thing is rebooted. I'll just pretend, everything stopped with Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, which I actually liked for what it is (Friday the 13th with Aliens and Predators instead of Jason Voorhes). The franchise, to that point, was either great films, interesting failures or just popcorn nonsense... but Prometheus and Covenant are pretentious and never can escape the utter stupidity of its plot, despite throwing some interesting point here and there...
Alien *****
Aliens *****
Alien 3 *** 1/2
Alien: Resurrection ***
Alien vs Predator **
Alien vs Predator: Requiem ***
Prometheus *
Alien Covenant *1/2
The movie lacks something.
Maybe the suspense or the action.
Watch Alien: Covenant online