Alien: Covenant

De ponto de vista audiovisual, é excelente, e a continuação da mitologia de Alien também é agradável. Mas é só isso. De facto, Covenant repete muitos erros de Prometheus e acrescenta alguns novos passos laterais que à superfície parecem ser inovações, mas na realidade afastam ainda mais o Alien como um monstro icónico do que anteriormente representava. No primeiro filme de 1979, foi considerado a personificação do mal absoluto e quase imbatível que dava medo de quilómetros de distância. Em Covenant, passou para um instrumento de morte medíocremente eficaz que não tem chance de assustar ninguém, porque desta vez há outro caráter como o vilão principal, que deixa o Alienígena de lado (e só aparece na última meia hora). De resto, os heróis são geralmente apresentados de uma forma superficial e inadequada, mais uma vez estupidamente andando num planeta desconhecido sem um fato espacial, e o filme sofre de um longo início e também de um período de filosofias idiotas que começa com debates sobre o sentido da existência e o propósito da vida e termina com os que discutem a exibir quem pode tocar melhor a flauta e citar autores literários. Esta forma de conceber a saga de Alien parece-me bastante infeliz... (15/05/2017)

Não olhemos tanto para trás. Os clássicos viverão para sempre, em «lonely perfection», como David chamaria o seu lugar na história. E agora, trinta anos depois, é o tempo duma nova conceção do tema — simples, mas eficaz, divertida ao nível dos blockbusters contemporâneos, não de obras de género revolucionárias. Alien: Covenant divertiu-me porque é um filme de terror de ficção científica com uma estética visual fantástica, localizações familiares, e música que (finalmente) faz referência ao Goldsmith e ao Horner atmosféricos. Divertiu-me com as cenas emocionantes e incrivelmente graduadas (a primeira passagem do regresso a Lander, que dura talvez dez minutos, é uma das melhores da série) e, dentro das regras do género, com uma boa colocação dos personagens nas situações em que são eliminados. Quando os personagens saem dum problema, o espetador já sabe de outro que vai piorar tudo para eles. Já para não falar duma dose adequada de brutalidade e de sangue. SPOILER ALERT: O argumento explica as origens das criaturas de Gigre, e eu gosto desta conceção autodestrutiva de que o mal último foi criado por um androide criado pelo homem. Tematicamente, é uma versão diferente da Skynet de Cameron. Lança-se num confronto de androides que dá ao universo de Alien uma nova dimensão interessante. E uma conclusão pessimista que oferece grandes possibilidades de desenvolvimento em episódios futuros. Estou ansioso por isso! (16/05/2017)

Once again it’s not the hit we were hoping for, but I think it’s at least a decent sci-fi horror flick. In any case, it’s a pity that it’s so half-assed and unfocused, because the plot arc potential is big. Unfortunately, it’s watered down by dense characters, dense dialogues and some dense scenes, too. The birth of the first real alien was actually funny. Overall, it has the same problems as Prometheus, but a couple of positives things on top. And if you were pissed off at explorers taking their helmets off too soon in Prometheus , here when landing on a new planet, they won’t even bother to put them on. Edit: I have to say that this wore off quite fast. Much faster than Prometheus, to which I returned after the screening. When I think back about Covenant, I mostly remember the negative aspects, which in the previous one was the opposite. And this is a relevant reason to lower the rating. (17/05/2017)

It’s worse than Prometheus and the least interesting film in the entire saga. While the much-criticized Prometheus somehow matures into a better experience with repeated viewings, Covenant is an overripe and completely squeezed lemon. The mythology built around the most famous space killer is not interesting and the result is like a mediocre movie by a mediocre director, which takes place half of the time at night, in darkness, in dim light (Prometheus was much, much more visually engaging and colourful in this respect) and you won’t find any sign of Scott’s visual bravado. The crown is put on by the WTF mutual welcoming of the android and the newly hatched alien, which is like a cut from a Zucker brothers parody. What was that, dear producers? Please let Alien be a milestone in film history where it belongs and don't milk it like a cash cow, the poor thing is already barely hanging on. (23/05/2017)

Someone finally understood the kind of role that viewers would like to see James Franco play. Unfortunately, it involves the only moment when the film allows itself to be concise. Like Prometheus, Alien: Covenant is torn between an effort to provide first-rate fan service through a return to the horror roots of the first Alien (which is referenced through conspicuous allusions) and the ambition to be epic (with captivating shots like those found in Ford’s westerns) and deep-thinking sci-fi along the lines of Stanley Kubrick (to which it comes closest with its minimalist prologue). Following the formula of a mediocre 1980s (i.e. pre-Scream) slasher flick, with characters making the most basic mistakes (climbing and looking where they shouldn’t, often alone rather than in a group, having sex with each other), it is thus impeded by discussions on chance, fate and creation (Mother and various fathers play a role here), which suffer from the same lack of development as the colonisation storyline. The new Alien is paradoxically a good film until an alien appears in it. It works relatively well until the landing on the alien planet, as it offers a number of possibilities for the direction that the narrative could take and for a long time it isn’t clear which one the filmmakers will take. For example, the conflicts between faith and science, between the captain and Daniels (instead of cross around her neck, she wears a bolt, which comes in handy later) start out promisingly, whereas we see an android playing the flute and reciting Shelley in the second half, which, although fascinating thanks to Fassbender, is a somewhat different theme and a slightly different film. Scott is suddenly much more fascinated by the artificial beings and aliens than by the humans with whom we have spent nearly an hour of the film (however, the pairing-off of the characters doesn’t much help the viewer’s emotional involvement, because for a long time it isn’t clear who is sleeping with whom), and he starts to address all of the complex questions of existence by biting off hands and tearing off heads. This smart-looking film thus becomes a goofy (but entertaining) action-horror B-movie with some rather disgusting gore effects, which I didn't entirely care for, especially thanks to the likeable Katherine Waterston (though an android remains the only well-developed character). Though the new Alien is inventively constructed, looks great and offers one very well-made action scene (with an axe), it comes across as half-baked in most respects, as if there wasn’t time and space to flesh out many of the ideas (I consider the inorganically incorporated flashback, which could have been replaced by dialogue, to be not only an example of tremendous screenwriting laziness, but also a sign that the whole thing could have worked better if the film had paid more heed to the point of view of the reminiscing character). 55% (16/05/2017)