Daniels should have known that the synthetic that came back was David when she saw him stapling his wounds. The Walter synthetic was able to self-heal.
Interestingly, in the prequel clip David speaks a line from Ozymandias, which was written by Percy Shelley, the husband of Frankinstein's author, Mary Shelley.
During the last act I was trying to figure out whether Scott was actually doing the doppleganger switch up with Walter and David, or whether I was over thinking it. On the surface it seemed set up to be pretty obvious that David had tricked them, but Scott somehow managed to keep me guessing about it until the moment when Daniels mentioned the cabin. As soon as he spoke to her with that Peter O'Toole voice I was grinning ear to ear. I love the character of David, played so brilliantly by Fassbender. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Totally agree, first i was super sure that it was david, but then after some minutes and we see david actually helping them i got really uncertain up until the moment where the alien on the ship is killed. You can see the disapointment written all over his face
Yup, same here. I kind of hoped in my heart of hearts that it wouldn't be the obvious conclusion and that there would be a clever third option that I haven't even thought of. But big PLUS for keeping us guessing, Scott.
Good for you, but I was not even remotely surprised that it was David. It was so obvious. How else would there be another alien on the ship and it was obvious that he was testing it. No tension or anything for me during the ending.
The hint that David had switched w/ Walter was provided as soon as they got back to the ship. Daniels compliment him on getting them back and his reply was something like "just doing my duty". We learned earlier on that's something that David would say.
As a Prometheus fan, this movie is a middle finger to my face. David from being a curious android becomes super baddie, the protaganist of Prometheus dies, and the Engineers are wiped out. What's the point of defending the movie Prometheus now?
Malay Martian - I wouldn't mind the 'David turns to true villain' storyline if it wasn't so jarring. We don't get to spend anytime with him alone on the journey to the planet, nor for the period he was there with Shaw. So we never get to see the change, he's just a straight up villain all of a sudden. Elizabeth Shaw's fate is such a waste of the character and Noomi Rapace (It makes me wish even more for the original sequel to Prometheus that focused soley on Shaw's and David's journey to meet the "Engineers"/creators.
big ben - He did bad things, but he was following Weyland's orders throughout the movie (Prometheus). Whereas here he appears to be performing evil deeds completely of his own initiative.
Such a great analysis of the movie; great job Grace! Did you guys notice how the movie created an explanation of why Geiger's alien design are mechanical, organic and sexual? It made so much sense that David wanted to create something that was actually alive, but still has a mechanical aspect, like himself, and still resembled/honored Shaw.
I wanna thank you for two things. First, for the amazing in depth review (you realky rock!). And second, for not cut-editing your videos every two seconds! You have no idea how sick I am about that. You make your reviews feel so fresh that way! Keep up with the good work!
It's becoming very apparent that we didn't need more movies explaining exactly where the xenomorphs came from. Remember the first time you saw Alien, when you saw the Space Jockey, the Derelict, and all those eggs? There was a real sense of mystery there, and it should have been maintained. We don't NEED to know where this stuff came from. It adds to the horror of hilariously-unprepared humans exploring a universe they'll be lucky to survive, let alone ever understand. As someone aptly wrote on another forum, "the idea of 'corporate shenanigans with poor space truckers delving into the stars where Cthulhu-like elder godthings once walked' is like, all I want out of a movie franchise. Don't even give me answers--just point to enough stuff that I can make my own answers."
Tastes vary, but I don't want to definitively know how they came about. Maybe they're bio-engineered weapons. Maybe they're natural. Maybe something even weirder. I prefer the mystery.
so you finaly learned that Santa doesn´t exist? the fact is never happy. If the producer doen´t explain everyone compalints, if he does everybody compalints too. Scott you the master of masters.
Nice observations about David kissing and how the xenomorphs procreate, I didn't spot that. Also didn't pick out the hair dye part, nice find. I did question why an android's hair would grow out, it did feel like a plot device.
I loved the movie, I don't understand why people are here complaining without watching it first. I think the ending was a little bit predictable, but I liked it. I found a mistake though. Daniels sticks a nail in David's throat, but when he pretends to be Walter he doesn't have a scar on the neck but he does have scars on his face. Did anyone else realize??
In the soundtrack, 'Chest Burster' is perfection. Naturally, all film viewers attach themselves emotionally into a story or situation by tethering their emotions to that of a character they can relate. In this case, that would typically be the person being killed by the chest burster... But Jed/Ridley truly had a moment of brilliant vision when they constructed this tune for this situation because the tune itself instantly took the fear out of the scene and put all viewers into the mind, not of the person being killed but into the character who set everything in motion. The character was watching his 'child' being born and this piece of music forced all viewers to focus on that and it's beauty, rather than the gore, which one would think couldn't be overmatched. Yet another demonstration of the power of music. Amazing. Surprising. Beautiful.
David is not the original creator of the Xeno. He just mastered (and is still refining) the lost art of Xeno-engineering in which he takes immense pride. Not to mention he created his 'babies' through his lady love (both biologically incapable of procreating one). Wild.
17:00 nice review Grace but... James Cameron is not a part of the original team of Alien. Alien (1) was created when Ridley Scott set out to make an alien movie, he liked HR Giger's artwork and approached Giger to collaborate on an alien movie. the team of Scott and Giger created Alien(1), the egg, the face hugger, the xenomorph, it's biology, the derelict ship, the derelict pilot (space jockey). the original team of Alien was Scott and Giger. please research this to verify my statements.
17:00 also Scott like many directors of that time didn't revisit a movie or pursue sequels. so he pursued other works. i am one of those that saw Alien (1) first and then saw Aliens. as much as i like the characters and action of Aliens i feel cameron dropped the ball. other reviewers/commenters have stated that Alien was art and Aliens was action.
17:00 in Alien(1) the xenomorph is the 'perfect organism' hard to kill, too strong, too fast, too hard to outsmart. in Aliens the xenomorph is a space bug and killed left and right. when cameron came in he didn't consult with Scott and Giger. unfortunate borderline arrogant. and took the sequel to a military/action movie.
17:00 in cameron's Aliens he ignored the derelict and space jockey. so I'm glad for Scott's return to elaborate on the alien's universe. and a return to scifi, exploration, biology and not just horror/thriller/action/military. for me it's hard to stomach that the xenomorph was designed by a human android rather than evolution on a distant world. but i prefer Scott's direction to cameron's. a return to the awe beauty intrigue of Alien. there are a lot of vids documentaries interviews with Giger on youtube to check my statements.
denormzone except his explanation for the space jockey and ship don't line up at all - especially when the space jockey was blatantly a skeleton and not a spacesuit in the original. Cameron made it into a franchise; Ridley Scott has now taken it and is demonstrating how he simply does not have the requisite skill to pull of franchise-film making (let alone intelligent science fiction - where as Cameron is very careful in his world building and making sure his characters believably fit into it, Scott has instead made the technology far more advanced in the prequels than in the original alien, has now filled two films with cardboard characters and made no effort to make them believable in their professions, and also now has an engineer race with a spaceship and docking station but otherwise they all wear robes, live in stone structures, and use paper - no other evidence of technology anywhere). Ridley Scott has become George Lucas - they both have great ideas but have completely lost their ability to execute them.
denormzone the reality is that Alien was about a bunch of truckers in space (as Grace puts it) trapped in close quarters with a monster and without weapons. Aliens changed the environment and for the better (Alien can only pull that off once). Cameron instead opened up the world and built strong characters and themes into a well paced and entertaining film. The mythology of the xenomorph came from his sequel - their behaviours, their nest environments, their hierarchy, their biology, etc. Alien was simply about the unknown, and now that Ridley is attempting to explain the origins of it all instead of it just being an animal, you can see how he's diminishing the magic of both Alien and Aliens.
I loved the subtle foreshadowing that Walter was actually David when he offered his hand to her on the cargo ship and his hood blew up over his head for a second referencing our initial encounter with David as a cloaked figure.
One of my favourite parts of Guardians 1 was Rocket shouting he didn't get ask to be made and be taken apart and put together over and over again. That upset me more than him holding the lone twig at the end.
I'm so glad you point out the parallels between the Alien universe (Ridley Scott's vision) and Blade Runner. Ridley himself refers to David as a Replicant in the commentary for Prometheus.
Finally a review that actually spoils everything! This is what I wanted to see because similar to Prometheus, Covenant needs to be watched many times before we managed to discover all of its secrets and Easter eggs. Due to this I wanted to see a spoiler-laden review to help me to prepare for the main movie. There are a few other UA-cam videos calling themselves "spoiler reviews" as well. The funny thing is, is that those other videos are not truly spoiler videos. Rather what we got was creators who managed to to discover a few spoilers and throw them into a review, claiming that they actually watched the movie and are providing a real spoiler review. ITS ALL LIES by those creators, until I watched this video and I feel this one to be real! Well done!
She should've asked before, as soon as she saw him tbh... Man I saw this twist coming from MILES away. I mean zooming into the nub (from the missing hand)? COME ON It's almost insulting to the audience.
People like character Shaw though. To me this is the equivalent of, after the first Alien film, announcing in the second film that "oh by the way Sigourney Weaver died in the escape pod," and then the movie played on with no role for Ripley.
No they dont.Its true she has her fans but the majority hated everything about Prometheus.She fell under the who cares part.I do agree its stupid to give her character such a lame send off.But most people diddnt care one way or another about her.Even the majority of people that liked her said she was only good not great.I havent meet one fan who has ever said they loved her character.Its either she sounds silly or shes good but not great.Most people really were turned off by her religious ideas and way of thinking.
BoomStick I am reading your comment and thinking "man ol BoomStick...this sounds like a religious or political rant. Boom is really upset." Then I get down to the "read more" tab, give it a click, and then the big reveal. It was a religious rant! Which negates the whole thing IMO.
Finally a positive in depth review. Too many youtubers are becoming so pretentious. Thank David for Grace, reviews everything fairly and with class. Great movie. Great review
Actually cryosleep is not an option. Is the only way to preserve enough food and oxygen for the long trip. The only way the crew would survive the 7 years voyage was in cryosleep.
kbg12ila right on bro i kept going back in forth do i read or no lol i gave in i still wanna see it tho its just a shame what happend to shaw i really liked her character alot got damn david
Ridley Scott definitely has a fascination with androids/synthetics and how they will impact our lives in the future. It's been a focus on a lot of his films for almost 40 years, or half his life. It's a theme which interests me also and I would have loved for him to have made more of these types of films sooner rather than later... I picked up on the Frankenstein references right from the opening scene with Fassbender and Pierce which set the tone for the film. There was a lot of predictability though, especially when he (David) cut his hair etc...it didn't give much away as to what was going to happen later on in the film with him imitating Walter and effectively fooling the crew...saw that a mile away...
Just got back home from seeing Covenant! What a blast! What a fun, terrifying,smart thrill ride. The whole interaction between Walter and David was so weird and obscure-that i loved it! The gore factor was turned up to Volume 11! Such terrifying and unforgettable scenes. This prolly has to be my 2nd favourite Alien film, the whole list being 1.Aliens 2.Alien:Covenant 3.Prometheus 4.Alien 5.Alien 3 6.Alien:Resurection 7.AvP 8.AvP:Requiem
There is also the issue of the psychological stress of deep space travel. NASA and the Russian space agency have both undertaken experiments to see how space farers would deal with long term space travel (such as a year's journey time) that would be required to reach Mars with current or near future technology, and the results are pretty worrying. To cut a long story short, being cooped up in a confined, artificial space with a small group of other people and no way to get out tends to result in an extremely virulent form of cabin fever, along with other severe forms of psychological distress , even in trained astronauts who are still on Earth. Spending seven years under such conditions in deep space could easily create a scenario where no Xenomorph or homicidal android would be required for there to be a blood bath. As you say Grace, it could have been clarified for the audience, but there are good reasons why staying awake for seven years would be a no go even if the ship carried enough food, water and oxygen to theoretically allow for it.
One connection between Blade Runner and Alien I always noticed was during the scene in Blade Runner when the Spinner rises from the noodle bar after Gaff picks up Deckard, the video monitor in the Spinner has the same graphics as the monitor in the Nostromo escape-pod that Ripley and Jonesy escape in during the end of Alien. It's a small thing but I noticed it right away.
Grace, Great Review. I had similar thoughts when I saw the movie today. I think that Scott has made a mini masterpiece here. Another commonality with Blade Runner, I noticed was the opening. Both movies open with the camera focussed on the iris of the eye. In the case of Blade Runner, its Deckard, here it is David. And if you're prediction of a crossed universe is right then oh boy we are in for a treat. Let's hope for the Best.
"Look upon my works ye mighty and despair" is a quote used by David from Ozymandias, a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, so if somebody said Shelley, that's most likely why, maybe it is about Frankenstien, not sure!
alien covenant actually made me rewatch prometheus and have a much greater appreciation and understanding of the film as it has really become a story of the android david and not about the aliens.
Yes, I believe you are correct. But in truth I had also assumed it was reference to Mary Shelley. I didn't even know who Percy was, or that they were married.
I think a big part of what made the original film so terrifying is that it really drove home in a vivid, bloody way the utter indifference of both nature and humanity itself (in the form of The Company) toward human suffering. In the developed West, we're now accustomed to being at the top of the food chain, but nothing in nature guarantees this outcome. On other worlds, we could well find ourselves playing the caterpillar to some monstrous ichneumon wasp. The universe wouldn't--and doesn't--care, and that's a pretty scary thought if you give it time to...uh...gestate. I think making the xenomorphs an artificial creation, whether by the engineers or by David, guts the franchise of its deepest source of horror. It might be in several respects an interesting new angle, but I think it's ultimately the wrong one.
I don't think we actually know if Walter was killed or not. We never see him dead. I was beginning to wonder if David had persuaded Walter to join his side or something like that.
The facehuggers in Covenant are significantly faster, more agile, and dangerous that any that have come before. It seems that there were a few good ideas in the first AvP.
The point of going into cryosleep is that you don't age during the trip. So staying awake is like saying you're okay with taking 7 years out of your life.
Regarding David cutting his hair and the crew not minding... I think the reason behind that was because they know robots like David was designed to fit in with people that when he cut his hair upon seeing people they didnt really mind.
Blade Runner and this Alien movie may have similar themes but don't understand why you keep trying to connect them. They're completely different movies.
William Smith Different movies by the same team with a possible connection in Blade Runner...there may be a tie in along the way to "simplify" things...
Really like your thoughts on the two aliens movies!Better than some of the other critics..Your thoughts and opinions on them really helps me to look at the movies from a different angle,and appreciate the characters more.I think covenant delivered in the horror department,which I think was the idea on that one..
Jonathan Giammaria bro don't let these comments change your mind, I found this alien film quite satisfying giving me some answers but leaving me more questions that I hope gets answered in future film that I can't wait for, for me alien covenant is a deffo 8 out of ten but with some poor choices in parts of the film but don't every film have that?
Sauron Merciful but what if Ridley Scott has a big plan, maybe like it started with a prequel to alien then another prequel to and it will keep going till it gets alien and what if he just wants to re do the lore to alien ? Coz the lord you get from the comic books ante the lord Ridley Scott wanted, it's his franchise maybe he just wants to create the lore that he wanted
Excellent review. Any of the complaints people are having about the film are cleared up in this video. Nice job identifying & explaining the symbolism & themes in the film. Very informative review.
Thank you for posting this video. I have been so excited to see this movie. I loved Prometheus and was eager to see where the franchise went. I feel most reviewers didn't really like this movie- even the ones that liked Alien. However, you don't seem disappointed so there is hope. This review didn't really spoil much since I have done my reading :-) thank you for your honest review.
Thanks Grace, you really are awesome. I just saw the movie (2017-05-24) and really liked it, and that is based on me seeing the original LIVE in 1979 and it is still my #1 movie of all time. I just appreciate the breakdown and I appreciate the passion that you bring to movies. Keep it up Grace.
I thought the way that it began was pretty awesome with the whole crew suddenly too afraid to go back to sleep. That made perfect sense after that horrific accident and I would have genuinely felt that way too as a crew member. That was pretty awesome story telling right there and it really built up that sense of terror.
In the final scene, David helps Daniels and Tennessee to kill a Xenomorph. But David cherishes his creation. He would not let that Xenomorph get killed and he has no need to keep both humans alive. In that final scene, David pretends to be Walter only for fooling the movie-goers, for the cinematic effect. At this point, David knows that he is Michael Fassbender and that he is doing a show. In addition, the idea that synthetics can have emotions/self-awareness/self-esteem is not based on knowledge. It is a fantasy only for the show’s sake (just like Westworld). If Mr. Scott wants, Xenomorphs can have wings, too. And Iron man suits can be available as well. When one sees clearly a strange balance between different characters’ abilities and stupidity that was put into place just for the show's continuation, one can not follow the story anymore. One is reminded of the fact that it is only a show. This movie is silly.
The aliens will not do harm to David. They trust him and are happy to see him. David was angry when Oram kills a Neomorph. Now, in the final scene, he is suddenly ready to have a Xenomorph killed, just to save two human beings who he thinks should not continue to survive and he will not let their resurrection take place. Why is that? A while ago, he was trying to do what he did to Dr. Shaw to Daniels. Why now he suddenly wants to save her? That is two instances of the inconsistency of the David character. After letting that alien kill Daniels and Tennessee, David is still in control of the ship and can do whatever his wants with 2000 fully grown humans (in hypersleep) onboard the Covenant. By the way, since the time point in Prometheus, David always has the chance of taking black goo back to Earth. He could still do this even when he travels to Engineers’ home planet first. He did not need to destroy the ship and live alone on that planet for many years without hosts he needs for his creation.
Did you not see the movie? He can sacrifice one xenomorph. He already has two facehugger embryos and now he has two perfect test subjects for his experiments. Maybe he just wanted to see the look on Daniels' face when he reveals himself. After all he just wants to create a perfect organism and kill his creators.
Sometimes, it's like trying to explain soup to a fish. I despair. No, actually I don't give a shit about the haters looking for flaws that don't exist because they haven't got the wit to contemplate ulterior motives. One 'fan' will say it's all too explained, another 'fan' will say it's all too vague.
Just come back from seeing the film and i really liked it. The only thing i would of added is the pro logs would have been nice to see them on the big screen.
I believe someone or some group of people involved in pre-production decided that David was the most popular element from 'Prometheus', Shaw wasn't that popular and audiences didn't care that much about the engineers and then shoe-horned David into a remake of 'Alien' and discarded the loose ends of 'Prometheus' as quickly as possible instead of developing them.
The Tom Skerrit captain character in Alien 1974, had a point where his bio was on a computer. He had worked for the Tyrell Corp. A blade runner co. that made synthetics. These franchises have always been linked in tone, and subject mater.
Chantit Simma he actualy said as much after Alien was released that they were in the same universe at different time periods... not sure how cannon that is now 6 movies in but that's what he said back then the irony is that the movie soldiers is hinted at being in the same univers as blade runner and wih the AvP crossover movies too itmeans that in some way alien, predator, soldier and blade runner are all sorta, kinda but not really, yet still possibly all in the same verse haha
I dont find it lame that an android created the xenomorphs. It actually makes sense since androids are extremely intelligent and are created to know about scientific engineering. It would haven been easier for a robot with an extremely good brain to create such an complicated organism.
Hmm... remember the mural in the Prometheus ship, with the "crucified" xenomorph/deacon, and the two facehuggers on the sides. I just remembered it. Either David just "perfected" it, or they existed before. Or... Ridley just forgot about the mural/wanted to pretend it wasn't there.
It could very well be a Deacon,as it is the direct result of engineer DNA mixed with the black goo. Probably those where the things that killed all the engineers on LV 223. So they must have known about the. Looks more like a Deacon than a Xenomorph.
I thought David had creativity. I thought the fact that his model was so much like humans was why they discontinued his model and Walter the newer model was created without creativity.
Loved your thorough review! I pretty much agree with most of what you were saying. I love the lore and getting into the mysterious and evil history of the Aliens. Michael Fassbenders performance was incredibly mesmerizing! I just wished the climax was a bit more exciting. Leading the Alien through tunnels and eventually having it fly out of a airlock was predictable and seems very controlled, I also wished there were more Shaw and Engineers too but it was still a very interesting and entertaining movie! 8/10
The links between Covenant and Bladerunner can't be denied. David and Roy Batty even share a line. When David is assaulting Daniels he says "That's the spirit!" it reminded me of when Batty says the same line to Deckard when he's chasing him through Sebastian's apartment. The nail Batty puts through his hand is even similar to the one Daniels puts into David's jaw. I always felt that Bladerunner and the first Alien film took place in the same universe.
Interesting places to go with this film, the idea of the company becoming the big bad in the future does make sense in the future. This opens up the owes hip of intellectual property, if David is the IP of the company does that make his creations come under that umbrella. It also seems that we are quite a far of from the ship with the silo of eggs in Alien, how we get there seems very interesting. This being the case we still will have to revisit the engeneers in some fashion, being that we still need one to find in Alien with Davids creations. This could all be a battle for IP since it began with their weapon.
I really liked the idea of setting that creator vs creation conflict between David and Wayland, where Wayland kinda forces David to serve tea pitching the idea that his soul purpose is to serve his creator thus, strengthening his motivation of becoming a creator. Although the movie went an entirely different way than my expectations from a sequel to Prometheus which I really liked for creativity.
Grace once again you've proven your ability to see past the obvious, make connections and delve into the substance of the content . I also saw the minor flaws of this film (which pushed the narrative ). I was able to look past them to see a good movie with deeper meaning then your typical horror suspense genre. Great review in my humble opinion.
Grace, one correction. The German composer Richard Wagner's name is pronounced, Vahg-ner. Not Wagner as in Robert Wagner. Love your videos. Can't wait for Blade Runner!
I loved it! I don't enjoy very suspenceful horror movies, but this is my favorite genre. I enjoyed the deep philosophical questions it explored. The creations creation destroys it's creators creators and the creations they created. Say that three times fast! I love your mind! Terrific exposition! I really enjoyed every word you said.
Grace, I'm from the UK. That kind of accent hasn't gone away, but 50 years ago you didn't get onto TV/films unless you spoke posh like David. I guess it was a snobbish thing. Now we get to hear people with all kinds of accents. I think it's a good thing.
I thought David was similar to Mr. Sinister from X-men. He just like to toy with genetics and species. A being who has no sympathy from the genetic canvas which he paints on.
it sucks that the Engineers was a misdirect. i liked them in Prometheus. I was hoping for more of them
fahd s - Yep, studio interference certainly stopped us from watching that potential storyline unfold.
Yup kinda sad that they scrap that away
There were galaxies revolving around the holographic map in Prometheus, I doubt their civilization consists of two planets
They get killed like insects.
And we learn nothing about them. Total waste.
James Franco deserves an award for his lengthy performance in this movie. He didn't waste a moment.
They will have to send a Blade Runner into Space to kill David.
lolz
I would call it an insult to compare Michael Fassbender's acting to Sheldon from the Big Bang.
The kiss is a reference to Judas kissing Jesus when he betrayed him. It was a betrayal kiss where student betrays his master and creator.
Agreed. Very biblical. After that you knew betrayal was about to occur.
Daniels should have known that the synthetic that came back was David when she saw him stapling his wounds. The Walter synthetic was able to self-heal.
Interestingly, in the prequel clip David speaks a line from Ozymandias, which was written by Percy Shelley, the husband of Frankinstein's author, Mary Shelley.
During the last act I was trying to figure out whether Scott was actually doing the doppleganger switch up with Walter and David, or whether I was over thinking it. On the surface it seemed set up to be pretty obvious that David had tricked them, but Scott somehow managed to keep me guessing about it until the moment when Daniels mentioned the cabin. As soon as he spoke to her with that Peter O'Toole voice I was grinning ear to ear. I love the character of David, played so brilliantly by Fassbender. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Totally agree, first i was super sure that it was david, but then after some minutes and we see david actually helping them i got really uncertain up until the moment where the alien on the ship is killed. You can see the disapointment written all over his face
Yup, same here. I kind of hoped in my heart of hearts that it wouldn't be the obvious conclusion and that there would be a clever third option that I haven't even thought of. But big PLUS for keeping us guessing, Scott.
Good for you, but I was not even remotely surprised that it was David. It was so obvious. How else would there be another alien on the ship and it was obvious that he was testing it. No tension or anything for me during the ending.
Yeah I guess this was a bit disapointing
The hint that David had switched w/ Walter was provided as soon as they got back to the ship. Daniels compliment him on getting them back and his reply was something like "just doing my duty". We learned earlier on that's something that David would say.
As a Prometheus fan, this movie is a middle finger to my face. David from being a curious android becomes super baddie, the protaganist of Prometheus dies, and the Engineers are wiped out. What's the point of defending the movie Prometheus now?
Malay Martian dude. i am the biggest pronetheus fan in the world, and i agree with you. i was so disapointed in this movie after seeing it yesterday.
Malay Martian - I wouldn't mind the 'David turns to true villain' storyline if it wasn't so jarring. We don't get to spend anytime with him alone on the journey to the planet, nor for the period he was there with Shaw. So we never get to see the change, he's just a straight up villain all of a sudden. Elizabeth Shaw's fate is such a waste of the character and Noomi Rapace (It makes me wish even more for the original sequel to Prometheus that focused soley on Shaw's and David's journey to meet the "Engineers"/creators.
david was bad already in promethesus
big ben - He did bad things, but he was following Weyland's orders throughout the movie (Prometheus). Whereas here he appears to be performing evil deeds completely of his own initiative.
There are moments in Prometheus that suggest David can't wait for Weyland to die so he can get busy pursuing his own agenda.
Such a great analysis of the movie; great job Grace! Did you guys notice how the movie created an explanation of why Geiger's alien design are mechanical, organic and sexual? It made so much sense that David wanted to create something that was actually alive, but still has a mechanical aspect, like himself, and still resembled/honored Shaw.
I wanna thank you for two things. First, for the amazing in depth review (you realky rock!). And second, for not cut-editing your videos every two seconds! You have no idea how sick I am about that. You make your reviews feel so fresh that way! Keep up with the good work!
It's becoming very apparent that we didn't need more movies explaining exactly where the xenomorphs came from. Remember the first time you saw Alien, when you saw the Space Jockey, the Derelict, and all those eggs? There was a real sense of mystery there, and it should have been maintained. We don't NEED to know where this stuff came from. It adds to the horror of hilariously-unprepared humans exploring a universe they'll be lucky to survive, let alone ever understand. As someone aptly wrote on another forum, "the idea of 'corporate shenanigans with poor space truckers delving into the stars where Cthulhu-like elder godthings once walked' is like, all I want out of a movie franchise. Don't even give me answers--just point to enough stuff that I can make my own answers."
cuddle pod - Exactly! This is precisely how I feel. (You managed to do it in a far more comprehensive manner than I woud have been able to though)
cuddle pod naw I like it that way. You find out how they came about instead of just seeing some random creature killing everything
Another prequel to f*ck things up.
Tastes vary, but I don't want to definitively know how they came about. Maybe they're bio-engineered weapons. Maybe they're natural. Maybe something even weirder. I prefer the mystery.
so you finaly learned that Santa doesn´t exist? the fact is never happy. If the producer doen´t explain everyone compalints, if he does everybody compalints too. Scott you the master of masters.
I was so excited that James Franco was in this...then dies minutes into the film😂😂
Err, the most stupid thing in the movie is to go on an unknown planet with no spacesuit. They had Wagner, but not "War of the Worlds".
Gil Novello I agree. how did they know there was nothing in the air.
Nice observations about David kissing and how the xenomorphs procreate, I didn't spot that. Also didn't pick out the hair dye part, nice find. I did question why an android's hair would grow out, it did feel like a plot device.
yeah totally, why would their hair grow?! glad you enjoyed my review!
I loved the movie, I don't understand why people are here complaining without watching it first. I think the ending was a little bit predictable, but I liked it. I found a mistake though. Daniels sticks a nail in David's throat, but when he pretends to be Walter he doesn't have a scar on the neck but he does have scars on his face. Did anyone else realize??
I was looking for the nail scar too, which led to the ambiguity if Walter is actually David. One could guess that David patched it up
I didn't think about that, but who knows! I can't wait for the final movie to come out. I really like the direction this prequels are going for :D
Pablo Perez also with a cut like that to the face. Walter was advanced enough to heal. So he was supposed to heal and he did not.
I think David figured out a way to download his consciousness into Walters body.
DwayneK Media if he did; he was still supposed to heal that scar on his face.
In the soundtrack, 'Chest Burster' is perfection.
Naturally, all film viewers attach themselves emotionally into a story or situation by tethering their emotions to that of a character they can relate. In this case, that would typically be the person being killed by the chest burster... But Jed/Ridley truly had a moment of brilliant vision when they constructed this tune for this situation because the tune itself instantly took the fear out of the scene and put all viewers into the mind, not of the person being killed but into the character who set everything in motion. The character was watching his 'child' being born and this piece of music forced all viewers to focus on that and it's beauty, rather than the gore, which one would think couldn't be overmatched. Yet another demonstration of the power of music. Amazing. Surprising. Beautiful.
David is not the original creator of the Xeno. He just mastered (and is still refining) the lost art of Xeno-engineering in which he takes immense pride. Not to mention he created his 'babies' through his lady love (both biologically incapable of procreating one). Wild.
17:00 nice review Grace but... James Cameron is not a part of the original team of Alien. Alien (1) was created when Ridley Scott set out to make an alien movie, he liked HR Giger's artwork and approached Giger to collaborate on an alien movie. the team of Scott and Giger created Alien(1), the egg, the face hugger, the xenomorph, it's biology, the derelict ship, the derelict pilot (space jockey). the original team of Alien was Scott and Giger. please research this to verify my statements.
17:00 also Scott like many directors of that time didn't revisit a movie or pursue sequels. so he pursued other works. i am one of those that saw Alien (1) first and then saw Aliens. as much as i like the characters and action of Aliens i feel cameron dropped the ball. other reviewers/commenters have stated that Alien was art and Aliens was action.
17:00 in Alien(1) the xenomorph is the 'perfect organism' hard to kill, too strong, too fast, too hard to outsmart. in Aliens the xenomorph is a space bug and killed left and right. when cameron came in he didn't consult with Scott and Giger. unfortunate borderline arrogant. and took the sequel to a military/action movie.
17:00 in cameron's Aliens he ignored the derelict and space jockey. so I'm glad for Scott's return to elaborate on the alien's universe. and a return to scifi, exploration, biology and not just horror/thriller/action/military. for me it's hard to stomach that the xenomorph was designed by a human android rather than evolution on a distant world. but i prefer Scott's direction to cameron's. a return to the awe beauty intrigue of Alien. there are a lot of vids documentaries interviews with Giger on youtube to check my statements.
denormzone except his explanation for the space jockey and ship don't line up at all - especially when the space jockey was blatantly a skeleton and not a spacesuit in the original.
Cameron made it into a franchise; Ridley Scott has now taken it and is demonstrating how he simply does not have the requisite skill to pull of franchise-film making (let alone intelligent science fiction - where as Cameron is very careful in his world building and making sure his characters believably fit into it, Scott has instead made the technology far more advanced in the prequels than in the original alien, has now filled two films with cardboard characters and made no effort to make them believable in their professions, and also now has an engineer race with a spaceship and docking station but otherwise they all wear robes, live in stone structures, and use paper - no other evidence of technology anywhere).
Ridley Scott has become George Lucas - they both have great ideas but have completely lost their ability to execute them.
denormzone the reality is that Alien was about a bunch of truckers in space (as Grace puts it) trapped in close quarters with a monster and without weapons.
Aliens changed the environment and for the better (Alien can only pull that off once). Cameron instead opened up the world and built strong characters and themes into a well paced and entertaining film. The mythology of the xenomorph came from his sequel - their behaviours, their nest environments, their hierarchy, their biology, etc.
Alien was simply about the unknown, and now that Ridley is attempting to explain the origins of it all instead of it just being an animal, you can see how he's diminishing the magic of both Alien and Aliens.
I loved the subtle foreshadowing that Walter was actually David when he offered his hand to her on the cargo ship and his hood blew up over his head for a second referencing our initial encounter with David as a cloaked figure.
One of my favourite parts of Guardians 1 was Rocket shouting he didn't get ask to be made and be taken apart and put together over and over again. That upset me more than him holding the lone twig at the end.
Rocket turns out to be a good guy after the science experiment. Alien/Xenomorph....shit, not so much.
The neomorph is awesome
I'm so glad you point out the parallels between the Alien universe (Ridley Scott's vision) and Blade Runner. Ridley himself refers to David as a Replicant in the commentary for Prometheus.
Finally a review that actually spoils everything! This is what I wanted to see because similar to Prometheus, Covenant needs to be watched many times before we managed to discover all of its secrets and Easter eggs. Due to this I wanted to see a spoiler-laden review to help me to prepare for the main movie. There are a few other UA-cam videos calling themselves "spoiler reviews" as well. The funny thing is, is that those other videos are not truly spoiler videos. Rather what we got was creators who managed to to discover a few spoilers and throw them into a review, claiming that they actually watched the movie and are providing a real spoiler review. ITS ALL LIES by those creators, until I watched this video and I feel this one to be real! Well done!
Lightwish Light
Yeah
Grace, they did have a code word. It was the cabin by the lake... when David didnt respond to her at the end... thats when she found out
She should've asked before, as soon as she saw him tbh... Man I saw this twist coming from MILES away. I mean zooming into the nub (from the missing hand)? COME ON It's almost insulting to the audience.
What I gather from this and Prometheus is that in the future mankind will only send the dumb scientists into space.
In the far edges of space no one knows you're dumb.
How is that the creators didn't appreciate how awesome Elizabeth Shaw was?
Because fans hated prometheus and wanted an alien movie.Well here we go
People like character Shaw though. To me this is the equivalent of, after the first Alien film, announcing in the second film that "oh by the way Sigourney Weaver died in the escape pod," and then the movie played on with no role for Ripley.
No they dont.Its true she has her fans but the majority hated everything about Prometheus.She fell under the who cares part.I do agree its stupid to give her character such a lame send off.But most people diddnt care one way or another about her.Even the majority of people that liked her said she was only good not great.I havent meet one fan who has ever said they loved her character.Its either she sounds silly or shes good but not great.Most people really were turned off by her religious ideas and way of thinking.
BoomStick I am reading your comment and thinking "man ol BoomStick...this sounds like a religious or political rant. Boom is really upset." Then I get down to the "read more" tab, give it a click, and then the big reveal. It was a religious rant! Which negates the whole thing IMO.
Finally a positive in depth review. Too many youtubers are becoming so pretentious. Thank David for Grace, reviews everything fairly and with class. Great movie. Great review
:)
Greatest channel ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually cryosleep is not an option. Is the only way to preserve enough food and oxygen for the long trip. The only way the crew would survive the 7 years voyage was in cryosleep.
If there wasn't much food, then what were 2,000+ people going to eat for the first few years after they landed?
Probably frozen ration reserves and artificial potato gardens after they land.
I just spoiled it for myself. Although this is what has convinced me to see it... Lol.
kbg12ila i know right
***** True. Although I hated prometheus so seeing this wasn't that big of a deal for me.
kbg12ila you can read the whole story on wikipedia i didnt want to but i just couldint wait lol
kbg12ila right on bro i kept going back in forth do i read or no lol i gave in i still wanna see it tho its just a shame what happend to shaw i really liked her character alot got damn david
and that's why trailers have spoilers in them
Did anyone else realize that David said I'll finger the flute to Walter? Me and my friend were both like wow!
the engineers created the xenomorphs. David just improve the xenomorphs.
I love the enthusiasm in your analysis, and I'm glad you loved Alien Covenant as much as I did.
How do we know Walter is dead?? You never kill off Data or Lore!
My thought exactly. I hope he resurfaces during the next sequel.
Who else besides me keeps seeing Godzilla standing in the middle of that movie poster.
Yeah, me too. Perhaps David also created Godzilla. Shared "Monsters" universe confirmed lol.
dan tan Ridley Scott ain't even trying anymore lol
***** LOL
yeah I saw it too ha ha
Ridley Scott definitely has a fascination with androids/synthetics and how they will impact our lives in the future. It's been a focus on a lot of his films for almost 40 years, or half his life. It's a theme which interests me also and I would have loved for him to have made more of these types of films sooner rather than later...
I picked up on the Frankenstein references right from the opening scene with Fassbender and Pierce which set the tone for the film. There was a lot of predictability though, especially when he (David) cut his hair etc...it didn't give much away as to what was going to happen later on in the film with him imitating Walter and effectively fooling the crew...saw that a mile away...
I thought it was offensive to the audience's intelligence that they acted like the David-is-Walter reveal was a surprise.
I love spoilers and reading reviews of movies I'm highly anticipating. It's fun having some inside knowledge when I dissect the movie myself.
Just got back home from seeing Covenant!
What a blast! What a fun, terrifying,smart thrill ride. The whole interaction between Walter and David was so weird and obscure-that i loved it! The gore factor was turned up to Volume 11! Such terrifying and unforgettable scenes.
This prolly has to be my 2nd favourite Alien film, the whole list being
1.Aliens
2.Alien:Covenant
3.Prometheus
4.Alien
5.Alien 3
6.Alien:Resurection
7.AvP
8.AvP:Requiem
As a big Alien fan, I enjoyed it also. I nearly jumped out of my seat 3x after swearing I could not be scared. Boy was I wrong.
There probably wouldn't have been enough food if everyone stayed awake for seven years instead of going back into cryo-sleep.
You're probably right, but they should've clarified. Also, you think there'd be emergency rations for the crew just incase...
There is also the issue of the psychological stress of deep space travel. NASA and the Russian space agency have both undertaken experiments to see how space farers would deal with long term space travel (such as a year's journey time) that would be required to reach Mars with current or near future technology, and the results are pretty worrying.
To cut a long story short, being cooped up in a confined, artificial space with a small group of other people and no way to get out tends to result in an extremely virulent form of cabin fever, along with other severe forms of psychological distress , even in trained astronauts who are still on Earth. Spending seven years under such conditions in deep space could easily create a scenario where no Xenomorph or homicidal android would be required for there to be a blood bath.
As you say Grace, it could have been clarified for the audience, but there are good reasons why staying awake for seven years would be a no go even if the ship carried enough food, water and oxygen to theoretically allow for it.
Of course there would be. Otherwise, what are 2,000+ people going to eat for the first few years after they land?
Wait does that mean the aliens in aliens in the end aren't really "aliens"
They took our jobs!
One connection between Blade Runner and Alien I always noticed was during the scene in Blade Runner when the Spinner rises from the noodle bar after Gaff picks up Deckard, the video monitor in the Spinner has the same graphics as the monitor in the Nostromo escape-pod that Ripley and Jonesy escape in during the end of Alien. It's a small thing but I noticed it right away.
Do you all think this is Michale Fastbender's franchise?
James Franco would have been a saving element of this movie if they had kept him alive
Grace, Great Review. I had similar thoughts when I saw the movie today. I think that Scott has made a mini masterpiece here. Another commonality with Blade Runner, I noticed was the opening. Both movies open with the camera focussed on the iris of the eye. In the case of Blade Runner, its Deckard, here it is David. And if you're prediction of a crossed universe is right then oh boy we are in for a treat. Let's hope for the Best.
"Look upon my works ye mighty and despair" is a quote used by David from Ozymandias, a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, so if somebody said Shelley, that's most likely why, maybe it is about Frankenstien, not sure!
Note to self:Never trust droids!!!
alien covenant actually made me rewatch prometheus and have a much greater appreciation and understanding of the film as it has really become a story of the android david and not about the aliens.
They said "Shelley" because the poet is called Percy Shelley of Ozymandias
Yes, I believe you are correct. But in truth I had also assumed it was reference to Mary Shelley. I didn't even know who Percy was, or that they were married.
Seeing Sigourney Weaver as Ripley turn up in the end credits was the Icing on the cake for me, amazing !!!!
I think a big part of what made the original film so terrifying is that it really drove home in a vivid, bloody way the utter indifference of both nature and humanity itself (in the form of The Company) toward human suffering. In the developed West, we're now accustomed to being at the top of the food chain, but nothing in nature guarantees this outcome. On other worlds, we could well find ourselves playing the caterpillar to some monstrous ichneumon wasp. The universe wouldn't--and doesn't--care, and that's a pretty scary thought if you give it time to...uh...gestate. I think making the xenomorphs an artificial creation, whether by the engineers or by David, guts the franchise of its deepest source of horror. It might be in several respects an interesting new angle, but I think it's ultimately the wrong one.
I don't think we actually know if Walter was killed or not. We never see him dead. I was beginning to wonder if David had persuaded Walter to join his side or something like that.
The facehuggers in Covenant are significantly faster, more agile, and dangerous that any that have come before. It seems that there were a few good ideas in the first AvP.
Cgi my man.
The point of going into cryosleep is that you don't age during the trip. So staying awake is like saying you're okay with taking 7 years out of your life.
You are an excellent communicator being able to talk off the cuff like this. Well done.
Regarding David cutting his hair and the crew not minding... I think the reason behind that was because they know robots like David was designed to fit in with people that when he cut his hair upon seeing people they didnt really mind.
You're great Grace, good honest objectivity laced with some enthusiasm and criticism.
Blade Runner and this Alien movie may have similar themes but don't understand why you keep trying to connect them. They're completely different movies.
William Smith
Different movies by the same team with a possible connection in Blade Runner...there may be a tie in along the way to "simplify" things...
Just because they're different movies by the same team doesn't mean a thing. When is this tie-in coming out?
Connected thematically.
in the "last supper" prologue, James Franco says "I'm burning up".... ha ha
me making breakfast toast (whispers to self): *~you're cargo is humanity~*
;) and don't you forget it!
So excited for your Blade Runner/Alien Universe video!!
Really like your thoughts on the two aliens movies!Better than some of the other critics..Your thoughts and opinions on them really helps me to look at the movies from a different angle,and appreciate the characters more.I think covenant delivered in the horror department,which I think was the idea on that one..
Ah I have no self control. But if anything, I'm definitely going to see this movie now. Can't wait!
Jonathan Giammaria bro don't let these comments change your mind, I found this alien film quite satisfying giving me some answers but leaving me more questions that I hope gets answered in future film that I can't wait for, for me alien covenant is a deffo 8 out of ten but with some poor choices in parts of the film but don't every film have that?
Sauron Merciful but what if Ridley Scott has a big plan, maybe like it started with a prequel to alien then another prequel to and it will keep going till it gets alien and what if he just wants to re do the lore to alien ? Coz the lord you get from the comic books ante the lord Ridley Scott wanted, it's his franchise maybe he just wants to create the lore that he wanted
I’ve never seen such intense sexual tension as I saw with Michael fassbender and Michael fassbender 😂
"This kind of story really sticks to you, even if it doesn't stick the landing" so true, still, thinking about these films
Excellent review. Any of the complaints people are having about the film are cleared up in this video. Nice job identifying & explaining the symbolism & themes in the film. Very informative review.
Thank you for posting this video. I have been so excited to see this movie. I loved Prometheus and was eager to see where the franchise went. I feel most reviewers didn't really like this movie- even the ones that liked Alien. However, you don't seem disappointed so there is hope. This review didn't really spoil much since I have done my reading :-) thank you for your honest review.
Thanks Grace, you really are awesome. I just saw the movie (2017-05-24) and really liked it, and that is based on me seeing the original LIVE in 1979 and it is still my #1 movie of all time. I just appreciate the breakdown and I appreciate the passion that you bring to movies. Keep it up Grace.
the movie is called alien convenent and not aliens even tho theres multiples xenomorphs in the movie but i think it's because the alien is David
xenomorphs are the monsters he's the alien not the et kind but the one that he's like a human but in the same time he's not ...
I thought the way that it began was pretty awesome with the whole crew suddenly too afraid to go back to sleep. That made perfect sense after that horrific accident and I would have genuinely felt that way too as a crew member. That was pretty awesome story telling right there and it really built up that sense of terror.
In the final scene, David helps Daniels and Tennessee to kill a Xenomorph. But David cherishes his creation. He would not let that Xenomorph get killed and he has no need to keep both humans alive. In that final scene, David pretends to be Walter only for fooling the movie-goers, for the cinematic effect. At this point, David knows that he is Michael Fassbender and that he is doing a show. In addition, the idea that synthetics can have emotions/self-awareness/self-esteem is not based on knowledge. It is a fantasy only for the show’s sake (just like Westworld). If Mr. Scott wants, Xenomorphs can have wings, too. And Iron man suits can be available as well. When one sees clearly a strange balance between different characters’ abilities and stupidity that was put into place just for the show's continuation, one can not follow the story anymore. One is reminded of the fact that it is only a show. This movie is silly.
I never knew any body thought this was real lol.As for androids or robots having there own feelings or whatever.That has been in scifi for decades.
The aliens will not do harm to David. They trust him and are happy to see him. David was angry when Oram kills a Neomorph. Now, in the final scene, he is suddenly ready to have a Xenomorph killed, just to save two human beings who he thinks should not continue to survive and he will not let their resurrection take place. Why is that? A while ago, he was trying to do what he did to Dr. Shaw to Daniels. Why now he suddenly wants to save her? That is two instances of the inconsistency of the David character. After letting that alien kill Daniels and Tennessee, David is still in control of the ship and can do whatever his wants with 2000 fully grown humans (in hypersleep) onboard the Covenant. By the way, since the time point in Prometheus, David always has the chance of taking black goo back to Earth. He could still do this even when he travels to Engineers’ home planet first. He did not need to destroy the ship and live alone on that planet for many years without hosts he needs for his creation.
Mike Wang Because they could have survived and know that walter is david.. dumbass.
Did you not see the movie? He can sacrifice one xenomorph. He already has two facehugger embryos and now he has two perfect test subjects for his experiments. Maybe he just wanted to see the look on Daniels' face when he reveals himself. After all he just wants to create a perfect organism and kill his creators.
Sometimes, it's like trying to explain soup to a fish. I despair. No, actually I don't give a shit about the haters looking for flaws that don't exist because they haven't got the wit to contemplate ulterior motives. One 'fan' will say it's all too explained, another 'fan' will say it's all too vague.
Grace Question? If Xenomorphs come from David, where do Predators from?(lol)
stridin they're aliens themselves
I know it's a joke, duh.
Alien Covenant, like Prometheus before it, is the answer to a question nobody needed an answer to
What I think is that I loved your review Grace, keep up the charismatic enthusiastic way you do your stuff I loved it/you
Just come back from seeing the film and i really liked it. The only thing i would of added is the pro logs would have been nice to see them on the big screen.
Solid.. logic and thinking.. nice job:)
@Beyond The Trailer yep the moment David cut his hair I knew.
I believe someone or some group of people involved in pre-production decided that David was the most popular element from 'Prometheus', Shaw wasn't that popular and audiences didn't care that much about the engineers and then shoe-horned David into a remake of 'Alien' and discarded the loose ends of 'Prometheus' as quickly as possible instead of developing them.
Scott taking a page from Shyamalan or vice versa?
I've always felt that Alien and Bladerunner existed in the same universe.
The Tom Skerrit captain character in Alien 1974, had a point where his bio was on a computer. He had worked for the Tyrell Corp. A blade runner co. that made synthetics. These franchises have always been linked in tone, and subject mater.
www.google.com/search?q=tom+skerrit+in+alien+computer+bio+teyrell&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLpJb77ejTAhVG6GMKHbYYBc8Q_AUIBygC&biw=1600&bih=767#imgrc=zQSe4tIrlcUVCM:
Wasn't Tyrell and Weyland like bitter business rivals?
Chantit Simma
he actualy said as much after Alien was released that they were in the same universe at different time periods...
not sure how cannon that is now 6 movies in but that's what he said back then the irony is that the movie soldiers is hinted at being in the same univers as blade runner and wih the AvP crossover movies too itmeans that in some way alien, predator, soldier and blade runner are all sorta, kinda but not really, yet still possibly all in the same verse haha
Chris McRedmond , that's sounds like a great tabletop RPG! :)
Well done, Grace. I agree, it's a solid movie, good performances. Fassbender great,yes!
Just read a suggestion that Fassbender is playing David as Giger, which is a nice idea.
Ah, "Space planets"..the best kind of planet. lol Seriously though, good review/analysis.
I like that her review was positive and there is no accent so I can fully understand what she is saying.
Amazing film, possibly my favourite in the entire franchise
i agree too
Def awesome movie. But better than 1 n 2 ....
I want to see a boxing match between Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender.
I dont find it lame that an android created the xenomorphs. It actually makes sense since androids are extremely intelligent and are created to know about scientific engineering. It would haven been easier for a robot with an extremely good brain to create such an complicated organism.
New Subaru Guy I back you on this 100%
i back you up too
Hmm... remember the mural in the Prometheus ship, with the "crucified" xenomorph/deacon, and the two facehuggers on the sides. I just remembered it. Either David just "perfected" it, or they existed before. Or... Ridley just forgot about the mural/wanted to pretend it wasn't there.
It could very well be a Deacon,as it is the direct result of engineer DNA mixed with the black goo. Probably those where the things that killed all the engineers on LV 223. So they must have known about the. Looks more like a Deacon than a Xenomorph.
I thought David had creativity. I thought the fact that his model was so much like humans was why they discontinued his model and Walter the newer model was created without creativity.
Loved your thorough review! I pretty much agree with most of what you were saying. I love the lore and getting into the mysterious and evil history of the Aliens. Michael Fassbenders performance was incredibly mesmerizing! I just wished the climax was a bit more exciting. Leading the Alien through tunnels and eventually having it fly out of a airlock was predictable and seems very controlled, I also wished there were more Shaw and Engineers too but it was still a very interesting and entertaining movie! 8/10
The links between Covenant and Bladerunner can't be denied. David and Roy Batty even share a line. When David is assaulting Daniels he says "That's the spirit!" it reminded me of when Batty says the same line to Deckard when he's chasing him through Sebastian's apartment. The nail Batty puts through his hand is even similar to the one Daniels puts into David's jaw. I always felt that Bladerunner and the first Alien film took place in the same universe.
I would think it is bad story telling.... telling a Bladerunner story in an Alien universe
Interesting places to go with this film, the idea of the company becoming the big bad in the future does make sense in the future. This opens up the owes hip of intellectual property, if David is the IP of the company does that make his creations come under that umbrella. It also seems that we are quite a far of from the ship with the silo of eggs in Alien, how we get there seems very interesting. This being the case we still will have to revisit the engeneers in some fashion, being that we still need one to find in Alien with Davids creations. This could all be a battle for IP since it began with their weapon.
I really liked the idea of setting that creator vs creation conflict between David and Wayland, where Wayland kinda forces David to serve tea pitching the idea that his soul purpose is to serve his creator thus, strengthening his motivation of becoming a creator. Although the movie went an entirely different way than my expectations from a sequel to Prometheus which I really liked for creativity.
I don't quite understand how David created the xenomorph if there is no more carvings in Prometheus. Maybe he recreated them
Gonna go see Alien:Covenant in about an hour and then come back to watch your vid, Grace! :^)
I am loving the way Ridley Scot is taking the Alien universe. Check out movie Soldier and it's ties to Blade Runner
Grace once again you've proven your ability to see past the obvious, make connections and delve into the substance of the content . I also saw the minor flaws of this film (which pushed the narrative ). I was able to look past them to see a good movie with deeper meaning then your typical horror suspense genre. Great review in my humble opinion.
Grace, one correction. The German composer Richard Wagner's name is pronounced, Vahg-ner. Not Wagner as in Robert Wagner. Love your videos. Can't wait for Blade Runner!
I loved it! I don't enjoy very suspenceful horror movies, but this is my favorite genre. I enjoyed the deep philosophical questions it explored. The creations creation destroys it's creators creators and the creations they created. Say that three times fast! I love your mind! Terrific exposition! I really enjoyed every word you said.
Grace, I'm from the UK. That kind of accent hasn't gone away, but 50 years ago you didn't get onto TV/films unless you spoke posh like David. I guess it was a snobbish thing. Now we get to hear people with all kinds of accents. I think it's a good thing.
I thought David was similar to Mr. Sinister from X-men. He just like to toy with genetics and species. A being who has no sympathy from the genetic canvas which he paints on.
You should teach a film study course. You can teach from home in an online classroom setting. Just a suggestion