This is the movie I've been looking forward to for some time. I'm dieing to see a new Alien movie. I love the Alien series. I think it is some of the best sci-fi/horror out there. Even 30 years later, watching Ridley Scott's Alien is something to behold. And then it only got better with Aliens. But it's around Alien 3 that the series really lost all steam. And then there was Alien Resurrection and by that time nobody could've predicted that the series would be smashed together with the Predator series and spawn two horrible VS movies. This series needed new blood. Badly. Or it very well could be just another movie series remembered by an older generation and slowly forgotten.
There needs to be a movie that does for Alien what Predators did for the Predator series.
And this is not it.
Before anyone starts going nuts on me, this is NOT a BAD movie. But it is also NOT an ALIEN movie.
The original Alien was equal parts sci-fi and horror. The tagline of the movie was, "In space, nobody can hear you scream." It's the horror of being stuck on a spaceship with a xenomorphic entity that bleeds acid and kills relentlessly. And then add in the idea that it can lay eggs in your body and have it burst out of your chest...
Go watch that original chest bursting scene one more time. Remember that guy was in a coma. Then he was fine. He was cracking jokes along with the rest of the crew. They were having fun after a very stressful ordeal that they all believed was over. Then all of a sudden something entirely new literally bursts out of his chest and runs off. In other words, S*** just got real all over again.
There was some real horror in that movie. A lot of real suspense.
This movie is actually very low on the horror and suspense. Instead it is a more thoughtful and thought provoking look into the origins of mankind and what implications having an extraterrestrial origin would have on things like faith, life, and our role in the universe. What if Aliens out there somewhere created us. Why? What do they what? Would they be interested in seeing the results of their efforts? How would we be precieved? What could we learn from them? What if they don't like us? What about our religious beliefs that we were created by God in his image? There's a lot here in this movie. But it's not an Alien movie.
There are a lot of similarities of course. There's an android, the characters are quirky, and there is an alien threat trying to kill them all with a shadowy force trying to stop them for their own gain. On a surface level it is very similar, but it's not an Alien movie. There aren't any chest bursters. There aren't any face huggers. There aren't even any xenomorphic aliens! At least not until the very end when it is revealed in the ending sequel teaser.
Instead of the Alien, honestly, if I were told that this was an X-files sequel, I'd say it's a very good movie. All the elements are there too. Alien origins of humanity, the black oil, and a human extermination scheme hatched out by visiters from another planet.
This really is a brilliantly done movie. The visuals are amazing, the story is pretty good, and the acting is pretty good. It's clear a lot of the movie was cut down for time because even though it was 2 hours long, there were times it felt very rushed. I'd be interested in seeing the Director's Cut. It's a good movie just so long as you don't go in to it thinking this is an Alien movie.
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