More thoughts on Alien and Predator stuff

I don't like the Engineers in Prometheus/Covenant and I don't like the idea that David was somehow responsible for the creation of the Alien as we know it. The 'space jockey was a suit' idea really grates my nerves, and the whole 'they made us, too' is so far removed from the original cosmic horror and mystery that it feels like a different franchise altogether, with the Alien thrown in at the last minute.

I like the films, they look great and I appreciate the fact they tried to do something different but the mental leaps in logic and downright stamping on what came before makes it feel like the movie was created from half-remembered notes made from the original films, and it's hard for me to reconcile the two. It doesn't expand on the mystery, it utterly destroys it.

And don't get me started on Ressurection...

In my opinion, the AvP movies are a bit of joke and are more like glorified fan fiction than any attempt to bring the two franchises together. They did a really good job with the Dark Horse comic in 1990 and, even though I didn't feel the two worlds would - or should - co-exist it was an entertaining romp and would have made a far better movie than 'hidden temple in the snow and the predators were gods' rubbish. I can't even talk about Requiem, it felt like a knock-off movie that got away with using the title.

I love the first two Alien films and the appreciation of the 3rd, it was a good movie when it was cut properly. I love Aliens to bits but think it's a bad sequel, considering the lore the first movie et up, and I prefer Alien Isolation as a continuation of the first film. Resurrection can 100% do one, with it's comic book characters and ego-tripping main character. That could have been an interesting story but they decided to just throw as much dodgy imagery and exposition at the viewer in an attempt to hide a plot lacking in depth.

Prometheus? David was a great character but was ruined/let down by a weak story and a spotty character arc. His involvment in not only the history of the alien and his attack on the engineers was kind of ridiculous, and any interesting developments were tossed out of the window when he went HAL9000 'bad company robot is bad' on the story. It was a waste.

Covenant looked amazing, as all Scott films do, and there's a lot to enjoy but the story is undermined by trying to force on a continuity with Prometheus, and wasting Shaw - probably the only compelling character in the first film - so they could get to the 'Hey! here's the Alien you wanted! Yeah? Yeah?' moments. The end was incredibly flat and I have to wind past the shower scene - I mean, what the fuck? Really? After everything you're having a sexy shower scene so that the alien could turn up teen slasher movie stylee? Fucking do one.

If the sequels and crossovers did everything they could to murder the cosmic mystery and unknowable horror of the original, the prequels dug up the corpse, set it on fire and then tried to sell it as nostalgia cake with sparklers.

This is Hicks, signing off.