Alien: Covenant (2017) film review

Year: 2017
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Jack Paglen and Michael Green (story), John Logan and Dante Harper (screenplay)
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo, Demian Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby, Uli Latukefu, Tess Haubrich, James Franco (uncredited), Guy Pearce (uncredited)

Alien: Covenant will open in Australian cinemas on May 11 and in cinemas in the United States on May 12. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Alien: Covenant takes the Alien franchise back to it's place of origin and does so in bloody and terrifying fashion which will delight loyalists and confuse and disgust non-familairs.

Ridley Scott's latest is the follow up to 2012's Prometheus, making it the second in the prequel series of the Alien films. Alien: Covenant resembles the Sigourney Weaver led Alien films a great deal more than Prometheus did, which should excite people as Prometheus was criticised by many for how little it resembled an Alien film. However, Prometheus was a smart origins story and more of a companion piece to the franchise rather than a prequel. Alien: Covenant could not exist without Prometheus, as much of it's story is directly connected to it. It goes without saying here that anyone who has not seen Prometheus will not benefit at all from seeing Alien: Covenant as there will be a great deal that is not understood or appreciated.

The newest film in the Alien universe has already been criticised for having too much happening in it and that it should be as simplistic as it's predecessors were. Yet, Alien: Covenant does not pretend to be a straight forward action film. It picking up where Prometheus left off and still attempting to tell the origin story of these horrific extra-terrestrials, while at the same time being suspenseful, terrifying and action-packed.

Unfortunately, at times it does feel as though the film is trying a little too hard to be visually shocking by using as much blood and violence as possible to get the point across and there are several times throughout the film where the CGI isn't as realistic as it should be, particularly in the outer space sequences. Yet the recreation of the aliens using CGI is superb and this is one area that has benefited from having the universe expanded in 2017. 

One of the things that Scott has excelled at since he and screenwriter Dan O'Bannon created the Alien universe back in 1979, is incorporating female empowerment into the futuristic world of horror. Sigourney Weaver played the incredibly bad-ass Ripley in all the Alien films up until Alien Ressurection in 1997 and it is argueably her most iconic role. Ripley was a hero ahead of her time and sadly, it is only now that females are starting to play a more powerful role in action films...although we admittedly still do have a long way to go.

While Noomi Rapace was at the helm in Prometheus as Elizabeth Shaw, it is Katherine Waterston who follows in the footsteps of her and Weaver and plays Daniels in Alien: Covenant. With this film, Waterston continues to impress with her talent and versatility. Her character develops throughout the film by at first seeming vulnerable due to the sudden death of her husband (who is played by James Franco in a not uncharacteristically tiny cameo), but shows how she takes that grief and uses it as motivation to keep those around her from harm. She is strong-willed, the voice of reason and not afraid to get the most dangerous jobs done.

Waterston as the female lead is not the only piece of stellar casting. When Kong: Skull Island was released earlier this year, one of the most disappointing things about it was that it had a fantastic cast who's talents went to waste as a result of a lack lustre screenplay and direction. Alien: Covenant does the opposite. The film makes the most of it's talented cast even though the majority of the characters are underdeveloped and given little to no background. The exceptions here are, of course, Waterston's Daniels and Michael Fassbender's Walter/David. Fassbender does a strong job of playing two different roles and his David is the most interesting character in the film, but his very existence attempts to tackle the now very tired and overused sci-fi theme of artificial intelligence manipulating humans.

Ridley Scott once again does a great job at continuing to make the Alien franchise one that supports female empowerment and makes sure that Alien: Covenant succeeds in doing what it sets out to achieve, which is to entertain and terrify.

7/10

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 133 minutes
Director: David Yates
Writer: J.K. Rowling
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed by Warner Bros Pictures and Roadshow Films in Australia.

J.K. Rowling's new story that exists within her Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will undoubtedly delight fans of the wizarding world with it's originality and whimsical nature. However, despite it's lovely magical undertones, it is a much more mature film than the Harry Potter series and with that comes a new sense of intrigue and wonder.

1926, New York City. A young British wizard, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) enters the city with a briefcase that looks deceptively normal to Muggles, but is filled with wondrous creatures that exist only to the knowledge the wizarding world. Some of the more mischievous creatures escape, which leads to Newt having chance encounters with No-Maj (the American word for non-magic folk), Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger) and ex-Auror, Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), who has been on his trail attempting to bring him to the Magical Council of the United States. However, there are more sinister things currently happening in New York as an invisible force is preying on No-Majs. The council believes Newt's creatures are behind this, so it is up to Newt, Jacob, Tina and her sister, Queenie (Alison Sudol) to find out what is really behind these deaths so to clear his name, save innocent people and keep New Yorkers unaware of the wizarding world. .

It goes without saying (as the masses of Harry Potter fans will already know) that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is thankfully not a prequel or a sequel, but rather an extension of  the world in which Harry Potter years later exists. For this reason, the film will be instantly enjoyable for fans of the latter with its references to Hogwarts and the well known spells Harry, Hermione and Ron perform. However, even though these references will go over the heads of the few who haven't seen the Harry Potter films, there are not enough of them to deter people from seeing the film because they think they may not understand it.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is very much it's own film with an original screenplay by J.K. Rowling that takes small inspiration from her books, but ultimately could truly exist as a standalone film. However, it has just been announced that this film will be followed by another four films,  but this is not of any annoyance at all due to the fun, intriguing and nostalgic nature of what is now the first film in the new series. The four main characters, as touchingly portrayed by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Folger and Alison Sudol, all have a great deal of uniqueness and character development, which makes the idea of more films involving the four of them rather exciting.

The only major fault of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them lies in the explanation of the newly introduced features of the wizarding world, such as the strange, but often very cute CGI creatures. Much of the information regarding their extraordinary features is held back until later in the scene where they are introduced and put on show, so that one is more confused than entertained about what is happening while it is happening. This feeling of confusion clouds over what should be being enjoyed.

Visually, the film is just stunning in every way. The production design of 1920's New York City teamed with the magic of the wizarding universe in which Newt's sanctuary for fantastic creatures exists makes for a world of tremendous beauty that is incredibly engaging on screen. At a time when so many filmmakers are tempted to prepare their films for 3D, this film proves how you can still have an experience of wonder in a high budget film without the need for 3D glasses. Colleen Atwood once again stuns with her amazing costume design and the musical score prepared by James Newton Howard is reminiscent of the previous David Yates/J.K. Rowling collaborations.

Again, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a more mature film than the Harry Potter's so calls for a more grown-up sense of magic and set of emotions. The last few scenes are particularly heartfelt and rather unexpectedly so with the way the characters engage with one another. Redmayne, Waterston, Folger and Sudol all give wonderful performances and are relatable and likable. With this more mature context, the film is not so much for younger audience members as for older audiences and is rather dark and menacing at times.

It is welcomed news that there is more to come for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Here is a marvellous start to a new film franchise and while there isn't much that is left unanswered, there is just enough questions remaining to make us look forward to the second film.

7.5/10