The first time I saw PROMETHEUS, I was completely engaged in what I felt was a massive sci-fi visual feast. Ridley Scott had returned to space, and it was certainly a sight to behold. Of course there was fallout. Many had issues with the script, which is certainly warranted. Yet even with characters doing idiotic things to get themselves killed, it is still a film that I hold in high regards. Bad script choices aside, there was something special about this strange bit of science fiction. The biggest issue audiences had is that the script by Damon Lindelof took out everything connecting to Scott’s classic ALIEN. Aside from a couple of obvious nods, this was not quite the prequel/sequel audiences were expecting. And since the film did well enough to warrant a part two, which story do we really want to hear?
Truth be told, I was absolutely on-board for a PROMETHEUS sequel. I was invested enough in Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David (Michael Fassbender) to want to see what was in store for an android and his gal pal. Yet recent news suggest that we are steering away from PROMETHEUS with the title ALIEN: COVENANT. This had me thinking, as much as I enjoyed the experience of the Engineer’s reeking havoc on our heroes, I too was hoping for a proper movie moving closer to Xenomorphs. Ever since I was a child, that massive beast of an alien that haunted the USCSS Nostromo scared the living crap out of me. In space, no one can hear you scream? Damn right… but they sure could hear folks doing it while watching ALIEN.
So as we continue on with Ridley Scott’s space saga, we were originally hearing that we would be getting a couple of movies before PROMETHEUS would catch up to ALIEN. It seems things may be changing. According to the latest press release, we now find that the second chapter of PROMETHEUS will be connecting closer to ALIEN. Funny enough, Damon Lindelof recently explained why he took out most of the references to the original film when he took over for the last film. And judging from our own readers reactions to his comments, it was not a popular choice. Sure during the press tour for the film, both he and Scott continually denied that this was a direct prequel to ALIEN. However, with this recent news, it appears that the franchise may be changing its navigational course.
The story of ALIEN: COVENANT takes a currently unnamed crew onto a remote planet that may be inhabited by something closer to Xenomorphs than previously realized. One can hope. The only mention of a continued character is Michael Fassbender’s David. Is Noomi Rapace’s Shaw out of the picture? As mentioned, while I did like her quite a bit, I’m not sure we really need a huge answer to that. You could offer up one quick scene and be done with it to explain away her fate. What would be really fantastic would be another terrific movie closer to ALIEN. Of course we are far off from catching up with the iconic Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). So if you are going to feature a recurring characters, David was most assuredly the best thing in PROMETHEUS. In many ways this plot sounds a little more like ALIENS, which hopefully will be a good thing.
With Ridley Scott possibly steering this ship closer to an actual ALIEN movie, I’m even more excited because the director recently reminded us how magnificent he can be in outer space. THE MARTIAN was a fantastic example of what he can do with science fiction, and probably his best film in years. Perhaps he can bring the gothic sense of horror and dread back to the ALIEN universe. To this day, the original film still holds up the best. And yes, I loved James Cameron’s ALIENS, but for me, the original is a perfect film in every way. It is probably impossible to truly create that magic yet again, but here is hoping that we will finally see something that expands that world in the best of ways.
Maybe it’s the booze talkin’, but it’s okay to leave PROMETHEUS behind, we just want ALIEN. I respect both films, but it wasn’t the Engineers who have terrified us over the years. It was the intensely powerful Xenomorphs. These magnificent creatures have been featured in a few not-so-stellar flicks, most notably the AVP big screen backfires. However, in the right hands, I fully believe they could create terror for a modern day audience. Now all we need is Ridley Scott kicking our ass, and just as importantly, a human character that we can truly connect with. PROMETHEUS was fun, I enjoyed it flaws and all. But let’s face it, all we really want at this point is a proper return to the evolution of these classic cinematic monsters.