As a huge Alien fan, I have come away from tonight’s screening actually angry. The sets and practical effects were fantastic, but you barely saw the aliens until the climax to the mid-section of the film.
Bringing back Ian Holm as Rook took some getting used to, especially as some of those shots were off. It seemed to get better as the film progressed. I already have a theory on that one. The credits listed the crew who worked on the Rook animatronic. I wonder if they were displeased with the result and used CGI to cover the face? (Maybe I’m just too angry at the moment 😆)
The visual and audio Easter eggs were annoying, especially when Andy repeated Ripley’s line. My audience laughed, and I was just facepalming by this point.
I think what finally broke the camel’s back was the third act, which links the film to Covenant and Prometheus. I didn’t like those films as hey try to explain the alien’s origins, and now we have to have a fight with a creature that was giving me Alien:Resurrection newborn vibes. Is this Ridley sticking his oar in, as it is his creation?
I’m just so disappointed. After seeing the first two trailers, I thought we were getting something that was going to be really special, a return to form.
Ugh!
Light references can be fun but this movie was nearly fourth-wall breaking with how hard they were winking at the audience. When the character itself doesn’t even have a reason or know why they’re saying the line, just because it’s a reference, it begins to feel egregious and kinda icky. Tone helps, stuff like Deadpool can get away with it obviously but I have a hard time giving this one a pass.