Someone needs to talk to Ridley Scott. They need to tell him he’s George Lucas-ing, before it’s too late.
Don’t get me wrong. The British director has given us genre fans some great gifts over the years. Blade Runner alone would have been enough, but 1979’s Alien forever changed science fiction. The horror flick explored the notion that there was more to space than shiny starships and Roddenberryesque utopias. Space was also hostile, dark, grimy, and potentially full of slime-dripping creatures whose only goal was infestation.
Given the indelible mark Scott made on scifi and horror with Alien, you’d think it would be a good thing that he’s planned an entire series of films explaining how and why the dreaded, acid-blooded xenomorphs came to be. So far we’ve already gotten 2012’s divisive Prometheus and this year’s Alien: Covenant—already out for home release, faster than a chestburster’s gestation time. But in trying to walk us through the steps of the titular Alien’s genesis, Scott is making the same mistake George Lucas did when he decided to tackle the Star Wars prequels.
[Some spoilers for the Alien prequels through Covenant]
Just in terms of pure story, there’s plenty to criticize in Scott’s two attempts to explain the origins of the xenomorphs. Prometheus—which initially wasn’t supposed to be related to Alien at all—features so-called scientists who inexplicably stick their faces too close to unknown creatures and some internal confusion about whether the plot’s supposed to be a horror story or a parable about Space Jesus. Alien: Covenant likewise portrays a group of terraformers who apparently forget all their training as the body count rises. And by the time we finally get to the appearance of our beloved xenomorph in the third act, the film doesn’t really know what to do with the monster. The monster has no surprises left to exploit—a slew of sequels and spinoffs have already shown us every trick in the book—and so the creature’s chronological debut ends up being a letdown.
But that’s not the main trouble. If they were standalone movies, both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant would have been, well, fine. I’d rather have a flawed attempt at original science fiction than completely safe comic book movies where you know the superhero isn’t in any real peril because their appearances have already been scheduled through the next ten years’ worth of films. The issue stems from the fact that the Alien prequels are exactly that—they’re attempting to build up to something we already know and love, and fizzling out every time.
Part of the problem is that the collaborative spirit that made the first Alien so great is gone. Ridley Scott directed the movie, sure, but so much of what made that first foray great came from story writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett mixing concepts and tropes from all over the place into something new, not least of all H.R. Giger’s terrifying creature designs. It was a group effort. But with all that in place, Scott is steering the franchise on his own, trying to give us something fans never really asked for.
Comedian Patton Oswalt already covered this in relation to the Star Wars prequels. “I don’t care where the stuff I love comes from. I just love the stuff I love.” We might as well call that Oswalt’s Dictum. We don’t want to see proto-Vader pod racing; we want him clad in black and swinging a red lightsaber. Translated to the Alien universe, trying to understand the connection between the inscrutable engineers, black goo, and piles of hapless explorers feels kind of pointless while we’re waiting for the Alien itself to show up, made all the worse by the fact that the prequels don’t really know what to do with the xenomorph once it finally wakes up from its nap inside Billy Crudup. The alien, treated with real depth and mystery in the original film, is now just a silver-toothed bugbear, with no tricks left to pull.
The Alien prequels don’t add anything to the elements that have endeared the 1979 classic or 1986’s shoot-‘em-up sequel to several generations of fans. They don’t help us understand the xenomorph better; they don’t make the monster scarier or otherwise change our perspective on the original film or the continuing plight of Ellen Ripley. The films are just a slow and bloody plod towards what we already know, with one or two or three or umpteen movies spaced out between Prometheus and when we meet the crew of the Nostromo.
In fact, the protracted backstory ends up cheapening the xenomorph. The strength of the first film was that no one—including the cast, in some cases—knew what the creature was going to do, or what it wanted. And even if Ripley and her crewmates possessed the knowledge we’re getting through the prequels, it wouldn’t have made any difference: the tension and terror of Alien lay in watching people facing something completely hostile and unknown. Horror comes from being thrust, helpless, into those situations. The Alien prequels can only subtract from that essential fear and dread.
Plus, there are other stories to tell. Creative Assembly’s game Alien: Isolation, which follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda, was a frightening and worthy successor to the first film. The Dark Horse Comics ALIENS series has given us some solid stories as well, like Aliens: Defiance and Aliens: Dead Orbit. And director Neill Blomkamp, who made his own mark on the scifi landscape with District 9, got everyone all hot and bothered with his own idea for a direct sequel to Aliens, but the project was shelved because Scott doesn’t want to let the xenomorph off leash just yet. There’s an entire universe of stories to explore, just waiting to burst forth. In other words, it’s about time to let the xenomorph move on to its next life stage instead of endlessly retreading the past.
Brian Switek is the author of My Beloved Brontosaurus (out in paperback from Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and Written in Stone. He also writes the Scientific American blog Laelaps.
If. You. Don’t. Like. Them. Don’t. Go. See. Them.
Their. Existence. Doesn’t. Harm. Whichever. Movies. In. The. Series. That. You. Like.
You. Can. Pretend. The. “Offensive.” Movies. Don’t. Exist.
If. People. Want. To. Pay. Money. To. See. More. That’s. Their. Business. Not. Yours.
Your. Frustration. With. The. Artistic. Choices. Shouldn’t. Deny. Others. What. They. Like.
In my opinion the Alien prequels are fantastic movies obviously made with great love and genius. I also enjoyed the Star Wars prequels. Millions of people enjoyed them. Maybe not perfect movies, but they are great none the less as people still watch them today, so much so that people who weren’t even alive quote them and people know what they’re referencing. Allot of people don’t agree with your opinions, Brian. ALLOT.
I pretty much agree with Andy, if in a more complete sentence-y sort of way.
I really liked Prometheus, and I liked Covenant, problems and all. They justify their existence enough merely by not sucking, unlike some other prequels I could name. Fassbender is nearly unassailably awesome in both movies as well.
As a side note: I’m glad at this point we never got a Blomkamp Alien movie. District 9 is awesome. His other movies are not. Way not. Both of Ridley’s Alien prequel movies are better than Elysium, and nearly everything is better than Chappie.
I pretty much treat them all as fan fiction. Even Aliens (which I love) doesn’t entirely feel like an appropriate sequel to first film but they are both great films in their own right.
I very much think I’m going to be treating the Blade Runner sequel the same way; BR doesn’t need a sequel but that’s not say it won’t be an entertaining film in it’s own right.
The great thing about Aliens was that it was a well done follow on to Alien, and in a very different genre. The further sequels were at least ambitious, and tried to add on to the original stories. Prometheus was a mess and didn’t add anything to the world building. I forgot the most recent one had come out, and don’t know anyone who saw it.
I agree, Prometheus was a mess. All the more aggravating because it wasted a pretty good cast. Couldn’t be bothered to watch Covenant.
I’m tired of sequels and prequels anyway. How about making something original again?
Brain, a lot of people agree with your opinions. A LOT.
Yes, both Prometheus and Covenant would’ve been better if they wouldn’t have tried to shoehorn in the Alien connection. I was especially unhappy when Covenant seemed to be trying to answer questions I hadn’t asked (how were the xenomorphs Ripley’s crew discovered actually created?), and to answer them in the dumbest possible way (they were created very recently by a crazy android).
We don’t need another movie,
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the Xenomorph
Look, I get it. Some people liked the prequels, others (possibly more) hated them. Fine. Great. To each their own. My point is: because YOU don’t like something doesn’t mean the studios should stop making it. Even if LOTS of people don’t like something, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be made. You know when Hollywood will stop making these kinds of movies? When people stop going to them. End of story, full stop. You can whine all you want about it besmirching the integrity of the original movies (it doesn’t; that’s all in your head) but, at the end of the day, Hollywood will put money into anything they think will make them money. Notice how Star Trek got shelved after Nemesis. It was no longer financially viable to produce Star Trek movies. So, they stopped (for a while). It’s not because Nemesis sullied the good name of Wrath of Khan or any imaginary crap like that. It’s because people stayed away in droves. Stop going to Alien movies you disapprove of so you can hate watch them and then whine about it online. Refuse to go to the next one. Will that stop another from being made? Probably not. But if enough people do it, then it might stop further production. But articles like this won’t change someone’s mind. People who hated the movies don’t need to be convinced they were bad. (They should probably just vow to stop pouring money into the franchise.) And if someone enjoyed the movies, online renting of garments is highly unlikely to change that opinion. You are perfectly welcome to express your opinion but why do it in a way where you’re trying to deny something to people who might like it? It’s one thing to say, “I hate these movies and here’s why.” It’s another thing to say, “I hate these movies and I think no one else should be able to see them, even if they enjoy the movies.”
The problem with the prequels IMO is that we keep getting the same movie each time: humans shocked, SHOCKED at the sight of these horrific aliens. The first Alien movie, and these two prequels are really the same movie, relying on us enjoying the humans discovering the aliens for the first time. The problem with that is: we KNOW what’s coming, and so there is no real discovery. I don’t want to see another group of humans getting torn apart by aliens. We’ve seen that now three times.
I found Covenant interesting on a thematic level, and for me at least it explained why androids are a part of the series. Considering the Alien series’s preoccupation with reproduction, making the villain of Covenant a machine among a cast of married couples is an interesting choice. If the xenomorphs represent the dark and terrifying side of pregnancy and having children, of course their origin is with a monster – here the non-human, the non-sexual – trying to imitate humans and failing, ultimately breeding more monsters.
At least in my viewing, Covenant brings something more to the franchise.
I’ll be the first to agree that the ‘scientists acting stupid’ trope is to the detriment of this franchise, and that the new films aren’t make the Xenomorphs any cooler.
But I think that comparing Prometheus and Covenant to the Star Wars prequels is off-base because Ridley Scott’s most recent two films spend more time introducing what I find to be fascinating new things than they do undercutting the mystique of the films that they ostensibly serve as backstory to.
My perspective towards Covenant, based on trailers and so forth, was similar to the view articulated in this writetup. After I watched the film however, my take was more along the lines of OH. I found the best things about about the film to be unrelated to the titular aliens, and sure, one can make the point that the Xenomorphs don’t need to be there at all, but on the other hand if their presence helps finance some big, expensive sci-fi films featuring spaceships and Michael Fassbender…I’m okay with that.
Also, on the point of what the Alien franchise could be doing instead of what Ridley Scott’s chosen direction, I’m really glad that we aren’t getting an endless series of stories tied to Ellen Ripley. She’s a great character, but in my mind the most George Lucas-y thing of all would be to take Ripley and erode her character by making her an improbably special individual. I’d rather see weird origins-tales for the Xenomorphs than more sequels. Bloomkamp’s planned film didn’t interest me as much as Scott’s films have, and I suspect that for all of the imperfections that the latter two have exhibited, that another Ripley sequel wouldn’t have been as worthwhile in my mind.
I’m torn on this, really.
Because on the one hand, I generally agree: a mantra of mine is “friends don’t let friends write prequels.” And I believe this for many of the reasons mentioned–unasked for, unnecessary information, explaining things to the point that they’re no longer interesting, etc. But that’s not always the case. There are, in fact, prequels that I love, because they’re just flat-out GOOD enough that I don’t mind that I already know the ending (and I’m a vehement hater of spoilers). Usually this is accomplished by excellent characters (who don’t have to die to bring things full circle), but again, overall quality is the main issue.
Another reason I say this (that we wouldn’t be complaining about not needing answers if these films were just better) is that we ask for it. Constantly. We query and theorize and bug creators at conventions about all of this stuff, get hyped as hell for prequels when they’re approaching (who knew Phantom Menace would be trash? WHO? And even after that let’s not pretend we weren’t all excited for Prometheus) and then have the gall to complain that our creators and heroes tried at all.
Plus, let’s not forget all the people who complain both when new entries into a franchise do the same thing AND when they try to do something different (and, God knows, when new entries don’t get made at all). Alien was a horror movie, Aliens was action (with some horror still in there), Alien3 was…something, Resurrection…an atrocity, and then the new movies are basically religious scifi allegories that talk more about creation and personhood (in the mode of Blade Runner) than anything the franchise used to engage with.
Prometheus was messy as hell, and it squandered a lot of its potential. Covenant was messy too, but I honestly really liked it and felt like it delivered much more on an interesting premise. Yeah, I get that the xenomorphs are more set dressing or props sublimated to the larger plot, but I don’t really mind that.
tl;dr Criticize the movies, yes (they deserve it), but issues with the premise I think come more out of expectations than any flaw in the base concept.
(Also I call bullshit on the Oswalt doctrine. a) We have been asking these questions, so obviously we do care, and b) fine, I don’t care as much about say, my fiancee’s childhood as I do about the person she is now, but it’s not like I don’t care at all (and if that’s too personal/too much of a leap, try and tell me nobody here comes up with fan theories, reads fanfic, or looks at behind-the-scenes shit relevant to shit before the story))
There’s far more value in fans theorizing the origins of the things they love than filmmakers showing them the origins. Keep the mystery. Keep it alien.
More times than not, backstory is better off remaining as backstory, left in notebooks in the author’s den.
I am not a real ‘fan’ of the franchise, and I only saw Alien, Aliens and the fourth one.
However, I do remember that I could not finish watching the first one on VHS in one session. OK, I was 9 at the time, but what stayed with me was that the suspense in that movie was that even in the end you never got a clear view of the Alien.
That got lesser at Aliens. I missed the third one, but I saw the 4th one at the cinema, and it was more comical to me at times. I knew what they looked like, and I knew what they could and would do. The cloning part at the end was still creepy though.
But, coming back to that first movie, I just accepted those eggs with aliens were there, and I couldn’t care less where they came from. For me that just isn’t important to the story. So I never got interested in the prequels, and tbh, I cannot see why those were needed…
Wow, it’s weird how many people are defending this movie.
That came out wrong. More like, it’s weird that people have a problem with a critical approach to movies? If your argument is “quit complaining,” I’m sorry but that’s not an argument, it’s the polemic equivalent of an onion fart. If your argument is “just don’t watch it,” that’s even worse. I should just never watch something ever again because there’s a possibility it could be bad? Is that how you operate? How…What do you eat? Is onions all you eat? Millions of people went to see the Emoji Movie, are we not allowed to complain about that? If someone T-bones your brand new car at an intersection, do you shrug and remind yourself that millions of people are hit by cars? Just because other people aren’t critically analyzing the media they ingest is not a reason to not criticize said media.
Also, as the author writes in the piece, the movies DO effect the sequels. The previously inexplicable nature of the xenomorph was part of the fun (although, to be fair, I still don’t know anyone who can explain to me what exactly happened in these prequels so, I guess still inexplicable but not for lack of trying). Once you start explaining it, it loses the edge. Just because we ask for something, doesn’t mean we should get it. Most of writing is editing, and editing things out is important. People care, and make up theories, because it’s fun to do and because that fun was built into the movie! It’s a feature, not a fault!
@19: The original author is not making much of a good argument either if his point is that viewers only go and see these movies in anticipation of the xenomorph (or Vader in a suit). He goes as far as quotting Patton Oswalt of all people.
There are people who are invested in understanding the story of how these events came to be. People who are interested in seeing this universe expanded, with new plots, new characters and a bigger picture. Prequels can be fascinating affairs if you’re invested in them. The way he phrases it, it’s as if all movie prequels are inherently inferior. That’s a biased, reductive viewpoint, dismissive of storytelling possibilities.
Yeah, I liked Covenant, and Prometheus was…well, I don’t really know what it was, but I spent money to see it. But…why not spend that money on something as new, different, and great as the first Alien movie, and stop doling out this warmed over material?
There is something for everyone. The good thing about very bad movies, is that they are giving a lot of people work. YAY!
I agree with Clifford Blunt, and I’d much rather see stories with new characters, rather than an aging Ripley with CGI on her face to make her younger (the worst part of Rogue One was Princess Leia’s CGI-face).
The films are not perfect, but they are dark, interesting for the most part, with a dash of Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ thrown in for good measure. If the original Frankenstein book was ‘The Modern Prometheus’, then David represents ‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’. He answers the question of, ‘What happens when Frankenstein’s monster creates life of its own?’
As a fan, I walked into Prometheus wanting something new. The xenomorphs just aren’t as scary as they used to be, so why not dive into a bigger pool of space monsters from beyond? I agree that part of the fun of the original films was in not knowing everything, but between the comic adaptations and Predator film tie-ins, it’s hard to imagine the series staying true-to-form with Scott’s return to the directing chair. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant touched on some weighty spiritual, philosophical, and ethical themes. This was a nice detour from the tech and space terror/body horror that drew me to the franchise as a teen. While both definitely delivered in those departments, the stories also centered around the relationship between creators (gods, engineers, mothers, fathers) and their creations (humans, androids, children). I found myself thinking more about that kind of “big picture” stuff after seeing the films, so I enjoyed them as fables or parables for our current era of gene splicing and machine learning. It was also great seeing that universe expand just a bit more with the black goo and the Engineers.
Alien hasn’t run out of steam, I think he’s just out of steam with Alien himself….
Alien isolation and it’s follow up comics Defiance and Resistance are a phenomenal story to follow start to finish, they capture both the amazing thrill of the first movie, and some of the action of it’s sequel in an outstanding way.
Good stories can be told. They have been told, they just don’t do any movies written that well for some reason. Ridley is wrong, Alien is not exhausted by any means, the problem is his writing skills are not great but he doesn’t trust others enough- he is a phenomenal cinematographer.
He wants to cut the Alien out of the “Alien” series, I hope someone else gets to take a shot at the Alien franchise eventually….
There are so many great monster stories, stories from “North American Lake Monsters” or “All the Beautiful Things that Await us All” come to mind right away. I’m sure many readers have favorites they would like to see on the big screen. Such reluctance to try something outside the franchise opportunity is disappointing.