Ridley Scott Learned Nothing From PROMETHEUS and Needs to Stop Making ALIEN Movies

Alien: Covenant was released this weekend and I was extremely excited about this movie! I liked what I saw in the trailers and I liked what I heard about what director Ridley Scott was planning. It seemed like he was going to take it in a very interesting direction. But unfortunately, in the end, the movie turned out to be a HUGE disappointment.

Time and time again Scott would say in interviews how he learned from the mistakes he made in Prometheus. However, the Alien: Covenant made all the same mistakes! There was nothing different other than the fact that there were more xenomorphs. In a recent interview, Scott admitted:

“We discovered from it that [the fans] were really frustrated. They wanted to see more of the original [monster] and I thought he was definitely cooked, with an orange in his mouth. So I thought: ‘Wow, OK, I’m wrong. The fans, in a funny kind of way — they’re not the final word — but they are the reflection of your doubts about something, and then you realize ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I was right.’ I think that’s where it comes in. I think you’re not sensible if you don’t actually take [the fans’ reaction] into account.”

Light spoilers ahead: 

So what did Scott do? He added more of the original monster, but the story set around the monster and the characters were just as weak as Prometheus! It was pretty much the same story as Prometheus, but wrapped in a different package. If you thought the characters were stupid in Prometheus, wait until you get a load of the characters in Alien: Covenant! Is everyone in Scott’s Alien universe really this dumb!?

Every single character made the stupidest possible decisions ever throughout the course of the film, except for main character Daniels. She's the only one who had her head screwed on, but even she made some doozies, especially at the end. Almost every freakin’ character that ended up being killed just had to make a point that they were going to go wander off alone for some reason and say that they would be ok. Of course, every one of them who said that died! And you know what? They deserved their gruesome deaths for being so stupid. 

This is one of those films where I just wanted to yell at the screen because the of the laughably foolish choices these characters made! It was insane and infuriatingly frustrating. No wonder David wants them all to die! 

As for the xenomorphs, yes, there was more bloody action involving them, but it’s pointless if you don’t care about any of the characters being killed. I know there was a lot of talk of using practical effects on this film, but if there was, I couldn’t even tell. It was all just weak CGI work. 

The movie actually started out great, with a great conversation between David and Peter Weyland. I thought it was actually going to lead us on this wonderfully horrific and thought-provoking journey, but nope! That didn’t happen. The beginning of the movie was the best part of the film. Then the whole story led to a ridiculously predicable ending. 

One of my friends described Prometheus and Covenant as being the Jason Goes to Hell of the Alien series, which is true because they are kinda similar. I understand that not everyone is going to feel the same way I do about Alien: Covenant, which is totally cool. I have other friends that liked the movie and thought it was great. It’s hard for me to see that, but I respect their opinion. 

I just don’t think Scott should be directing any more Alien movies. These films should be great! They shouldn’t be bad or mediocre movies with weak story and character development. It makes me sad that Neil Blomkamp will never get to make his Alien 5 movie. That’s the movie that the fans all really wanted, and now it’s never going to happen! Scott is killing his own franchise!

All this being said, I am a big fan of Ridley Scott. He’s one of my favorite directors who has made some amazing films in his career. The guy is super talented, but he just doesn’t seem to have what it takes to carry this Alien franchise forward. I’ll be honest, after watching Alien: Covenant, I’m kind of glad that he didn’t direct Blade Runner 2049.

I really hope that Scott isn't getting lazy with his films because Alien: Covenant is the perfect example of lazy filmmaking. I hate to say that, but that's how I saw it. What did you all think of Alien: Covenant? If you did like it more than I did, by all means explain why. I'd like to know what you saw in it that I didn't.