As a long-time fan of the Alien franchise, I must say that Ridley Scott has been a master storyteller in creating this intricate web of prequels. The latest installment, Alien: Romulus, has certainly added depth to the series, especially with the revelation about the origins of the xenomorphs.
**WARNING: Contains full spoilers for Alien: Covenant and some spoilers for Alien: Romulus**
At present, Alien: Romulus is doing well at British cinemas, leading many movie enthusiasts to rewatch the earlier installments in the series. This includes Ridley Scott’s classic debut, James Cameron’s sequel, and the more recent prequels featuring Michael Fassbender.
The fresh addition marks the first movie in the series that has been released since 2017’s Alien: Covenant, being the second film from the previously mentioned prequels where Ridley Scott re-entered the franchise to delve into the early history of the xenomorphs, a period predating Ellen Ripley’s lifetime.
Instead of delving deeper into the previous tale, Romulus jumps ahead once more, with events taking place after the initial two movies and centering around a fresh, youthful crew of space settlers, with Cailee Spaeny portraying Rain Carradine as their leader.
In general, both critics and enthusiasts have positively reacted to it; however, hardcore Alien fans felt let down because Ridley Scott didn’t get to complete his intended trilogy, the origin story he had planned for a third installment.
Why wasn’t the third movie produced, and how did Alien: Covenant conclude? Here’s a breakdown of the details.
Alien: Covenant ending explained – What is David’s plan?
To start off, let me briefly refresh your memory about the sequence of events in Alien: Covenant that lead to its dramatic revelation.
The movie primarily focused on the team aboard the named spaceship, comprising Christopher Oram (played by Billy Crudup) and Daniels (Katherine Waterston), who were roused from cryosleep following an accident that harmed their ship and claimed the lives of their captain and numerous colonists they were transporting to a new planet.
Following their awakening, they detect a sound emanating from close by and discover what seems like a flawlessly livable planet. After a heated debate between Oram and Daniels, they eventually decide to touch down on this mysterious world.
As it transpires, the world currently houses David – the artificial being we encountered in the movie Prometheus (which took place a decade earlier), and he shares striking similarities with Walter, the robot aboard Covenant. Both characters are portrayed by Michael Fassbender.
After the occurrences from the previous movie, David has been conducting experiments on new life-forms. Remarkably, he’s developed a precursor to xenomorphs. It doesn’t take much time before chaos erupts, resulting in the gruesome deaths of several members of the Covenant team.
At the movie’s conclusion, despite having one more crew member, Tennessee (played by Danny McBride), Daniels has successfully ejected the last alien being from their vessel. They are now prepared to continue their initial voyage, accompanied by Walter.
However, an unexpected turn of events unfolds: While Walter is preparing Daniels for stasis, she suddenly senses that the one before her isn’t Walter, but David instead. Regrettably, this realization arrives too late, and a look of sheer terror takes hold of her as she grapples with the potential strategies of the artificial being.
His plan’s specific details remained undefined, a topic presumably set for exploration in the hypothetical third part. However, it’s safe to assume that whatever secret scheme he was harboring would have propelled xenomorph evolution even closer to the level seen in the initial movie.
…Given he possessed a pile of alien eggs and nearly 2,000 beings in suspended animation for research purposes, it’s easy to envision a series of disturbing events unfolding as he worked towards achieving his objectives.
How does Alien: Covenant link to Alien: Romulus?
In a different phrasing, the recently released movie titled “Alien: Romulus,” helmed by director Fede Álvarez, isn’t exactly a continuation of Covenant. However, it does maintain a significant connection to both its prequels that can be found within the film itself.
As a retired scientist who spent my career studying artificial intelligence, I find it fascinating how technology has evolved since I last worked in the field. In my day, we could only dream of creating lifelike androids like the synthetic Rook that the characters come across in the movie. I remember spending countless hours tinkering with circuits and programming algorithms to try to make our machines more human-like. But even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined a day when we could bring actors like Ian Holm back to life through CGI performances. It’s truly remarkable how far we’ve come.
It seems he’s been trying to develop a superior type of human, utilizing a mysterious, high-tech substance derived from the alien creature known as a xenomorph. This very same material was initially presented in Prometheus, and served as the foundation for Michael’s research in Covenant.
Why wasn’t there a third Alien prequel film?
As an enthusiastic admirer, I’d share that Ridley Scott once hinted at not just one but two more sequels to Alien: Covenant, aiming to unfold the story all the way back to the events of his iconic 1979 movie. Rumors even swirled about a completed script for the first sequel, penned during the production phase of Covenant, with filming supposedly set to commence in 2018.
At a later point, Scott decided to limit his project to only one more movie, where Fassbender, Waterson, and McBride would reappear in their roles. It appeared that this concept had the support of 20th Century Fox, as then-CEO Stacey Snider announced that arrangements were being made to proceed with the subsequent film.
Initially, everything seemed to be moving forward, but eventually, events started falling apart. At first, there were delays, and subsequently, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney occurred – although initial rumors suggested that the film was still in progress post-merger, it ultimately seemed as though the project had been cancelled.
Unfortunately, despite Alien: Romulus being an entertaining movie that we praised in our 4-star review for its excellent direction, crowd-pleasing elements, and fitting level of creepiness, it falls short when compared to Ridley Scott’s initial aims for his prequels. There seems to be a lingering feeling that the abandoned project could have been something truly special.
Although it initially received a mix of positive and negative responses upon release, Alien: Covenant has since garnered a dedicated fanbase. While it’s true that there are areas where the film feels disorganized, it also offers some outstanding scenes, particularly those featuring Michael Fassbender’s remarkable double act as David and Walter. For instance, the scene where David teaches Walter to play the recorder is a testament to this exceptional performance.
Although the movie’s finale was excellent, it’s challenging not to experience a slight letdown because we didn’t get to witness specifically what David intended to do with all those xenomorph eggs he had gathered.
In 2018, Scott hinted at potential plot details for the movie, sharing with Empire that he believed the development of the Alien character had almost reached its end. However, what he aimed to do was surpass this narrative and transition to a new storyline centered around artificial intelligence.
“Imagine an entirely new world shaped by an AI, should it one day find itself on another planet. Our design plans for such a scenario are quite extensive.”
As a movie enthusiast, it’s tough not to experience a twinge of sorrow thinking about Ridley Scott’s original vision that didn’t quite come to fruition. However, it’s important to note that this esteemed director is far from running out of ideas and has been actively supportive of the Romulus project as a producer.
Could it be that my cherished hope hasn’t entirely faded away? The success of Romulus at the box office has certainly piqued interest, suggesting there might be a resurgence for the last prequel film. Perhaps, just perhaps, it will take flight once more in the future. Here’s to keeping all our fingers crossed…
Alien: Romulus is out now in cinemas and the other Alien films are all streaming on Disney Plus.
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2024-08-21 18:35