I have seen all but two of the Alien franchise films (Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection). I wasn't certain what I was going to think about Alien: Covenant and honestly the trailer didn't look that good, but I was willing to give it a try. So the film takes place pretty much right after Prometheus (which I absolutely loved) where you have a crew of human colonists on their way to colonize a planet. Along the way they run into a bit of trouble that damages their craft and kills a few people. During repairs they receive a transmission from a nearby habitable planet and go and investigate it. Needless to say they find more than they ever wanted to, and relatively quickly people begin dropping like flies and things of course follow the same general direction of most Alien films, although I did really enjoy the ending to this film. Michael Fassbender played two roles as Walter and David; essentially different types of artificial robots, and he does a great job as David, although the Walter version of the robot was designed to be less human, so he pulled that off pretty good. Katherine Waterson played the next lead as Daniels (apparently nobody has a first name), and she did a good job with her character, although she wasn't given enough screen time to really flesh out her character like Sigourney Weaver was able to in Alien, but still it was a good performance. Billy Crudup played a notable character too (Oram), but I didn't really care for his character. Jussie Smollett played Ricks, and had unfortunately a very small role in the film, but you won't forget him that's for certain because of one of the scenes he's in is quite memorable. Guy Pearce and Noomi Rapace briefly reprise their roles from Prometheus which was a nice touch. For some odd reason James Franco had a role so small it was essentially useless and pointless, so I'm not certain why he was even there. The cast was okay, but honestly Michael Fassbender is the only real stand out, although science fiction horror isn't really known for its phenomenal cast performances.
Director Ridley Scott once again proves he the master of pure science fiction; not the fluffy, popish cinematic slop for the masses, but real dark, gritty science fiction. In many ways this film is better than Prometheus, but there is something less grand about this film than its direct predecessor, although Alien: Covenant has a fascinating story line that is fast paced with a villain beyond the villain. I really enjoyed the Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski; he may not have captured the grandeur that was in Prometheus, but he was able to capture a darker, more intimate environment with such creepy, mystical wonder. Adding to that creepy, mystical feeling was the music of Jed Kurzel, who before this film I had never heard of before. There was something about the music he composed which was perfect for the film and reminded me so much of the earlier films that James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith composed (both men are now sadly dead). It blends perfectly with the film and portions of it can be listened to on their own, which for some reason has been rare these days in film compositions. The action and special effects were good, and although there was some original thinking regarding how this film was presented, I could definitely see the parallels between it and some of the other films. For its genre it was a pretty solid and good film, and definitely something I would enjoy watching again, and if this science fiction horror genre is your cup of tea then you'll really enjoy this film.
Today I finished reading my next U.S. Presidential biography: President Abraham Lincoln the sixteenth president of the United States of America. What a man. Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War said it best right after he died, "Now, he belongs to the ages." President Lincoln made himself successful despite coming from very poor beginnings. Educated himself, taught himself law, worked hard to earn his keep wherever he was, and was a good husband and a great father. He suffered great tragedy, and went through a very stressful ordeal as president during the only U.S. civil war. Some interesting facts about Lincoln was that he never wanted to initially ban slavery in all states, he just didn't want it to expand into any new territories. He believed that the U.S. Constitution did not give the federal government the authority to dictate to the states whether or not they could have slaves. It wasn't until a few years later that he changed his mind and issued the Emancipation Proclamation using his presidential war powers to justify it to bring a swifter end to the war. He also had a dickens of a time finding competent military leadership before settling on Grant and Sherman. He was harangued constantly by the press and Democrats called him a tyrant amongst other things. His own party and him didn't always get along and he faced a primary challenger in his re-election bid, and one of his former generals ran against him as his democratic opponent. He was a humble, kind man who always asked questions and never thought himself above learning anything from anyone, and he worked with enemies and allies alike. He is no doubt the second greatest U.S. President thus yet of the 45, with of course George Washington being number one, Teddy Roosevelt being number 3. The biography I read was A. Lincoln: A Biography written by Ronald C. White who did an excellent job with the narrative and bringing all the information together, although I wish he would have spent more time writing about Lincoln's role in the amendment abolishing slavery. If you watch Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln what you see in Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is Lincoln, or as close as we may ever get. We need more great men and women like President Abraham Lincoln just in our society in general, but especially in politics. I think these words epitomize him perfectly, "...We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies." From his first inaugural address. And then, "....With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves." Which was from his last inaugural address. What a man. Thank God for him.Alien: Covenant interviews
Alien: Covenant scene
Abraham Lincoln
