Alien: Resurrection

        After the disaster that was Alien 3, it almost seemed that the franchise ended on bad terms. There seemingly was no way to continue the series and bringing back Ripley since we saw her jump to her death. In one way, the studio wanted a do over and to clean up their own mess up by properly ending the series once more. What better subtitle than Resurrection to slap on the sequel. It’s practically a first warning of just how far the franchise was willing to try anything to be interesting. 

1. Somehow Ripley Returned

        I think in one way to have the series continue is to have it take place so far into the future where it’s basically a clean slate. Gone is Weyland-Yutani and in comes the next questionable organization the United Military Systems. The whole film starts as they successfully cloned a brand new Ripley after eight tries. They removed the queen embryo from her chest so they can begin what the Weyland company had been trying to do. Predictably, it all goes wrong. 

        There’s new characters that we see but I’ll talk about them in a moment. It really feels that they can never leave Ripley in a good place, or just try to do something different without having to bring her back through some convoluted scientific way. That’s probably my biggest gripe whenever a sequel comes along and tries to make a story happen and undoing any sense of closure that the prior entry had. The film does at least explain that the scientists did find some left over DNA of Ripley, but it’s one of those things where seeing it is better than being told about it. 

        And this is a completely different Ripley that we see. She is taught some things and what is interesting is that while she is a clone, she contains some Xenomorph DNA as her blood is acidic. Her whole introduction is weird as we see her in a transparent plastic tarp as she “births” out. It’s very artsy fartsy and there are moments where there’s weird close ups and it’s very French in some areas. It’s weird that Fox hired Jean-Pierre Jeunet to helm this one. I haven’t seen his films to give me an indication that his prior work matched what this Alien film was going for. Although, his film after this Amelie is highly regarded. It always seemed that after a bad Alien film, the director’s next film becomes a classic. 

        As I mentioned earlier, we got a new motley crew of characters that are only Alien fodder. We see the scientists and military for the USM. They are just stereotypical characters where they breed new Xenomorphs only to study them. And of course we have the rebellious mercenaries. Ron Perlman as the leader of the mercs followed by Winona Ryder who portrays the new android in the series. I feel that with this big cast, it can get crowded since it doesn’t help the movie with its tone. Like, it’s all over the place as far as getting invested or just cringe inducing. 

        To elaborate on that, there’s some seemingly comedic moments where it’s not supposed to be comedic. One instance is when one of the scientists is testing the Alien, he tries to bond by kissing the glass but immediately punishes it by trying to freeze it. We see him again as he part of the brood and he just eats the scenery as far as acting. That’s the main thing with this film where it doesn’t really know what to do with these characters but to kill them progressively. The mercs get put through the ringer but there’s never a moment where Ripley takes charge. 

        I feel that is where the movie fails, Ripley doesn’t take the lead since the crew does everything where it’s basically on autopilot. The android Call knows a lot about Ripley but doesn’t really help assuage Ripley’s distrust of androids. They do bond, but it’s only to progress the escape without legitimately bonding. It’s doesn’t quite match the same type of bonding as Ripley and Newt from Aliens. More than anything, the film is just a huge retread of the prior films. 

2. Greatest Hits

        People complain that the recent release of Alien: Romulus is just another retread of what came out in the past. While there is some validity in that assessment, I feel that people don’t realize how much of this film basically crams in the same iconography of the prior films into this one. In one way, they couldn’t quite nail the same beats without doing the exact same thing visually. Just the way the film looks harkens back to the Ridley Scott classic. With the claustrophobic hallways, and the few shots of space where it’s very reminiscent of the first film. 

        I feel that in one way, this is the first greatest hits of the film where it references the past films so egregiously. And what compounds it is that the film is an action-oriented film. Guns blazing without the sense of suspense since there’s no motion trackers or have it shot where the threats can pop up anywhere. More so that, there’s moments where it tried to be different such as the underwater scene and when we see the new Xenomorph variant. That thing is freaky, but it’s hilarious that it only appears in the final moments of the film. 

        One thing that I will commend the series is that they finally give Ripley some peace as the film ends. Of course, a retread where she finally can rest after surviving but one where she can finally start her life anew on Earth. This for the moment is the last time as we follow Ripley in her adventures. She’s the anchor to the whole series, and one of the defining heroines in cinema. I feel that her whole character evolution is really something as she has urgency and manages to take charge to survive. 

3. "Alien vs Predator"

        I haven’t mentioned the spinoff involving the two characters when discussing the first two Alien films. It only made sense that two of 20th Century Fox’s horror mascots would face off each other in various media. Since I’m not covering this spin off as the two films aren’t canon with the mainline Alien and Predator films, I’ll at least acknowledge their impact since that’s how I was introduced to the aliens. The spinoff did start as a comic book series that ventured off into the video game sphere. 

        The first direct acknowledgement of each other in film is in Predator 2. The Xenomorph skull appears alongside the collection of skulls in the Predator ship. Seemingly confirming that the two franchises are connected someway, albeit years and millennia apart. The 2000s is when Fox decided to adapt the series into film, and it was bad. Broadening the appeal for a PG-13 rating did no favors. They were my first exposure to the creatures, but watching itis basically a neutered take of what could’ve been an R-rated venture. 

        They rectified that by releasing a sequel and obviously emphasizing the rating to attract the more hardcore fans, and it didn’t fare much better. With the recent success and resurgence of the two franchises, there’s been talks of Disney trying to restart the spinoff franchise once more. All of it is just speculation, but it’s an easy task to fail when trying to portray two species duke it out as far as having a hunter and prey angle to it. As well as having the human element being the ultimate gamble of making or breaking the film. 

4. Overall

        Alien: Resurrection is yet another bad end to the franchise and one of the worst sequels to end a beloved franchise. 

Alien 3 Review

        Happy New Years! It’s around this time that I discuss another franchise. This time was tough since I had no clue which series to talk about. I wanted to avoid the ones where there was a good entry  and then the drop in quality was immense. To me, it makes sense to talk about one horror series. I think it’s appropriate to have an overview since the series is now branching towards the small screen with a show on FX. So throughout the month, I’ll be looking at the Alien franchise. 

1. Skinheads in Space

        Everybody at the time thought that the franchise was done after Aliens. The ending was a perfect capstone for the seemingly short series. Ripley nuked the home planet and killed the only queen in existence. Well, to say that this film had a troubled production is putting it mildly. For starters, there was five drafts of the script that didn’t get used. The fifth one was mostly a retooling of the fourth draft. Compounding the issue was that 20th Century Fox released a teaser that seemingly was going to take place on Earth. 

        Only that, they had a firm release date without a working script to shoot. The idea was that they didn’t care if the final product was good enough, and that people would still run to see the film, since the first two were financial winners. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case since David Fincher was brought in after Fox let go of another director Vincent Ward who had a script while Fox had a concurrent script that was being written. Already, nothing was going right and this was David Fincher’s first film. 

        To say the film is an unnecessary entry is one thing. Considering the way it opens, practically ruins any goodwill the film comes in with. And man was I upset with how it opened, since we see that both Newt and Corporal Hicks are killed as a Facehugger appears in the stowaway ship from Aliens. The android Bishop even gets destroyed as the ship descends and crashes on a foundry and maximum prison named Firoina 161. I can understand that the whole series involves just Ripley, it’s a real head scratcher why the film went about that way creatively. 

        So with that, we follow Ripley as she’s the only woman in the planet. She is surrounded by former inmates as she tries to tell them about the alien that was on her escape ship. While no one believes her, inevitably the Xenomorph appears and causes mayhem as Ripley suspects that she’s carrying a hatchling. 

        As I mentioned earlier, I can understand that the whole series revolves around Ripley and having the supporting characters from the last film removed is just a massive downturn. And I know what the film is doing, is that to strip away the things that will help Ripley like her friends and weapons and see a deconstructed look of how she can survive in a literal male dominated space. While an Alien is running around. 

        If there’s one thing where I’ll give the movie some positive notes is how the whole male dominated space is set up. You see, the men chose to stay in the planet as a way to get redemption since a majority of them are criminals to the highest degree. And they have a huge issue as Ripley is in their space and see her as a threat to their environment. The whole film has a religious angle to it, albeit not full blown but very subtle. It’s clear that the men have a monk look to them with their shaved heads and see the newcomer as a sign and of course the Alien as a demon that’s rampaging through their monastery.

        The problem I have is that it doesn’t advance Ripley’s story or build upon the company that reaches its supposed end. Like, having Ripley dealing with the creature once more now makes it personal since it killed the only people and android that she cared. And the company now has a chance to finally capture the thing and use it for their means. More than anything, I feel that the film would’ve been impactful had the inmates be criminals instead of reformed ones. That way Ripley would have to watch her back twice as hard and amp up the horror since she has nothing to defend herself.  

        You know I go into a lot of detail without talking about the main star of the film. While trying to be different, the Alien as well is different since this time the victim was a dog. I think it’s an interesting concept to have the Xenomorph have variants of whichever life form is spawned off from. It has the same face and head but having a more feral body as it moves in all fours. The effects are weak since the creature looks stiff since it was a puppet and the body suit was used in the only best shot in the film. 

2. David Fincher

        It’s understandable why David Fincher disowned this film. More so that he was so close to having his filmmaking career cut short because of what happened. He came from a music video background and it was more than enough for a major studio to hand him the keys to their biggest franchise aside from Star Wars. Not to besmirch his background, but he was handed a really bad product from the start. I think the one thing I can take away is that there’s video of him grabbing the boom mike and cursing out the studio. 

        A miracle had to occur for Fincher to finally get a proper reintroduction in terms of filmmaking. Se7en is one of those films where it defined Fincher’s direction and aesthetics. That one is when he had total control of the whole project. It’s interesting that both films focus on a religious angle, albeit one does it in an interesting manner, while the latter is Alien 3. Due to how it was received critically, Fincher disowned the film. 

        When it came for the obligatory film collection on home media, Alien 3 came with a special cut called the “Assembly Cut”. Out of all the cuts in the series, this is the only one where the director didn’t have a say in it. Most people say that it’s the superior version of the film. Even in the making of documentary that highlights the pains of making the film, Fincher wasn’t in it and it’s one of those things where I can’t blame him since he delt with a bad situation and the studio did not do him any favors. 

3. Overall 

        Alien 3 starts the downward trend of the franchise; I recommend only watching the Assembly Cut if you want to marathon the series. 

The Substance Review

        Of all the films that I’ve watched this year, this one is easily up there in my level of enjoyment. There were other horror films that were decent, some were sequels and a prequel. I’ll say that this year is probably the best in terms of horror. What makes this one different was that I didn’t even know it existed. To me it is the perfect mindset to watch a movie by going in blind. Not knowing what you’re going to see and not knowing what to expect. The Substance is easily the best horror film of the year and one of the best horror film of the decade.

1.     Elizabeth and Sue

        Just as the film starts, I thought it was going to be some art film that’s trying really hard to be artsy for the sake of it. Then it started to click when we see this new substance at work as it duplicates the egg yolk that is presented. With that, we follow Elizabeth as she is an aerobics instructor, it is established that she has been doing it for a long time and considered washed up. Much to the ire of the producer, she overhears his conversation to let her go. After a car crash, she receives an invitation to try the new drug called The Substance.

        She follows through and takes it. From there, she spawns a younger clone of herself, named Sue. As with any horror film, it has that monkey paw effect where Elizabeth gets some unintended consequences. This film is a lot to take in, which I will go over. There’s really two ways to do this kind of story and with how its presented is going to the tongue and cheek angle. Like, the film is embed with irony where there’s no possibility of rust as far as what you’re going to get when you are watching it.

        What I mean by that is just how it’s shot is so in your face as far as subverting voyeurism. Meaning, those shots where one part of a woman’s body is shot in a seductive and up close way. One example is Quentin Tarantino’s recurring visual motif of shooting woman’s feet in a majority of his films. With this film, it sets up the difference between both Elizabeth and Sue’s aerobics show. Obviously, Elizabeth’s is reminiscent of the 80s aerobics such as when Jane Fonda unintentionally made it popular. Sue meanwhile has a hyper look to it where the workout outfit is more revealing, and it has a lot of those voyeur shots that I mentioned.

        Additionally, I love how there is a clear distinction between the two characters. Elizabeth seems endearing enough where she is kind, although becomes self conscious over the revelation that she is too old. Sue meanwhile is young and definitely abuses her use of the substance so she can have more fun. It has to be stated that both of these characters are one person. Especially in the moments where Elizabeth becomes concerned that the mysterious vendor tells her that the “she” that is the problem is really her.

        If there’s one thing that makes the film work is whenever Dennis Quaid is in. Originally Ray Liotta was supposed to be in the movie, but he passed away just before filming started. Who knows how he could have pulled off the character that Quaid portrays. Dennis plays Harvey who’s the main producer, and everything about him is so over the top and gross that it is enjoyable to watch. One scene in particular when he and Elizabeth are discussing her future, he eats shrimp during the discussion. The way it’s shot and how he eats it is so disgusting that it’s basically the appetizer of what’s coming.

        The moments he shows up is never a dull moment. He’s so over the top that it does not come off as he is not trying or it’s just a bad performance. All of it is on purpose since it definitely showcases how out of touch as far as wanting to control his stars by having them be perfect and smiling. He never receives his comeuppance but is basically the problem representing just how cutthroat the entertainment business is.

2.     Body Horror and Youth

        For as much as I’ve been talking, this is the most unique body horror film that I’ve watched in recent memory. For those not in the know, what body horror is specifically is a type of film where we see the human body be mangled into something like an abomination or be transformed into a creature. It was prevalent during the 80s with films like The Thing and The Fly to name a few. Those films use it as a way to represent the fears of the AIDS virus at the time and they were very graphic.

        This one is like a pendulum where it is tame briefly and then swerves into bloody disgusting. I’ll break it down further by showcasing the tame aspect. As we see Elizabeth take the substance, she convulses and then Sue bursts the formers back all grown up. It’s like a reverse Alien where the offspring spawns from the back instead of the chest. There are rules that both have to follow so that the host doesn’t have any consequences, and of course that’s thrown out the window as soon as Sue embraces her independence.

        We really see Sue as a younger version of Elizabeth as she parties and gets grabby with her boyfriend. She abuses her host to the point where Elizabeth starts to encounter severe aging in her limbs. I just love how gradually she is aging and it’s hilarious as she fights back by eating foods that ruin Sue’s figure. It’s not just the body being ripped to shreds but more so how it’s getting abused because of how wild the offspring is.

        As I mentioned earlier, when Elizabeth reaches out to the vendor and complains about what Sue is doing, the voice says that they are the problem since they are one. In a way, one can interpret the film as having commentary on women’s appearance and when they are in the entertainment business. They have to be beautiful but immediately when they age, a new replacement is discovered and becomes the new face in beauty. It makes the moment when we see Elizabeth ruin her makeup tragic since she doesn’t embrace her age but gets jealous of Sue’s popularity.

        I just feel bad for the only guy that talks to Elizabeth since he genuinely cares for her and isn’t aware of what’s going on with her. Like the moment when Elizabeth is applying layers of makeup and rubbing it off her face is just tragic in the bigger context. It all inevitably leads in the fight between the two and, for a moment I thought the shots that we see would be skewed like seeing two different perspectives fight, but it’s just crazy how much strength Sue has as she beats up the decrepit Elizabeth.

        Lastly, I’m at odds with the ending of the film. I don’t want to give it away. I mean I’ve talked about so much that people will stop reading this and go watch the film. Why are you reading this far? Anyways, the last minutes is when the film gets really bloody as a new character pops up and is an amalgamation of both Elizabeth and Sue. Like this thing is so gross, and it’s utterly hilarious that it grabs a cutout of Elizabeth to make people think that it is her. From there, it’s reminiscent of Carrie with the level of blood and carnage that I think it’s too much. Again, maybe it’s dependent of the mood.

3.     Overall

        The Substance is easily the best horror film of this year and I’ll even say it’s up there with the best films of this year as a whole.

Transformers One Review

        It’s been a while since I talked about an animated film. The last time was three years ago during the summer. Looking back on it, I think it would’ve been better had I focused on one kind of animation instead of doing a quasi-exploration of the style. With the animation films of this year, it’s basically been dominated by Inside Out 2 and Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot. I was thinking about doing Pharrell Williams’ documentary Piece by Piece, but maybe at another time. That unorthodox LEGO documentary and Transformers One were some of the bombs that the animated scene had witnessed and I think it’s indicative of the potential downturn of the Hasbro brand. 

1. Memories

        Me and Transformers go way back. I didn’t grow up with the original 80s series, my very first exposure to them was with Transformers: Armada when it aired on Cartoon Network. Just the simple idea of a robot morphing into a car is cool, more so that any one of them can transform into a tank and what not. It ostensibly skewed towards the boy angle since the whole series has that playground fight feeling to it. Nothing seemingly complex but one side going against another in a continuous bout. 

        That fandom spiked with the release of the Michael Bay films that came out during the early 2000s and 2010s. Albeit, none of them are any good and one can say that the first one is the only tolerable entry prior to the future release. Maybe in the future I’ll talk about that live-action franchise since it did influence me with the special effects and, well that’s basically it. For the meantime, this is practically considered the best animated film of the Transformers. 

        Just before I talk about it, there already was a Transformers animated film that came out in 1986. Released during the peak popularity of the toy line and show, some regard it as the best Transformers film all around. I haven’t had the chance to see it, but I probably will include it in my hypothetical retrospective of the film series. One thing I will bring up is the fact that as an animated film, it didn’t hold back on the wanton violence that it had. Some consider it as an hourlong commercial, but it showed that the series can be mature albeit without going into a ridiculous degree of stupidity. 

2. More Than Meets the Eye

        I remember seeing the title of the movie as a soulless animated cash grab that Paramount Pictures was going to put out. This was when they had many films planned out back when Michael Bay was the director and I couldn’t believe that they were going to release an animated film. I think it was the hesitation of just questioning it and my reluctance to even watching it if I had nothing to do with my day. Inevitably, I saw that this entry was gaining great reviews and I fortunately watched it in the comfort of my home. 

        Since it does have One in its title, the film is basically a part one in a sense of the story between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Specifically, showcasing the brief friendship and rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Or as they’re referred to as Orion Pax and D-16, but just to make things easier I’ll refer to them as how we know them. 

        So yeah, story wise the film is mostly straightforward as we follow Optimus and Megatron as miners, they’re harvesting Energon since it’s the source of power for the autonomous robotic organisms. It’s established that an object known as the Matrix of Leadership helps the power source flow through the planet, but it’s been deemed missing which causes the miners to extract it. Bonus points is awarded since it’s both Optimus and Megatron that kick off the odyssey as they uncover a conspiracy. 

        I think what I like about the film is that it sets itself apart from the other entries since it does a lot of world building of how the fight started. Since the scope is big, it manages to make it personal between both Optimus and Megatron since they are the faces of the opposing belligerents. While it’s a shame that Peter Cullen didn’t make a brief cameo in the film, Chris Hemsworth tried his best to be Prime.  He did good for the most part, since it’s tough to not be the token good guy but give him enough pathos were you understand who he is. 

        Even the supporting cast is great as it’s refreshing to finally hear Bumblebee have a voice that was muted for most of his appearances in live action. As well as Alita being the voice of reason when balancing both the main characters and Bumbleebee’s naivety. It works in a sense where it helps the comedy be good and lay down when the dramatic stuff is about to happen. 

        The same can be said about Megatron. Out of everyone, he’s the most interesting since we see just how he became the leader of the Decepticons. His whole arc is something to where we see that he has this adulation of a fallen leader and basically wears the deceased face as a symbol. When he inevitably learned how the leader died, it sends him over the edge where now he is full on aggressive with what he wants to do. 

        With how the whole origin angle that the movie has going for it, we see the tiny details of how the characters morph into how we know them. I think it adds into a layer of seeing where the icons of the two factions come from and seeing just what exactly they are fighting for. Like, it adds more and it makes it interesting where the whole thing is predicated on the current leader Sentinel Prime dealing with a supposed enemy. 

        I’ll go far as to say that the lines are blurred since we see that both the characters are faced with a predicament of how to deal with the revelation. Optimus wants to expose Sentinel’s crimes while Megatron wants to outright kill him. It’s deep as far as an animated film goes since it adds a layer of moral confusion since there really is no “right” way of doing what they just learned. And all of it leads into I think the best part, when it’s all lined up to the future. 

        Lastly, I’ll say that the animation is pretty good from Industrial Light and Magic. Everyone who knows that company knows that they mostly deal with special effects in most of the action and sci-fi films. This isn’t their first animated film, Paramount’s and Nickelodeon’s Rango was the company’s first foray into animation and it became an Award winner surprisingly. Most of the designs are inspired by the Transformers Generation 1 look and the action is good, especially in the moments that don’t involve transforming.

3. The Degradation of the Brand

        I established that I watched the film in the comfort of my home, and I have those feelings where I feel bad that I didn’t give the film its due when it came out in theaters. The film bombed as it didn’t have enough of the financial legs to be considered a hit, even in the overseas market it didn’t fare much better. There are multiple angles to consider when any film bombs in the box office, sometimes the product is bad just by the look of it. 

        In some instances, the marketing didn’t do any favors for the film. While yes, it did market for kids but the way it went about it made seem like it was a buddy adventure film rather than an origin story of two friends becoming enemies. More so that the release just came out from another Transformers film that was a disappointing follow up to 2018’s Bumblebee. It was way too soon to have an animated film after a live-action one, muddying up a franchise that was in a middle of a reboot. 

        I honestly doubt that there may be a sequel where we see the fight in the planet Cybertron. It only makes sense that it focuses on the war, but the problem with the animated approach is the potential broadening of an audience problem that it may have. Would it be geared for children, teen oryoung adult audience where they’d even care with what’s happening? It remains to be determined what the potential sequel Paramount may do, since Hasbro isn’t financing any future films after this one’s box office bust. 

4. Overall

        Transformers One is an underrated animated film that does the series justice.