Alien Earth episode one release a couple of days ago and honestly I wasnt expecting much from another Alien prequel after the mess we got from some of the recent movies but I gotta say this first episode had me hooked for most of it with some really nostalgic sound effects and soundtracks, for anyone who is from 80s this series will be so familiar, for me been a lifelong Alien fan who thinks nothing beats the first two movies, I went into this expecting disappointment but hoping for something that could at least expand the universe in interesting ways and for the most part thats what we got here, nothing revolutionary but I think its going to be fun watch an hour; half movie, every week. The opening scenes immediately grab you with that familiar Nostromo vibe, the same green computer text, the crew waking up from cryo sleep around the breakfast table talking about their mission, its all very trademark of Ridley Scotts original masterpiece and thats both a good and bad thing depending on how you look at it.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13623632/
- Platform: HULU
What really impressed me was how they managed to recreate that claustrophobic spaceship atmosphere while adding their own spin with the whole specimen collection mission, how much danger the added to the classic Space Ship corridors with all this new Aliens is what really spice things up a bit, these Wayand Utani crew members are transporting five different alien species back to Earth including our beloved face huggers and you know from the start that things are going to go sideways real quick. The cast does a solid job of making you care about them in the short time we spend with the crew, considering how fast they all going to die and this is no secret if you have seen most of the franchise movies, they feel like real people dealing with corporate bullshit and dangerous cargo, talking about which mega corporations control different parts of the world now. The world building aspect really gets the spot light through these conversations where they explain how Wayand Utani controls North and South America while other companies like Prodigy and Dynamic have got a hold up the rest of the planet, I doubt now days this could be our future because before that happens democracy has to be out of the window but lets not get political or sentimental here. I like how the series decides to kill off this entire interesting crew in favor of focusing on what I can only describe as children in adult robot bodies and this is a cool twist because you might think they didnt let the characters develop but they cool part is that they get totally diposable and replace by better and more interesting ones, like the children turn into hybrids.
The whole hybrid concept with kids consciousness being downloaded into synthetic adult bodies is not revolutionary at all as a sci fi concept although its a new addition to the franchise but the execution feels off and could have been way better than it is, Sydney Chandler does her best with the role of Wendy and many times it feels so dangerous in both ways for her and anyone around her watching what is essentially a ten year old girl in a grown woman body, she can actually be psychologically abuse or snap and kill everyone she feels like, they literally playing with fire and gasoline, not to say they playing been God because we are past that point. Timothy Olyphant brings his usual commanding presence as Kirsh the sintethic, not to be confuse with an android, this are simulated humans while on the series androids are referred to enhance humans. During the episode there is this philosophical discussions about humanity versus artificial intelligence that for the most part provide some of the episodes stronger moments, especially when Kirsh talks about how humans used to be food until they built tools and convinced themselves they werent prey anymore. For some reason I didnt catch up the Peter Pan references until latter on the episode, at first when they group of kids were called The Lost Boys, I immediately thought about the vampire movie from the 90s but the started connecting the dots between the cartoon they played for Wendy and the name they all took, including the island called Neverland, there is also Boy Cavalier reading from the actual book. There were some cringe moments during the episode specially from Boy Cavalier during his obsession to meet a higher been, a very cartoonish villain.
The technical aspects of this episode are where things get really frustrating, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous when theyre on the spaceship with all that moody lighting and practical sets that look fantastic, but then we switch to Earth there is this huge contrast that Im not sure how to describe but I have to say it looks very Godzilla Minus One type of scenario, where some sets look very real and others like a Japanese Monster movie with the city and everything else looking out of size and dimension, there are also this long takes that were clearly stitched together in post production, particularly during the sequence where multiple sick children are being transformed into hybrids one after another, how they jump from their conception and never allow their characters do develop or even had any kind of teaching or training, its also the case of Wendy as they only show a single therapy session, it would be more interesting if they dedicated more time to the hybrids development. These story slip ups really bothered me because they pulled me out of what should have been emotional moments and made me think about the production process instead of the story, I understand that creating seamless transitions is difficult but when they fail this obviously it becomes distracting. The xenomorph reveal at the end felt underwhelming compared to the build up, we barely see the creature and most of the violence happens off camera which might be a budget thing but it leaves the horror elements feeling a bit toothless with lack of reach.
Despite my complaints about the technical and story issues with some other questionable creative choices, I very very interested in where this story is taking from here, it doesn't look like this series is getting much attention and I suppose for been an FX series. The relationship between Wendy and her brother Hermit who works as a medic for Prodigy Corporation has real emotional weight even everything happens through creepy surveillance scenes. The crash of the ship promises some interesting action scenes between the escaped specimens and the hybrid characters, and I like how Noah Hawley is not trying to recreate the exact same scenario as the original movie. The production quality is clearly high with impressive sets and costumes that feel authentic to the Alien universe, even if the CGI some times leaves a lot on the table, like almost hiding the Xenomporh. The sound effects and music is one of the strongest parts of the show, going heavy on the original films but in ways that enhance rather than distract from the new story being told. Overall this first episode sets up a lot of intriguing elements and does feel like part of the Alien universe while trying to come up with its own identity, if they can fix the story patches and lean more into the horror elements I think this series could be something special for viewers who appreciate world and character building over pure nostalgia, I give this episode a solid 7 out of 10 and Im definitely coming back for more next week.
https://i.imgur.com/NFNfXhz.png
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