As the saying goes, there is nothing new on earth.
And "Awakening of the Alien" says that there is nothing new in space, even if you are Ridley Scott.
If the "Alien" series had never existed, "Alien Awakening" would be a groundbreaking science fiction film, but the results are naturally obvious. But on the bright side, "Awakening of the Alien" has never concealed the traces left by its source of inspiration. On the contrary, it has unique features in action, rhythm, shots and structure.
In fact, the story of "Alien Life Boarding and Killing People" has already appeared in 1958's "Alien Villain", and Ridley Scott used the genital (organ) imagery of "Alien" to make this appearance. The horror experience of level 1B has been promoted to the A list. Since then, various space explorers and interstellar businessmen have ventured into the dark corners of the universe in the name of fake science and capital, and accidentally encountered "extraordinary" killing machines, which instantly became zero. Gravity’s interstellar buffet. This first-class school is so ingrained in popular culture that it has simply become one of Hollywood traditions. What is really shocking about "Awakening of the Alien" is that it follows this creative formula step by step, without the slightest deviation, reshaping or insinuating reality, but still has a good entertainment effect.
That's right, although this 103-minute thriller film has countless slots and IQ offline in the story, and lack of depth in character design, it maintains a good performance in atmosphere and rhythm. After the masterful "Gravity" in 2013, we have not seen a space movie that dared to challenge this pinnacle. Although "Awakening of Alien Stars" is far from being compared with it, it has become increasingly popular in traditional science fiction movies. In today's shrinking days, this attempt itself is still commendable.
"Awakening of the Alien" will definitely not be one of the best science fiction movies this year, but it can still avoid being forgotten by the audience in the short term. This is a good result that a non-cottage copycat movie can offer.
Compared with the few horror ideas, the composition of the people behind the scenes seems more interesting. The two screenwriters, Liott Rees and Paul Wernicke, have been doing comedic deconstruction of existing themes for almost their entire careers. From zombie movies ("Zombie Land") to brainless action ("Special Forces 2: Total Counterattack") to superheroes ("Deadpool"), to this time "Alien Awakens", we can easily think , This movie will also have a rich comedy element.
However, it did not. In "Awakening of the Alien", you won't even find any jokes. This is a highly streamlined typical science fiction movie, full of selflessness and courage, large-scale destruction and killing, and no longer classic "last minute" heroism. If there is any subversive content, it is not easy to find and perceive.
So the question is, except for the unconventional ending, is there really nothing new in "Awakening of the Alien"?
First of all, what we have seen is technical meticulousness. At the very beginning of the movie, a huge near-Earth space station was introduced, with a clear and definite character introduction. This is obviously not the high shock of the "Gravity" level, but it also establishes the interaction between the characters and the environment, and it also combines fear and awe. The famous photographer Simus Mike Garvey also contributed to the film. Create a gorgeous visual experience. As for the outer space creatures themselves, with the development of CG technology, we no longer need to look at “special photos” or mechanical props that wear rubber and scream. The realistic special effects transform single-celled creatures into flowers of evil, and then become The absurdity and nausea of Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Myth" fan of "Love Craftsmanship" truly reflects.
After the flamboyant historical thriller "Child 44", the talented Swedish director Daniel Espinosa retreated from a two-hour wobbly to 90 minutes of excellence. Although the film can convey a nervous atmosphere of suspense, there are still certain problems in rhythm and balance.
A simple example, in order to show the fear and confusion of the characters, Espinosa did not clearly let the audience understand the physical structure of the entire space station, so we hardly know where these characters are (relative), alien What is the (relative) position of the creature Calvin? This chaotic setting helps to establish suspense. Even though we don’t know why Calvin, as an invertebrate, can digest the whole mouse, withstand prolonged flame burning, hypoxia and extremely low temperature, but this uncertainty does Enhance the sense of horror.
However, when Calvin started to kill people, because the film's character settings were too average, no character had a special status higher than others, and it was unable to arouse deeper emotions in the audience.
This is very important for horror films: the audience has to (falsely) actively choose a favorite character in the process of watching the movie, and hope that he/she can persist until the end, in order to establish emotional resonance-this is Why Sigourney Weaver can stand out from "Alien".
As a result, the whole movie has become an arcade game. Only Calvin is the active player (or the protagonist who is not portrayed as the protagonist), and the real actors are the living targets. But in a sense, this is also the path taken by "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Ghost Street", and "Friday the 13th"-the real protagonist is a bloodthirsty monster holding a variety of big weapons.
After all, "Awakening of the Alien" is an A-rated film, a B-rated film through and through, and the creators know exactly what it is.
If you want to find a subtitle for "Awakening of the Alien", then the title must be: shock! Cannibal alien life grows like this!
It seems to be bluffing, but it doesn't make much sense in detail.
"Awakening of the Alien" has a clear understanding of its positioning, its uniqueness in the creation of monsters, and has a more tolerant international actor team than "The Martian". The film did not try to become the second "Alien", nor did it explore metaphysical philosophical topics, but became a more elaborate "Report of Europa".
In this regard, "Awakening of the Alien" has achieved its goal very well.
However, sometimes we don't expect "it's all".
These disappointed expectations were made up for by "Alien: Contract".
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