stevenfreekin

Just watched the movie on 70mm film and the image quality was exceptional. For the most part it was an enjoyable and entertaining history film about survival during war. It had some great suspense and thriller elements to it. In fact some of the sequences were very Hitchcockian in nature that they reminded me of Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. If i had to categorize this movie i would say it's an Action-Thriller that takes place during war.

My first problem was the Sound & Music. Both were too loud, annoying, distracting, and monotonous that several people got up and left. I almost did. It's the same problem that the dark knight rises suffered from. They mixed the sound so high to make the action and explosions appear grand but it fails since the visuals don't work. There's only one director who can direct great action and explosions and make it look grand and epic that i almost believe its a work of art, which in a way it is. That director is none other than Michael "Bad Boys" Bay.

Second problem i had with the movie was too many cuts to secondary characters that i didn't care about. Not to mention i barely cared about any of them since I never got to know them. They should have stuck with just three stories: the pilot, the father and son, and the two soldiers trying to survive. Period. I don't care about the generals, random soldiers, or Cillian Murphy's character either.

Third problem i had with the movie was it didn't have a grand scale or scope the way it was advertised. The film tries hard to want to be epic but fails. On the posters it states that over 400,000 men were trapped but in the movie i didn't see that at all. Honestly, it was more like 2,000, then there was like two planes in the sky and a half a dozen boats. Really? That's what you called grand? If you enjoy a historical Action-Thriller that's full of suspense then definitely check it out. Bring some ear plugs if you can.

In 2014, director Ridley Scott stated that the follow up to Prometheus will be the exploration of PARADISE, home of the ENGINEERS. A lot of People hated Prometheus including a lot of so called Alien fans. As a huge fan of the Alien franchise myself, including AVP, i still consider Prometheus a great movie. I was one of the few fans who thoroughly enjoy it. Believe me i got a lot of hate from fanatic NERDS for enjoying Prometheus. Normal people gave me nothing.

CUT TO: Five years later. Alien: Covenant arrives. Verdict? Dead on Arrival. This is not the movie i waited five years to see. The story set up at the end of Prometheus is what i wanted and didn't get. WTF happened? Well to all you so called Alien fans who wanted an Alien prequel, you got your wish. I hope you're all happy. Oh wait! You didn't show up Opening weekend to show your enthusiasm because it sucked and now you're all on here complaining again. Ridley & Fox tried to please these fans and as it turns out, when you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one. Ridley, You should've stayed true to the story of SHAW & DAVID'S journey to PARADISE to find out why the Engineers changed their mind. Period!

ALIEN COVENANT is a REMAKE of ALIEN created on the loose story line from Prometheus with just minor differences. Let me break it down: Alien storyline: Crew on Large cargo ship receives unknown signal. Crew checks it out despite danger and protest from other crew members. Expedition goes to crap and people die. Alien ends up on mothership.

Covenant storyline: Same as above, except crew are scientists instead of merchants. Signal is from Engineer ship just like Alien.

Differences:

Alien was a horror film in space. The characters were great, relatable, compelling, and different from one another. So you care about them when they're in jeopardy. It was a low budget movie shot on film with no computer effects.

Covenant is a movie that wants to be a horror film and an action film in space but gets confused. Therefore, the characters are dull, boring, not relatable, and forgettable. So you don't care about them at all and end up rooting for the alien to kill them all so the movie can end. This was an expensive 100 million dollar film shot on UHD Video with excessive computer effects. It also has the cheesiest twist ending that will motivate M Night Shyamalan to make some MAC & CHEESE with extra cheese.

Summary: Even the Best fall down sometimes and refuse to shine. If Shyamalan can bonce back so can Ridley Scott.

I enjoyed both DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. Both films were thrilling and entertaining. Although Angels & Demons was heavy handed on literal exposition the film was still compelling and riveting. Now fast forward seven years later we come to Inferno. I was actually disappointed they didn't make The Lost Symbol instead, but i understand why. The Lost Symbol is very similar to National Treasure.

Inferno falls in that category where the trailer or preview is a superior short film than the full length feature like Terminator Salvation, Watchmen, Body of Lies, Man of Steel, etc.

Inferno is preposterously stupid and amateur. I mean I've seen better crafted TV movies with a fraction of Inferno's budget. Watching it in Imax was just a terrible cringe worthy experience. This film is quite possibly Tom Hanks' and Ron Howards' worst film...ever. It was so sloppy, so rushed, so incoherent that i literally wanted to walk out after twenty minutes but i paid for imax. Directing was film student level and that's saying a lot, acting was mediocre, writing if there was any, i didn't see it, cinematography was garbage. Sound editing and design was laughable. There are very noticeable out of sync dialogue throughout the video.

If you enjoyed The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons then do your self a favor. Stay home and re-watch those films because you'll get nothing from this movie. No emotion, and no sense of care about the characters or the plot. It's just empty and worthless. I would not recommend this movie to anyone...not even my worst enemy. Inferno had not fire or heat at all no wonder Madea booed it to death at the box office.