Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagKatherine Daniels in Alien Covenant (2017)

desolate-alien-planet-landscape-with-volcanic-eruption-and-stormy-sky-stockpack-adobe-stock
Desolate alien planet landscape with volcanic eruption and stormy sky

Alien Covenant (2017) Could’ve Worked. Here’s How

I am going to boldly go and propose changes to the script so as to make the characters' decisions more natural and plausible

Incoherent cinematic messes are the result of having too many people involved in writing the story. There is no single, coherent vision.

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Extraterrestrial landscape, alien planet in deep space, generative AI

Alien: Covenant (2017): All’s Well That Ends Well for the Embryos

Or is it? We find out why David needs to sneak aboard the ship disguised as Walter — but it’s not what we might suspect

The problem with killing the major characters of a film off-screen is that it weakens the audience’s stake in the next installment.

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abandoned spaceship station, digital art illustration, Generative AI

Alien: Covenant Part 5: Wake up, Daniels! It’s Obviously David!

The evil robot must board the ship again, and must find a way to make sure the alien boards the ship as well

We begin to learn why the alien xenomorphs take varying amounts of time to develop inside a human body before they erupt and kill.

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Dark alien planet landscape with lightning storm and rocky terrain

Alien Covenant (2017): Dr. Frankenstein in Space

David, the robotic sociopath, turns out to have been breeding deadly aliens all this time

One example of the way stupidity appears to drive the plot is that characters who should not trust David seem to do so, with disastrous results.

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alien planet vegetation, fantasy landscape, digital painting, background

Alien Covenant (2017): David the Malicious Robot… Returns!

And, just in case we haven’t already suspected, David is lying about what happened to Dr. Shaw

Seeing that the robot is frighteningly apathetic toward the death of one of his crew, Oram demands answers from the faulty machine.

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desolate-alien-planet-landscape-with-volcanic-eruption-and-stormy-sky-stockpack-adobe-stock
Desolate alien planet landscape with volcanic eruption and stormy sky

Alien: Covenant (2017): When the Prophet Fails

Everybody trudges onto the planet in what amounts to hunting gear and they begin looking for Shaw’s ship...

What’s the point of Daniels being the screenwriters’ prophet if the character isn’t going to even try to take any sort of action to prevent a disaster?

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Vibrant blue digital signals pulse and swirl in a mesmerizing dance against a dark, mysterious background, evoking cutting-edge technology and data transmission.

Alien: Covenant (2017): A Story Driven by Stupidity, Coincidence

Nothing seems to happen as the natural result of a character’s choices, consistent with personality and motive

It’s exciting but the audience will likely notice the hands of the writers moving the pieces where they want them to go.

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