Sage-c4

This is probably the closest adaptation from the novel, slightly marred by a tendency to linger over scenes inspired by iconic illustrations of NC Wyeth and others. The pacing when establishing characters is like a too-slow striptease, especially Billy Bones (Oliver Reed), Blind Pew (Christopher Lee), and John Silver (Charleton Heston). Heston's delivery, like Christian Bale's (as Jack Hawkins) is understated, which removes a little of the fun and all of the mercurial affection established by Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll in th e1950 version. Both Bale and Heston are just a bit too cold to perform the Tango of a sonless rogue and a fatherless boy, so their path to grudging admiration plays out more like a chess game. I'd rather have Reed and Heston exchange roles, but what's done is done. Lee's vocalizations, usually so plummy, are disappointingly squeaky, a surprising choice for such a sinister role, but his physical acting superb. Julian Glover as Dr Livesey, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawny and Clive Wood as Captain Smollet all capture their characters, though again, Glover's expressiveness is a tad subtle. The Chieftains...well, certainly there are many points in the film where the strident fiddling is extremely appropriate, but but what's missing is a few melancholy bars and some strains of sober suspense. Surely the Chieftains had a plaintive flute or something that could have done the trick. A bit of thumping drums delightfully prefigures "the Battle" music from Master & Commander, but the gunnery work in the assault on the blockhouse is unconvincing visually, especially the recoil effects and explosions. This is a film that could benefit from a little CGI tinkering, since the special pyrotechnics budget was apparently so frugal. The locations are really quite good, and the Hispaniola looks good on the outside, sometimes appearing to be actually sailing. The interior scenes are a bit too stable and a bit roomier than they should be.

I've waited a long time for Scott to take up the reins of this franchise, patiently watched as it was bastardized, homogenized, and hybridized. Not a single sequel has risen to the superlative level of the first Alien film, and to some extent, neither does this prequel. But it captures something the sequels missed - mystery. Here we learn that the giant pilot of the crashed alien ship was not merely a previous victim of the titular creature, but a member of a master race much more intimately and physiologically linked to humanity than we ever suspected. Yet the answers to questions ignored in the sequels because of their focus on the creature, lead to more questions, and an reductio ad absurdum "who created the creator" possibility for unlimited serialization. This film is the first in the franchise to show us something we didn't already know about the creature from the first film, though I found a couple manifestations of its life cycle inconsistent with alien life cycle orthodoxy and others a bit implausible (zombie mode) or unexplained (rapid growth without food). Fassbender is a great David, though unlike Holm's Ash, he fails to appear innocuous in the opening sequence, coming off too sinister to make subsequent events surprising. Actually, the only surprise from his character is his apparent willingness in the final scene to set aside his own agenda in favor of that of Rapace's Shaw. Her heroics should eclipse those of Weaver's Ripley, considering the extent of her trauma, but somehow her character is too muted and epicentric to draw cheers at the moment of her coup. Enough puzzles remain to authorize a sequel: why did David choose Holloway to betray, why is Weyland played by such a young actor (okay that one is obvious), why didn't Charlize Theron turn aside when the Gale house was touching down from Kansas? Really, she can't be that disposable, considering Vickers' resemblance to Ripley. Will Shaw make it to the emerald city with only Toto in her duffle (I'll count the rest of David as the tin man, since the cowardly geologist and the brainless biologist already bought the farm). Guess we'll just have to wait for the next installment. And finally, I am SO glad this did not flaceplant like Robin Hood.