[Weekly Update] How do you even do an Alien Sequel?

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CHANNEL UPDATE

Progress has been slow on everything, because I'm working on multiple projects, all of which are fairly exciting.

With the Adult Swim published Uzumaki anime coming soon, I figure it'd be a good time to talk about the works of Junji Ito. It'll be different from our usual affair, as we won't be focusing on cinema for once. The works of Ito are so good, it's worth breaking the rule just for him.

Afterward, we have the history on Yakuza cinema, in preparation for the upcoming Yakuza TV series, which may or may not be absolutely awful. Ill began rewatching some of the older films to take note. These films are fairly entertaining in isolation, but monotonous when watched back to back. This is why I'm working on multiple videos at once.

Our next long term project, as announced before, is a two part retrospective on Journey to the West adaptations. By the time it comes out, it'll likely have nothing to do with Black Myth Wukong. But after finishing our dynasty series, I crave something big. So this will be our next thing.

Finally, we have our solar eclipse video waiting to go, and a year end Chinese film review waiting in the pipeline. It'll be a busy winter, and I look forward to it.

MEDIA TALK

Let me ask you a question: How would you do a sequel to the Alien franchise?

Last week, I went to watch Alien Romulus. It's a very solid film with well done claustrophobic horror and inventive sci-fi sequences. The retro-futurist technology, the hair style and make up, and even the credit font with a subtle blue fringe, all faithfully captured the 80s aesthetic of the original Alien film. It was a beautiful back-to-basics Alien movie, ignoring all of the non-sense that came after Alien 4.

However, this exact description can be applied to the very first film. Indeed, while CGI allowed the film to create some sequences that were impossible in the 80s, at this core, Alien Romulus is a soft remake. It follows generally the same structure, with the same theme on corporate greed. The whole time I'm watching the movie, I feel like I'm just watching Alien for the first time again. It's a great feeling, but also just makes me want to watch Alien again.

By its nature, Alien Romulus lives in the shadow of the film it imitates. Successful as this imitation may be, it cannot be better without doing something different.

This is why Prometheus and Covenant, for all their faults, were somewhat respectful. Ridley Scott genuinely tried to expand the Alien universe by introducing something new. Multiple times now, his attempts fell flat. But that is the risk you have to take when trying to push a series to a new direction.

On the other hand, what direction do you push the series towards? The original Alien was just a cliche horror film done well. In that sense, Romulus is more true to this origin than any other sequels. This origin established an expectation: That the film should be a claustrophobic, simple space horror movie. It is not a formula that offers much opportunity. The more lore you add to the series, the less mysterious the films fell, and you get Alien Covenant. The less lore you explore, the more you have to rehash established elements, Ala Romulus. Romulus essentially has to speed through the whole chest-burst sequence, as it has no real mystery or suspense for fans.

It's a no win situation that I honestly don't know how to fix. I guess the series has been desperately trying to chase the Alien 2 high. But it turns out, that was a lightning in a bottle.

So I ask you, my dear viewers, how would you do an Alien sequel, without making the franchise too convoluted, while still ensuring you have an original and thrilling film that stands on its own?

Or do you think it should just end and be left alone, like Back to the Future?

In any case, I'll see you in our next update!