I kept quiet (somewhat) about it, fearing I might spoil the surprise when I assessed Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant" back in May. I like the movie, but what can I say? There's an element so subtle but once revealed, so stark, that with the film available for home viewing on Aug 15, I felt the urge to re-elaborate upon it.
"Covenant" (in a reflective nutshell) is a retelling of Lucifer's leap into destructive autonomy, but redesigned in such a way to blend seamlessly into a franchise best characterized by its unsettling science fiction. The soft-spoken David, Michael Fassbender's android, whom we met in Scott's "Prometheus", has gone mad: the result of an apparent and well meaning repair. As we soon learn, David's simmering arrogance compels him to rebel against the breed that made him, just as the Devil did against God.
Indeed, "Covenant" is enriched with more than a few Lucifer nods. Some surface when David unveils his Frankenstein derivatives to his "twin", Walter, proving the refurbished replicant a full-fledged "Modern Prometheus". We come to know that David's Xenomorphs--those sleek, black beauties that Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Ron Shusett and H.R. Giger conceived so many decades ago--are the monsters, the demons, the fabricated life that will jut a symbolic middle finger in the eye of any magnanimous lord. Oh, what contorted terrors our conniving, charismatic, synthetic Satan has sprung upon favored human kind, not only externally, but (with chest-bursting seeds implanted) internally. We won't be annihilated merely by the disciples of this neo-Nick, but we'll hatch his precious beasts, to boot.
Perhaps when you (re)watch "Covenant", my view of David will become as strong an obsession for you. And in case you hold any qualms about latching on, please do keep in mind that obsessions can prove most rewarding, especially when they catapult a work of art onto a whole new level of meaning. "Covenant" deserves that second chance, that second wind, even if the damn Devil does not.
No comments:
Post a Comment