Sigourney Weaver is out promoting her new film Dust Bunny (which looks neat!) and she was asked her thoughts on Alien: Earth, the FX series that has creatively revitalized the Alien franchise after the algorithm-friendly corporate fan film that was Alien: Romulus. Considering Weaver has zilch to do with the show, her comments were nothing but effusive praise. Specifically, she mentioned that the show is managing to be much more profound than any previous Alien feature film.
Now, just for the record, Alien is one of my top-tier favorite films of all time. I’m not going to go into a diatribe about the entire series or start comparing Alien: Earth to each individual entry. What I will say is that Sigourney Weaver is right on the money with how excellent and complex the show has managed to be, especially under the auspices of an entity like Disney.
Real Sci-Fi For Folks Who Love Brains And Blood
Alien: Earth only has two episodes left in its run as I punch these keys (for God’s sake!), but unless it totally whiffs the ending, I’m ready to declare it the best Alien cinema since the first film. Yeah, yeah, all you James Cameron cultists who love his now-awful-to-watch-thanks-to-AI-smoothing sequel, go ahead and scream your obscenities at me. I’ll be too busy delighting in the manic energy and modern marvel that is Alien: Earth, a show that manages to have lots on its mind while also delivering the vicious violence that made the first film an untouchable icon.
Sigourney Weaver is absolutely right when she says that Alien: Earth has been able to bring a lot more worthwhile commentary and contemplation than any of the movies have successfully executed, save the first flick. Gotta disagree with you there, Sigourney. Still, I understand her perspective. One of the reasons Alien works so well is because of its simplicity. Thanks to the world that the original film crafted in its tiny little spaceship corridors and harsh extraterrestrial terrain, Alien feels so much richer than it actively is. It’s why it was so easy to extrapolate countless extensions of that world in movie sequels and other mediums.
But, Alien: Earth’s extrapolation and episodic nature allows it to actually enrich that world in a way that feels as fresh and unknown as our first trip to LV-426.
Ripley Would Binge Alien: Earth
I’ll admit that Sigourney Weaver gave me a bit of pause when I first read her response to Alien: Earth, but she won me over with the fact that she’s right purely from a structural standpoint. While I’ll happily argue for the profundity of Ridley Scott’s controversial sequels, the Vietnam allegory of Aliens, or the despondent misogyny of Alien 3, I also recognize that they have to please a particular B-movie nature due to their feature film medium. Whereas Alien: Earth is given eight episodes to tell its story in a more methodical and meditative way than any of the movies ever had time for.
I’m sure someone reading this thinks Alien: Earth sucks for whatever dumb reason you saw someone say on social media. Piss off and go back to shilling for the Company. Sigourney and I are going to eagerly await the next installment of Noah Hawley’s unique and refreshing take on a franchise I was ready to abandon after the theme park ride checklist that was Alien: Romulus. Dump that movie’s unoriginality and plan a binge watch with Ripley and I as well fall deeper in love with our tentacled eyeball son.