Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing)

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Having admitted recently that I am not a zombie fan, you might be surprised to find out that I am a very definite massive Alien fan. And by ‘alien’ I do, of course, mean ‘xenomorph’.

Technically, I was too young to watch Alien when it came out in 1979. I was eight years old. Did that stop me? Well…sort of. There were attempts to sneak into the cinema, but not many. There were many more boasts of doing so in the classroom. We all talked about it and we soon all knew about space jockeys, facehuggers, chestbursters and Jones the cat, with many versions of the story created as we pieced together what others told us and concocted a version different in many ways from the actual film.

But the era of VHS and video rentals was soon upon us and the movie came to terrestrial TV before too long as well. So, one way or another, I was still waaay under eighteen by the time I first saw it. And, despite all those colourful versions we’d boasted about seeing ourselves in the playground, ohhh myyyy godddd, when I saw the real movie, it was better than anything I had imagined.

There is a reason the original is still considered a classic to this very day: it is perfectly done. The effects hold up even now, the music was masterful, the direction faultless, the cast sublime. Despite initially being a low-budget sci-fi movie, the combination of people involved in the production made for an icon that endures.

That should have been that. No sequel. It was a fine, brilliantly executed horror in space and that simply couldn’t be done a second time, if for no other reason than the original xenomorph was kept deliberately in the shadows to make it as mysterious as possible. All is revealed at the end and there was no way that mystery could be recreated a second time.

And yet, a sequel was indeed made in 1986, seven years later and the genre changed from horror to action movie. What a disaster! No way that could work.

Yet, work it did – and went on to be considered an iconic classic on a par with the original. You can happily say “Game over, man! Game over!” or “Get away from her, you bitch!” in a crowded room and guarantee a fair number of people will wink at you and get the reference. Aliens completely changed the game and a franchise was born.

It would be fair to say that, despite the many movies that followed all having quite some commercial success, the critical reviews of every movie have been…mixed. This would be fine if it were not for the fact that the internet ever since has been filled with “fans” criticising the hell out of anything new coming out of the franchise.

I have found that in the sci-fi world the worst specimens of humanity are found in the fans. Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien…any franchise you care to mention is subject to torrents of abuse – often directed at the actors themselves. Now, as a reviewer-cum-critic, I have no problem with giving criticism and perhaps being very harsh where I’m displeased with something, but it is the fact that in any particular comments section anywhere on the internet to do with any new venture, you can guarantee the vast majority will be pouring scorn on it. Almost always, the commenters will reference something in the past they thought was absolutely brilliant – except that if you go back to said previous instalments online, you’ll find the comments sections there full of derision too. It seems no fan likes any franchise ever, ultimately.

With Alien, I definitely have my pet hates. Alien 3 was the worst, in my opinion, and I can’t forgive the writing off of Newt, which effectively nullified the whole point of the second movie. But, Alien Resurrection I thought was actually quite good and you can’t have that movie without Alien 3. The prequels promised much – we all wanted explanations about the space jockey – but failed to deliver. Alien Romulus, which came out two years ago, was a good romp but basically did little more than try to repeat the formula of the original Alien movie and little else. I had to admit after that movie (which I did actually quite enjoy in itself) that perhaps the Alien franchise had run its course and it was time to let it die and be buried.

And then came Alien: Earth.

Instead of a movie, we got a TV series – and that allowed both character and universe development at a slower pace than you can manage in a movie. Now there are still a ton of fans out there that hate the whole thing, but I have to say this: this series rocked.

Firstly, the acting is excellent, not least by the lead character, Wendy, played by Sydney Chandler, who is a child implanted into a symbiont body, along with several other children known as ‘The Lost Boys’. Chandler does an incredible job of making her character believable. I have to throw out a brief mention to Adrian Edmondson too, who I simply did not recognise until the internet told me it was him. Unbelievable transformation!

Another fine actor is Timothy Olyphant who, it turns out, is exactly three years older than me. Playing Kirsh, the rather mysterious synthetic who appears almost amoral, seemingly caring about the hybrids in his care yet having some ulterior motive that can’t yet be grasped, Olyphant is mesmerising to watch.

Not quite as mesmerising, however, as the sheep, inhabited by a weirdly cute eyeball creature that sounds absolutely ridiculous but has become something of the star of the show. In the second season, I suspect we’re all going to be far more invested in how the writers develop this creature than anything else.

In fact, it is development that has made this series so bloody good. While many of the classic (and now traditional) elements of the Alien franchise are present – you have to have the obligatory chase scenes, facehuggers and chestbursters, and (of course) lots and lots of bloody deaths – there’s also development of our understanding both of the xenomorphs themselves and the universe in which they live.

From this series we have learned that xenomorphs are not necessarily the apex predator and that at least one other creature in this universe terrifies them. We’ve also learned that they are intelligent and can communicate. By the end of this first season, we’re really quite rooting for the alien itself and finding it borderline cute.

That’s what I have really enjoyed about the first season – this shifting of our view of what’s going on and who the agents are. We start with it all looking very much like a rehash of the original movie(s) and move with quite some pace to end up with something that bears little resemblance by the season climax.

Just as with books, my criteria for judging a story is how much I care about the characters. I absolutely care about Wendy, the xenomorph, Kirsh and even the weird little eyeball guy. I am actively looking forward to season two to find out what happens to these guys. Contrary to what the entire internet seems to think, I don’t think this series has been any kind of a sell-out, but actually the single most exciting direction the franchise has moved in since that very first sequel. I hope that, despite the cynicism of the ‘fans’ online, real fans will vote with their eyes and keep watching the episodes. I want to see more of this and I suspect I’m not the only one.

My Verdict:

Social Entrepreneur, educationalist, bestselling author and journalist, D K Powell is the author of the bestselling collection of literary short stories “The Old Man on the Beach“. His first book, ‘Sonali’ is a photo-memoir journal of life in Bangladesh and has been highly praised by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide. Students learning the Bengali language have also valued the English/Bengali translations on every page. His third book is ‘Try not to Laugh’ and is a guide to memorising, revising and passing exams for students.

Both ‘The Old Man on the Beach’ and ‘Sonali’ are available on Amazon for kindle and paperback. Published by Shopno Sriti Media. The novel,’The Pukur’, was published by Histria Books in 2022.

D K Powell is available to speak at events (see his TEDx talk here) and can be contacted at dkpowell.contact@gmail.com. Alternatively, he is available for one-to-one mentoring and runs a course on the psychology of writing. Listen to his life story in interview with the BBC here.

Ken writes for a number of publications around the world. Past reviewer for Paste magazine, The Doughnut, E2D and United Airways and Lancashire Life magazine. Currently reviews for Northern Arts Review. His reviews have been read more than 7.9 million times.

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