The Alien franchise has good as well conquered the world of cinema and the world of video games but there is one form of media left for this franchise to tackle or rather there was. As now the first two episodes of the first TV show to be set in the world of the Alien franchise has just been released and well you all just knew that yours truly just simply had to check them out the very chance that he got and so then join me as I give my SPOILER FILLED first impressions of the show that is the first TV show to spawn from the Alien franchise with the how in question being called simply just "Alien: Earth" enjoy.
The plot of these first two episodes is when a spaceship crash lands on earth to teams of people head inside one looking for any survivors the other looking to help out wherever possible and both finding something far more deadly inside then what either of them could have possibly imagined. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty not that bad however the plot also wasn't all that good either as the shows plot does seem to be a slow burn type of plot which is perfect for a TV show as it does make you want to watch more but the issue is tho is that it does also mean that for a vast majority of the first episode nothing happens to advance the plot of the show and while episode two does fair a little bit better in this regard you always want to lead with your best foot forward and how episode one structures it's plot doesn't make it the best foot to start out on as all that episode does is just bore you to death with episode two not really having much in the way of plot as it's a very basic setup which is fair enough but at the same time tho you still do want to something that makes you want to watch more of the show spread all throughout both episodes and plot wise both of these episodes don't have that and while yes granted they are really well written plots no one is going to be denying that but given the premise of the show you do kind of expect something alot more different then what we actually get in these first two episodes with the plot of these first two episodes not really being really rather entertaining and nor are they really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in these episodes is Sydney Chandler as Wendy , Alex Lawther as Hermit and Essie Davis as Dame Sylvia. Also starring in these episodes is Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier , Babou Ceesay as Morrow , Adarsh Gourav as Slightly , Karen Aldridge as Chibuzo , Erana James as Curly , Lily Newmark as Nibs , Jonathan Ajayi as Smee , David Rysdahl as Arthur Sylvia , Diêm Camille as Siberian , Moe Bar-El as Rashidi , Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins , Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh , Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Yutani , Kit Young as Tootles , Lloyd Everitt as Hoyt , Amir Boutrous as Rahim , Florence Bensberg as Marcy and Cameron Brown as A Xenomorph.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acing that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty not that bad. With all of the actors that are in these first two episodes really turning in some really solid performances with this being something that does make alot of sense as alot of this shows actors are a bunch of really good actors in the first place and therefor it would make sense for them to turn in some really good performances and even those that aren't that well known be it in general or just in America still somehow manage to hold their own when it comes to acting against there more well counterparts when if anything there acting could have tanked both of these episodes and yet because of the fact that they do manage to turn in some really good performances which is also something that's all that new for anything that this shows creator Noah Hawley has worked as all of his past works have some really good acting in them it is something that does make these first two episodes all the more bearable to watch with the best actor in both of these episodes being series star Sydney Chandler as Wendy as without giving away to much about her character she does make what could have been seen as being a really dull and generic character seem and new and fresh again by giving the character this childlike innocence to her which is something that really does make alot of sense for her character with the acting that's in these very episodes really being helped by the fact that these episodes scripts are just so good that all this shows actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out pf them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in these very episodes.
Doing the CGI for these episodes really is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Proof. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty not that bad with both of these episodes having some really cool looking CGI shots in them all of which do look really good in both of the episodes but at the same time seeing just how much CGI they used in these episodes when they could have used practical effects was very distracting alot of the time not because of the fact that the CGI was bad because it clearly isn't but rather it's because of the fact that the whole mantra in Hollywood these days seems to be "we got CGI so let's just it" which is great for the VFX artists working on this show but at the same time it does mean that things that would have looked good practically now look like obvious effects like of the early CGI in episode one all of which are shots that creative people would have found ways to do for real but because we are now living in a world where everything needs to be CGI it's all done in computers which makes it look less real and while yes granted there are some shots in episode two that you can't do for real as you can't have a man in an alien suit burst out some glass and then land on his feel safely as that's a huge health and safety risk but you should only use CGI to enhance what's already there to create something that you can't do for real and that's it.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There really does seem to be a whole love for Disney's version of Peter Pan running all throughout both of these episodes as not only are several of the enhanced characters named after characters from the film but the enhanced characters are also shown to be watching that film when they get put into there adult bodies and the name of the first episode is called Neverland. With there even being this wear edit in episode one where someone says the name Wendy and then it cuts to someone saying darling like we get it there's a thing with Peter Pan going on but why that version of the story and why that character as if anything the film has more line with 2009's Avatar then it does that movie with the whole putting people into other different bodies motif being very similar to the humans putting their bodies into there avatar's so surely it would have made more sense to feature them showing that film then it would to show Peter Pan but this is something that could be chalked up to the fact that Disney fully owns that version of Peter Pan and so it was most likely free to use or at the very least cheaper to use then what footage from Avatar would have been but this is made all the more weirder when they show two characters not only watching but also openly enjoying Ice Age: Continental Drift with Wendy and Hermit even using a quote from that film as a way for Wendy to convince Hermit that she really is his sister with those two things feeling like a big advertisement for Disney as there just so distracting as they take you out of both episodes just due to the fact that the Ice Age one doesn't all that much to the plot of episode 2 and the Peter Pan one just feels like that there really hitting you over the head with there Peter Pan motif and heck even the enhanced characters are even called The Lost Boys.
To be fair to this show and to these first two episodes the show was really well marketed with none of the shows trailers or teaser for that matter even revealing what the main plot of the show was even going to be in the first place. So much so that much like with Weapons you have to check out the first two episodes alone just to get some idea as to what the main plot of the show was even going to be about but even so this show does seem a victim of it's own hype as the trailers did make it look like that we'd get to see alot of the Xenomorph's here on earth and just based on these first two episodes we really don't get to see that with this being a damn shame as that really is just such a cool idea as it opens us up to not only more places as to where these creatures could not only be but also where they could come out from as well thus making us the audience even more tense as they could quite literally be in any given scene but it also means that any of the characters could be killed at any minuet as well as yet for some odd reason these first two episodes especially the second episode mainly take place inside of this crashed ship called the Maginot with that setting being fine for one episode as you do need to explain how these creatures even got to earth in the first place but given that the trailers made it look like that we'd be seeing the Xenomorph's actually steeping foot on earth and then not even show us that cool idea it just makes you wonder why the trailers even hinted at that being the case but luckily we are getting of the ship in episode 3 so hopefully we'll get to actually see the Xenomorph's attacking earth people this time and not have it happen off screen.
For one reason or another this show does have Hermit and Wendy reunite in it's second episode which to me shouldn't have been the case. As having them reunite should have been this big emotional thing that happens near the end of the season with her plot arc literally being about reuniting with her brother and yet now the makers of this show have nowhere to go with her character as not only have they reunited but she's also proven that she is who she says she is with this also being a huge issue with The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live where they had the two character reunite at the end of the first episode whilst yes granted the show could take Wendy in a whole different direction and not have her be the doting sister but rather make this well rounded Ripley type of character something which they do show hints at doing all throughout the shows first two episodes the issue is tho is that Ripley was a more relatable character whereas they literally tell us that Wendy has been given all of these special abilities seemingly for no reason so it's not all that surprising when she does do something that all of the enhanced characters can't do where as when Ripley stood up to and fought the Alien Queen and Aliens it meant something because of the fact that she could die whereas we know for a fact that Wendy and all of the other enhanced characters can't die and while the character isn't that bad as she does have a childlike innocence about that despite the best efforts of Kirsh she still does retain it's not enough to make that good of a character just yet but to be fair tho the show does start the character of on the right foot tho they just have to stick the course and make her a good and strong female character naturally and not make her a Mary Sue type of character.
Now then episode one of this show has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and three minuets and fifty seconds where as episode two of this show has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty five minuets and eleven seconds. With to be frank episode one being a slog to it through as not alot actually happens for the first thirty to thirty five minuets of the episode but when the main plot does actually kick in that's when things kick up a notch with episode two fairing better in this regard as that episode was more of a breeze to sit through with both episodes having more the enough plot there to really cover there respective running times however both episodes don't really use there respective running times all that wisely as the plot to these episodes really does feel undercooked and not that well developed as there's just so many other plots going on just in the first episode alone that it does make it hard to keep track of what's meant to be going on plot wise and while episode 2 does fair somewhat better as even tho the plot there isn't that well developed it does have a somewhat unique concept with Xenomorph hunting down these humans in the crashed ship that's attached to a phone tower type of building and while the episodes characters do come across as being slightly better as they are all really well written not all of them have anything all that memorable about them to make them all standout to us the audience which does make them all blend into one with the only character that really does stand out being Wendy herself and that's really it but I really will admit that these episodes really do have some really good pacing to them both tho.
So now then as this is a horror show that really does mean that have to actually talk the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes were in all honesty not that bad. As both episodes do make some really good uses of the Xenomorph as they only have the creature come creeping out of the shadows with there being little to know music cues playing to let you know that the character is even there in the first place with the show being shockingly gory as we do get to see alot of blood as while this is something that should be expected given that it's an FX show it's also a show that's being produced by Disney and therefor it is shocking when you do see the characters that die in these first two episodes die in horribly gruesome and gory ways and while it would be very tempting to say that the dinner party kill in episode two is the best kill of both of these episodes but the fact is the episode doesn't show us that kill as when the kill is happening the episode instead zooms in of the face of Morrow for literally no reason whatsoever which does mean that the best kill in both of these episodes goes to both of the guards that get killed off in episode one as we see an insect bite one of the guards in the face and then slowly kill him and then because he's tied up to the other guard it just goes over and does the same thing which was a nice and quick kill but it still doesn't change the fact that the second episode doesn't show us what could have been the best kill in the whole entire show but in saying that tho both of episodes do have plenty of cool kills in them in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall while it is easy to see were people are coming from when they say that these two episodes are really good as they can be a pair of really enjoyable there's just so much bad about these episodes to fully recommend these episodes but people who like this franchise might find some enjoyment out of these episodes tho in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and a swell as all of the bad things that are in these very episodes in this very post and given that this is only my first impressions of the show I will not be giving any of these a rating but if I do continue to watch this show then I will do a review of the show as a whole.
Now then as for where I personally go all of the images that I personally used in this very post well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all f the images that I personally used in this very post from Tenor , the official Disney fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from these episodes being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from these episodes really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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