7 Reasons To Have Faith In Alien: Paradise Lost

Ridley Scott may currently be doing the press rounds to promote his latest film, The Martian, but that hasn't stopped him from getting the wheels in motion for his next project. The follow-up to 2012's Prometheus, now titled Alien: Paradise Lost, is already lined up as Scott's next film as director, and will - as indicated by the title - have connective tissue with both Prometheus and the Alien franchise. Understandably, some people are ambivalent about Scott returning to the realm of Alien and Prometheus, especially when the 2012 movie drew such a mixed response. Though it received mostly broadly positive reviews, and was generally admired for its invention and wealth of ideas, Prometheus still left many underwhelmed thanks to its plethora of plotholes, some dodgy story turns and a few underwritten supporting characters. Where most basically thought the film passed muster, others were indifferent, while some outright hated it. Details on Alien: Paradise Lost are, at present, slim. We know it will take place after the events of Prometheus, will be written by Michael Green and Jack Paglen, and will star returning cast members Michael Fassbender (as android David, or his head at least) and Noomi Rapace (as archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw). Those things aside, however, the film is still something of a mystery - and that provides room to be hopeful about it. But judging by the few facts we do have, there are reasons to believe Ridley Scott's 24th feature film could be a very good one. 7) Ridley Scott Is Back On Form After The Martian It's the classic Scott move: fall out of favor after years of bad, average, or just generally forgettable movies, to the point where critics and audiences are ready to give up, before making a comeback with a bona fide great film. Early reviews suggest that The Martian is classic Scott, with the director proving - once again - that no one should ever write this guy off. Next up after this apparent return to form is Paradise Lost, and history gives us good reason to assume that the director could be ready to put out another hit. Often, great Ridley Scott movies come in twos: Alien was followed by Blade Runner, Gladiator was followed by Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men was followed by Kingdom of Heaven. There may be middling and even downright dire movies in between, but it's been characteristic of Scott throughout his career for him to spend time in the doldrums, before he returns with not one, but two solid movies in a row. The Martian is apparently Scott's best in some time - now we're due for his follow-up. 6) Sci-Fi Is Ridley's Natural Territory There's something about worlds foreign to him - the past, as in The Duelists, Gladiator, and Kingdom of Heaven, or the near future, as in Alien, Blade Runner, and The Martian - that brings out the best in Scott. Science fiction in particular is a good fit for the filmmaker, perhaps because it's a relative blank slate (relative to historical movies and pictures set in the modern day, anyway) that allows Scott to really indulge his creative side. With genre high-points Alien and Blade Runner, and now The Martian to his name, it could be said that sci-fi is the director's natural territory. Even Prometheus, with all its flaws, is full of ideas and spectacular imagery. Occasionally damned by a too-dumb script, the film is a mixed bag with more positives than negatives - meaning that Scott still hasn't produced a bad or uninteresting sci-fi movie. It's likely no accident that he chose The Martian to stage his comeback - for all the poor movies he's made set in a contemporary world, Scott just can't seem to make a bad science fiction film. If nothing else, it bodes well for Paradise Lost's chances. 5) The Prometheus World Was Hugely Promising While Prometheus divided critics, even most of those who disliked the film admitted to being impressed by certain aspects of it. And one thing most critics agreed upon was that the world that Scott, the writers, and the design team had built was something to behold. Visually, it was impressive: sleek, clinical human technology from Earth, and dark, Giger-inspired, psychologically-troubling catacombs and structures for the alien world. But while Prometheus was aesthetically ambitious, it had even bigger ambitions in the ideas department. Telling a tale of gods and men, the pursuit of immortality, and a robotics revolution, Prometheus was one of the more intelligent sci-fi movies of recent years. The problem was that its beautiful, brainy world was hampered by a shaky script. With Scott back on form and working in the genre he knows best, there's every chance he could return to that world and do it better this time. Even if he doesn't, though, Prometheus proved there's plenty of food for thought and scope for intrigue in that world - it's a great place to visit, even when the film itself is imperfect. 4) Damon Lindelof Isn't Returning There is one very good reason to think the mistakes of Prometheus won't be repeated in the film's sequel: Damon Lindelof, one of the most frustrating screenwriters working in film and TV today, won't be returning for Paradise Lost. Clearly talented, Lindelof has also been his own worst enemy since breaking through with Lost over a decade ago. He deals in intriguing concepts and cool ideas, but populates his own stories with (occasionally mindless) stock characters and often ends with unnecessary cliffhangers. He's also arguably - after Prometheus and Star Trek Into Darkness - the current king of the plothole. Now, the screenwriters behind Paradise Lost don't have the most promising credentials in the world - Michael Green worked on Heroes in its glory years but hasn't had much success elsewhere, while Jack Paglen wrote Transcendence - but someone out there apparently thinks they're good enough for the job. Scott is so happy working with Green though that he's got the writer penning the screenplay for the Blade Runner sequel as well. Hopefully it's a sign that the Paradise Lost script is something rather special. 3) Michael Fassbender IS Returning There was one thing the critics happened to actually agree on regarding Prometheus: Michael Fassbender was perfect as David. Modeling the character's body language on Olympic diver Greg Louganis, his look on Lawrence of Arabia, and oddball vibe on David Bowie, Fassbender brought a number of influences to the role, then made the character his intense, unsettling own. David was Prometheus's MVP - of course they had to bring him back for Paradise Lost. Noomi Rapace reprising her role is cause for celebration as well, of course - she was a quietly compelling anchor for the first movie - but Fassbender has the better part to work with, and just happens to be one of the finest actors working today. It could be said that Fassbender has only got better since Prometheus, taking on more diverse roles and projects and nailing all of them. He'll return to the universe with an Oscar nomination (and possible win, depending on how much love there is for his acclaimed performance in Steve Jobs this awards season), and undoubtedly be the star of the show again. 2) We'll Finally Have Answers So one big problem with Prometheus was how it ended on a typical Lindelofian cliffhanger, where lots of questions were asked without any answers being given. It left Prometheus feeling undercooked, and occasionally bordering on dispensable - what's the point, after all, of setting the audience up for intrigue, without allowing for the pay-off? Why make a prequel to Alien at all if there's ultimately nothing new added to the mythos? Thankfully, it sounds as though Paradise Lost will give us the answers we were promised in the first film. Already, Scott has teased that Paradise Lost will see Shaw and David traveling to the homeworld of The Engineers, where they will "find out who would design such an awful bio-mechanoid creature". Reportedly, there will also be a more overt connection to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Paradise Lost, perhaps bringing us a step closer to the Alien story. Who knows, Paradise Lost may even ultimately end up making Prometheus into a more satisfying film, by delivering answers to questions its forebear set. 1) The 'Classic' Xenomorph Is Back (And It's A New Breed) While Prometheus had a good enough hero in Elizabeth Shaw, what it lacked was a solid, honest-to-god villain. The god-like Engineers - appearing for all intents and purposes like giant humans painted white - simply didn't appear threatening enough, while the results of their 'biological weaponry' - the Trilobite, Deacon, and Hammerpede - felt like retreads of what had gone before in the Alien movies. In Paradise Lost, the villain problem will be rectified, as in comes the classic Xenomorph. Not just that, but there will apparently be an entirely new breed of Xeno made just for this film. At least, that's according to Scott in an interview he gave late last year where he said that there will be a "fresher form of alien in the third act" of Paradise Lost. The film will apparently explore the origins of the Xenomorph, meaning one of the most terrifying monsters of all-time will be back on our screens next year, courtesy of the man who brought it to us in the first place.