Alien: Planeta Tierra

There have been plenty of Alien projects that have come out over the years since the original trilogy and while some have been watchable and the other down right awful, this is closer to the unwatchable ones than the watchable. Somehow, it's gotten nothing but great reviews from both critics and split from fans of the franchise. It actually currently has a fantastic 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Alien: Earth is about when a mysterious spaceship crashes on Earth and a ragtag group of soldiers, led by a woman named Wendy, have to make the discovery that will put them up against the greatest threat the planet has ever seen. What follows is a series that looks like it was made for kids and not adults.

I'll start by saying the show looks really good. I also appreciate that it's a bit of a slower burn with not much actual xenomorph action, at least not in the way most audiences are probably expecting (or hoping). It's an interesting new angle on the Alien universe, where we get a better look at the corporate reality of Earth.

But it's held back by some weird creative choices that don't really work.

First of all, a good chunk of the main cast are basically children who have been given young adult bodies. This results in a lot of people acting much more childish than their appearance would lead you to expect. It's an interesting idea, but it mostly just makes a lot of scenes feel very awkward in a way that doesn't contribute any meaning.

The music is also really uneven. I won't say it's as bad as Disney's Willow series, but there's still a lot of rather out-of-place music here. I like Tool as much as the next guy but I don't know why 90s kids-turned-filmmakers are compelled toward this kind of anachronism.

Some of the dialog is just really disconnected, and seems like it's trying to build characterization without being properly thought out or connected to choice or action.

The result of all of this is a bizarrely disjointed show that at times feels like it could be really interesting but then veers sharply towards nonsense. There's something vaguely compelling about that, but it's also hard to say it's actually good.

Most of the characters are dumb just like a typical horror movie they make dumb decisions in order to create suspense and drama.

The plot is dumb. A bunch of soldiers go on search and rescue. They take one medic and no real search and rescue gear. They take their pulse rifles though and head into a giant skyscraper that was hit by a giant spaceship. Imagine if police and firefighters put down any and all rescue gear and grabbed automatic rifles to rush into the twin towers during 9/11. That's what you have here. A very dumb plot. A better plot would have been if their boss, a trillionaire owner of arrival corporation to the corporation that owns the ship, had ordered them to go into the ship to secure it. See I fixed part of their terrible plot in just a minute. What happened to writers? They used to be able to tell such good stories and now they're just so dumb.

If you like horror movies with dumb plots, dumb writing and really dumb characters than this TV show is for you.

Not talking about the kids in your living room, the on-screen versions are the ones that botched the alien franchise. It COULD have been great, because scenes are well-built and the adult characters work, especially the on-board android, but somehow, someone decided to give the main lead to a 12-year old, that acts and think like a 12-year old, with 10 year old friends as the entourage to battle extremely violent and blood-thirsty monsters. It doesn't work. And the constant switching of timelines and pace deludes the storyline more than helping it. Sorry, my rating is generous. A 12 year old would probably rate it higher, but I am not 12.

Allen: Earth is finally here and I have to say I was hoping it would be a lot better than it is. It almost feels like a teen CW version of Alirn and not the Alien franchise we all came to know and love. I was promised the show would be full of enough excitement and thrills that make the episodes feel like they fly by. It's not. The other thing I can't stand is that we have to wait to wait a week between episodes. I have come so used to binging series that that's how I like to watch my shows. I hate waiting a week when I enjoy a show. I admit I'm not the biggest or most knowledgeable Alien fan, the originals were made before I was born but I have watched them and enjoyed them. I am a big sci-fi fan though so that's why I was looking forward to this so much and why I'm disappointed. I did read that if you are a big Alien fan that this series will reward you with plenty of fun Easter eggs and the more you know about the franchise the more you're going to enjoy this series. That was a lie.