rcs619 said:
I actually think Blomkamp's style of political film-making is really well suited for the Alien universe. I mean, one of the main themes is how unrestrained corporate greed and power can ruin lives and potentially kill people all in the name of making a buck. The secondary main antagonist of the franchise is a huge, faceless, souless corporate juggernaut with enough political clout to get the Colonial Marines deployed at its whim, along with having its own private army for when it needs to do its own dirty work. Blomkamp would have a freaking field day with that.
That's the problem, though. He would have a field day with it. The issue is that the one thing you need to make a great horror movie is the one thing Blomkamp doesn't have: subtlety.
I mean, sure, Alien had themes about nihilism and corporate greed, but it didn't beat you over the head with it. It's not a coincidence that the face of sociopathic corporate greed was a computer and a robot, beings who are ruled by logic, and who admire the Alien for its purity. The film was obviously drawing a comparison between the monster and the company. But you never SEE the company, and I feel like that's important. The film made you think.
Meanwhile the Alien itself is scary, sure. But there's only one in the movie, and the audience knows that, even if they somehow kill, there are hundreds more. And there's another species of intelligent life out there, because of the Space Jockey. The original script even had a pyramid built in their honor, suggesting some kind of religious connection to the Alien. All of these things suggest that there are forces much stronger then humanity in the universe. The fact that the film is set in the quiet emptiness of space hilights how small and insignificant humanity is. Meanwhile the face of humanity is an evil corporation that's willing to sacrifice human life, and that could easily silence the survivors if it wanted to.
Heck, there's even a subplot about class warfare in the movie. The white collar scientists make more money and look down on the blue collar workers. Meanwhile, the blue collar engineers lie and find ways to get around doing what the others want. Neither side is really right or wrong. If blomkamp were directing the film then the white collar guys would be torturing orphans while the blue collar workers get fed to alligators. The corporation would be as evil as it is inept, with the words "corporations are bad" stamped on their jackets. The Aliens would turn out to be disenfranchised workers fighting for better wage benefits.
I mean, this is the guy who had the word "rich" tattooed on his villains neck, while the wealthy citizens spoke French (because he's Bourgeoisie). Subtlety is not his strong suit. I'm scared to see what he would do to Alien.
