Editorials
Do We Really Want ‘Prometheus 2’ To Be More “Alien-y”?
On Monday Prometheus 2 became more “real” to me than ever in the sense that it looks like this movie is actually happening. Not only did 20th Century Fox hire Jack Paglen to write a script for the sequel in the wake of its initial release, they just now tapped Michael Green (who just wrote the new Blade Runner for Ridley Scott and Warner Bros) to rewrite it. To me, this is significant and marks this as a priority for the studio because it’s happening after all the dust has settled. While the first film certainly didn’t lose money with a $400M worldwide take, it probably didn’t make as much as Fox was hoping for considering its budget was around $130M with a global P&A campaign that I’m sure easily exceeded $50M. Keep in mind, the studio doesn’t see anything close to the gross returns of any given film coming back in the net – so the margin of profit here, while healthy, might not be stratospheric.
But they’re doubling down now (perhaps in the light of decent ancillary revenue). Like I said, the dust has settled and they’re pressing on. Shooting is apparently scheduled to begin this fall. I’m not giving anyone a hard time here, I enjoyed Prometheus (even though the issues with its script play louder to me than they did before) and I’m excited to see what they come up with next. But what I liked about the film was the fact that Ridley Scott seemed truly engaged by the material. There was a real reason why they veered away from John Spaihts’ Alien: Engineers draft and brought on Damon Lindelof to nudge the property further into unknown territory – Scott wasn’t interested in repeating himself. While the shift from Spaihts to Lindelof was ultimately problematic (on paper I prefer the Alien: Engineers draft to Lindelof’s script), it might have been what was needed to engage Scott. And if you look at Prometheus as a film, it’s pretty clear that its new ideas and scenarios are handled with a lot more verve than the Alien elements, which tended to come across as rote and obligatory.
So with the news that Green is being brought onboard partially to make the script more “alien-y” (in the words of the source that spoke to The Wrap), I have to wonder if this project is being shifted out of Scott’s interest range. Granted, this is Sir Ridley Scott here so part of me has to assume he knows what the f*ck he’s doing (or wants to fulfill a contract clause from the first film), but it seems like backsliding. When doing press back in 2012 he was absolutely resolute that the reason it took him so long to get around to making Prometheus was that he felt that the well on Alien ideas had run dry.
So the real question is, has Scott found a new angle in the Alien-verse that truly excites him? Or is he doing a bit of fan (and studio) service? I wouldn’t begrudge him on any of this, but I was actually excited for a movie where Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw and the head of Michael Fassbender’s David rocket around the universe completely unfettered by arbitrary associations to an exploitable brand. It seemed like the franchise might pull away from its anchor and really take off in the direction Scott wanted to go. If a great director is truly inspired by the material he’s working with, I’ll take that over brand recognition any day of the week. We already have seven movies with Xenomorphs in them, how many more do we need?
Again, I could be totally wrong on all of this. Maybe Scott really has found a new idea that simultaneously excites him and allows 20th Century Fox to return to a more solid franchise footing. And if that’s the case, I really am all for it (and either way I’m excited for the multiple Michael Fassbenders we’re told to expect from the film). It’s just that there’s a finite amount of Ridley Scott films left in our future, and I want all of them to count.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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