History FranchiseOriginalSin / Alien

* Some supporters of the first ''Alien vs Predator'' movie tend to defend its cast of humans from the accusation of being "not deep" or "uninteresting" by citing that in the supporting characters of the original ''Alien'', ''Aliens'' and ''Film/{{Predator}}'' weren't given a lot of flashing out either. This ignores that most of those 'OG undeveloped characters' were played by [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct strong actors]] directed by [[Creator/RidleyScott three]] [[Creator/JamesCameron excellent]] [[Creator/JohnMcTiernan directors]] during their prime and thus could inject a lot of humanity and charisma into their roles to the point it didn't matter if there weren't exceptionally deep on paper, and even then they were still given a lot of memorable lines that have become iconic. ''AVP'' on the other hand offers a generic cast of [[RedShirt Red Shirts]] who use very clichéd SlasherMovie victim tropes such as a FatalFamilyPhoto (something none of the original films relied on in order to make audiences care for the characters), under the serviceable-at-best direction of Creator/PaulWSAnderson. There's a difference between being "not very deep" and being "uncharismatic and forgettable" when it comes to the art of DevelopingDoomedCharacters.

* Some supporters of the first ''Alien vs Predator'' movie tend to defend its cast of humans from the accusation of being "not deep" or "uninteresting" by citing that in the supporting characters of the original ''Alien'', ''Aliens'' and ''Film/{{Predator}}'' weren't given a lot of flashing out either. This ignores that most of those 'OG undeveloped characters' were played by [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct strong actors]] directed by [[Creator/RidleyScott three]] [[Creator/JamesCameron excellent]] [[Creator/JohnMcTiernan directors]] during their prime and thus could inject a lot of humanity and charisma into their roles to the point it didn't matter if there weren't exceptionally deep on paper, and even then they were still given a lot of memorable lines that have become iconic. ''AVP'' on the other hand offers a very generic cast of [[RedShirt Red Shirts]] who use very clichéd SlasherMovie victim tropes such as a FatalFamilyPhoto (something none of the original films relied on in order to make audiences care for the characters), under the serviceable-at-best direction of Creator/PaulWSAnderson. There's a difference between being "not very deep" and being "uncharismatic and forgettable" when it comes to the art of DevelopingDoomedCharacters.

* Some supporters of the first ''Alien vs Predator'' movie tend to defend its cast of humans from the accusation of being "not deep" or "uninteresting" by citing that in the supporting characters of the original ''Alien'', ''Aliens'' and ''Film/{{Predator}}'' weren't given a lot of flashing out either. This ignores that most of those 'OG undeveloped characters' were played by [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct strong actors]] directed by [[Creator/RidleyScott three]] [[Creator/JamesCameron excellent]] [[Creator/JohnMcTiernan directors]] during their prime and thus could inject a lot of humanity and charisma into their roles to the point it didn't matter if there weren't exceptionally deep on paper, and even then they were still given a lot of memorable lines that have become iconic. ''AVP'' on the other hand offers a very generic cast of [[RedShirt RedShirts]] who use very clichéd SlasherMovie victim traits such as a FatalFamilyPhoto (something none of the original films relied on in order to make audiences care for the characters), under the serviceable-at-best direction of Creator/PaulWSAnderson. There's a difference between being "not very deep" and being "uncharismatic and forgettable" when it comes to the art of DevelopingDoomedCharacters.

* Some supporters of the first ''Alien vs Predator'' movie tend to defend its cast of humans from the accusation of being "not deep" or "uninteresting" by citing that in the supporting characters of the original ''Alien'', ''Aliens'' and ''Predator'' weren't given a lot of flashing out either. This ignores that most of those 'OG undeveloped characters' were played by [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct strong actors]] directed by [[Creator/RidleyScott three]] [[Creator/JamesCameron excellent]] [[Creator/JohnMcTiernan directors]] during their prime and thus could inject a lot of humanity and charisma into their roles to the point it didn't matter if there weren't exceptionally deep on paper, and even then they were still given a lot of memorable lines that have become iconic. ''AVP'' on the other hand offers a very generic cast of [[RedShirt RedShirts]] who use very clichéd SlasherMovie victim traits such as a FatalFamilyPhoto (something none of the original films relied on in order to make audiences care for the characters), under the serviceable-at-best direction of Creator/PaulWSAnderson. There's a difference between being "not very deep" and being "uncharismatic and forgettable" when it comes to the art of DevelopingDoomedCharacters.

* Later films in the series, such as ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' and ''Film/AlienCovenant'', have been torn apart by viewers due to the characters' firm grasp of the IdiotBall, leading to many cringeworthy moments (the run from the crashing Derelict ship in the former and Oram's [[spoiler:death via Facehugger]] in the latter come to mind). However, this was also a part of the acclaimed first two entries, with the crew of the Nostromo in ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and the Colonial Marines in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' also making boneheaded decisions multiple times throughout the films, leading to many of the deaths that happened in them. But it was excused in those movies because the Nostromo members were {{space trucker}}s dealing with a threat that was well out of their depth (and add on the fact that [[spoiler: their science officer is secretly a company android programmed to bring back any valuable specimens, even if it's to the detriment of the other crew members]]), and the Marines likewise were an allegory for [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar American soldiers in the Vietnam War]], their overconfidence leading to their deaths. Furthermore, both parties acted logical in the sense of making choices a person would realistically do. To start, Ripley in the first film chose to not let the team back on until they followed quarantine protocol, only for Ash [[spoiler:(the aforementioned android science officer)]] to ignore it (and even provide a reasonably plausible explanation later on as to why he did so). And in the second film, the Colonial Marines still used what would be perfectly smart tactics and strategies in most other combat situations, but said strategies and tactics were simply not meant for enemies like the Aliens. ''Prometheus'' and ''Covenant'' however had crews made up of top-tier scientists and colonists respectively, all of whom are supposed to be intelligent and be better prepared for potential danger compared to the crew of the Nostromo or Marines, thus it was much harder to look past, as seeing these supposed "professionals" die due to idiotic moments that they realistically should have been smart enough not to engage in ultimately stretched WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief too far.

As much as many people agree that the series eventually [[{{Sequelitis}} underwent a spectacular self destruct sequence in later sequels]], [[FranchiseOriginalSin several of the critical flaws]] complained about in the sequels were first brought aboard the ship in the better received earlier films.

* On a related note, the usage of religious themes and imagery in general was already present in the franchise as far back as the original ''Alien'' film. But while the original film kept such elements reasonably subtle (in the form of a GeniusBonus involving the ship's name, a minor background detail in the form of the shape the orifices of the eggs take when they hatch, and a brief joke in which the newly 'born' alien aboard the ship is lightheartedly referred to once as 'Kane's son'), ''Film/Alien3'', ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', and ''Film/AlienCovenant'' made usage of these elements to a much more unsubtle and {{Anvilicious}} degree, which resulted in the films drawing strong criticism for trying to make themselves look more deep and insightful than they actually were.

* A minor criticism of ''Prometheus'' and ''Covenant'' is the use of on-the-nose ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming which sounsd pretentious and obvious for the ships, (the ship named [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyTitans Prometheus]] ends up stealing technology from godlike aliens? What a coincidence!) But, the ship in the original ''Alien'' movie is called Nostromo, a reference to the 1904 novel of that name, whose plot has many parallels with the movie. It wasn't a big deal then, because Nostromo makes sense as a ship's name (if you assume SpaceIsAnOcean) and is not grandiose nor a central part of the movie's identity.

As much as many people agree that the series eventually [[{{Sequelitis}} underwent a spectacular self destruct sequence in later sequels]], several of the critical flaws complained about in the sequels were first brought aboard the ship in the better received earlier films.

* Later films in the series, such as ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' and ''Film/AlienCovenant'', have been torn apart by viewers due to the characters' firm grasp of the IdiotBall, leading to many cringeworthy moments (the run from the crashing Derelict ship in the former and Oram's [[spoiler:death via Facehugger]] in the latter come to mind). However, this was also a part of the acclaimed first two entries, with the crew of the Nostromo in ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and the Colonial Marines in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' also making boneheaded decisions multiple times throughout the films, leading to many of the deaths that happened in them. But it was excused in those movies because the Nostromo members were {{space trucker}}s dealing with a threat that was well out of their depth (and add on the fact that [[spoiler: their science officer is secretly a company android programmed to bring back any valuable specimens, even if it's to the detriment of the other crew members]]), and the Marines likewise were an allegory for [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar American soldiers in the Vietnam War]], their overconfidence leading to their deaths. Furthermore, both parties acted logical in the sense of making choices a person would realistically do, such as Ripley in the first film not letting the team back on until they followed quarantine protocol, but having Ash ignore it, later explaining why he did so, and in the second film the Colonial Marines still used what would be perfectly smart tactics and strategies in most other combat situtions, but said strategies and tactics were simply not meant for enemies like the Aliens. ''Prometheus'' and ''Covenant'' however had crews made up of top-tier scientists and colonists respectively, all of whom are supposed to be intelligent and be better prepared for potential danger compared to the crew of the Nostromo or Marines, thus it was much harder to look past, as seeing these supposed "professionals" die due to idiotic moments that they realistically should have been smart enough not to engage in ultimately stretched WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief too far.