'Alien: Covenant' has a lot to enjoy for fans of the long running series but in its attempts to please said fans after 2012's 'Prometheus' it loses much of what could have made it a brilliant sequel. The film picks up ten years after 'Prometheus' with a new colony ship named Covenant. After finding a strange signal during their journey of finding a habitable place to live, they decide to seek out its location, coming upon a planet that seems too good to be true for their new life. Of course, that turns out to be true as one by one horrific events and even more horrific monsters begin to tear the crew apart as a mysterious figure conducts the events from the shadows.
I want to first off say that I really did enjoy this film, having now seen it twice in order to examine it further. However, it has many issues that bug me beginning with its very heavy attempts to erase the previous film from the series as if Ridley Scott was ashamed of it and the backlash he received. Now, I will never say that 'Prometheus' was the best film out there in terms of science fiction but I think nitpicking and fanboy interference really blinded people to the more positive aspects of that film, such as its deeper discussions involving the character of David who thankfully returns to liven up the screenplay. There are scenes in this film involving David that are by far the best in the whole film and they contain the strongest imagery and dialogue. It's just a shame the film moves away from these better aspects so often in order to shock the audience with gore and heart pounding action scenes.
The original 'Alien' was successful in its subtlety and its overall mystery as to the world in which the film is set, whereas here Scott has fallen into the usual horror tropes in which folks do dumb things or go off on their own when it's clearly the dumbest option available to them. That being said, I cannot deny that the sequences involving the various new hybrids of what would become the future Xenomorph creature are entertaining and for any fans of gore and special effects work you won't be disappointed, but with an 'Alien' film I want more than that. These scenes with David and another synthetic character are the very thing about the franchise I love and it's sadly missing from this film far too often.
I get the sense that Scott will likely release a Director's Cut of the film down the line, as it is one of his more common practices with the home video format nowadays, but as of now these missing aspects are a big dragging down point for 'Alien: Covenant'. What I do love about the film besides the character of David is the idea of the crew being made up of couples. Now in real life this would not happen due to various factors but with this screenplay it really gives you genuine emotion when characters leave us and even those who don't get as much time to shine as others it still makes them feel more human than in your typical horror film. I also got to give it up for Danny McBride who surprised me in his role. The guy's has more range than I thought and his upcoming 'Halloween' sequel sounds a little more promising now.
'Alien: Covenant' is also a beautiful film to look at, as is all of Ridley Scott's work. The wide sweeping landscapes, and the always darkly pretty work of H.R. Giger who sadly did not live to see his latest work in action here. I also love that they brought back Jerry Goldsmith's original score from the first 'Alien' and spread it out the film along with some good tracks from 'Prometheus' that I always enjoyed hearing. The movie didn't blow me away and it has a lot that goes unanswered for now but 'Alien: Covenant' is still a worthy sequel to the series. It's a beautiful mess but one that's well worth one's time.
( B )
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