Alien: Covenant (2017) Review

Initial Release: May 4, 2017 (London)

Director: Ridley Scott

Based On: Characters; by Dan O'Bannon; Ronald Shusett

Box Office: 232.8 million USD

Budget: 97,000,000 (Estimated)

Following the disappointment that was Prometheus, many fans were skeptical if Ridley Scott could redeem himself. What made the original Alien so unique was its slow building of tension and the mystery of the Xenomorph. Aliens managed to take the same basic premise and make it into an action extravaganza that appealed to a broader audience. Prometheus marked the return of Ridley Scott, but left audiences scratching their heads; from its overly-complicated plot to the heady religious themes. Does Alien: Covenant have what it takes to redeem the confusion that was left over from Prometheus? Can it return the Alien franchise back to its horror roots and scare audience with a simple but effective story?

Set ten years after the events of Prometheus, Alien: Covenant joins the crew of the Covenant midway through a mission to colonize a new world. Besides the crew, on-board is two thousand sleeping colonists. After a freak space storm, half of the crew dies, including the Captain. Suddenly, a distress call is heard from a nearby planet, and instead of continuing the safe but longer road to the original planet, a decision is made to land on this new strange world and colonize there. Once they land, something seems off, which is made more unnerving when they discover an alien craft with a dangerous secret.

My disappointment with Prometheus stems from its writing. The trailer looks like one of the best sci-fi horror films in a long time. It’s advertised as a prequel to Alien, even going so far as to use sound effects from the original Alien trailer. As the film went on, however, nothing in the plot seemed to fit in the Alien continuity. What was the black goo? Why was there a mural with the xenomorph on it? If the engineers created humans on Earth, then how does that explain all the other animals, or evolution? Why did the engineers want to kill all of the humans? What was the point of Weyland being Vickers’ father? Why were the characters so stupid (i.e. running in a straight line to escape a slender ship falling towards them, taking off their helmets on a strange planet, getting lost in a ship that was previously mapped out, touching an alien creature that is clearly threatened by their actions, etc.)? Then when you look into who wrote the damn thing, it all becomes clear; Damon Lindelof, the man responsible for tricking half of the Lost fans into thinking the show wasn’t being made up as it went along. Unfortunately, many (not all) of the problems from Prometheus is passed into this film. For example, the characters still do really stupid shit. Remember how I mentioned that in Prometheus they remove their helmets on a strange world? Well now they aren't even wearing helmets, and as a result, they become infected with a deadly pathogen that flies into their ears and nose. Throughout the entire film, characters make so many stupid decisions that it leaves your head scratching.

Michael Fassbender is the central focus of the story. In one corner we have David, the sole survivor of the Prometheus debacle, who is an Android (or Synth) that is “flawed” because he has the ability to create, making him dangerous. In the other corner we have Walter, the perfect Synth, designed to protect humans at all costs and to obey their orders. After the hi-jinks of the film ensue, the two are forced to fight in what is some pretty impressive choreography. It’s a first in the Alien franchise for two Androids to battle it out. One aspect of the filmmaking that Ridley Scott never fails to deliver on is the body horror that the series has become synonymous for. Also, the cinematography is breathtaking, which is what was the case in Prometheus. Sadly, that’s all the films have going for them. You take those away and you just have another conventional Alien sequel with barely anything new to add to the table. It even follows many of the same plot points that the Alien franchise keeps repeating, such as:

1.       Waking up from Hypersleep because of a distress signal or disaster that damages the ship.

2.       Landing on a mysterious planet to investigate said strange distress signal.

3.       Finding a strange derelict alien ship containing alien eggs or pathogens.

4.       Someone becomes infected, gets sick, and is brought back to the ship’s med bay.

5.       Alien bursts through the chest, mouth, or back of the infected person and the baby alien

          disappears into the ship.

6.       Characters are picked off one-by-one by alien or aliens in tight dark corridors.

7.       Characters blast last remaining alien through space via an airlock.

8.       Remaining characters go back into hypersleep.

Heady religious themes are what make up the bulk of Prometheus’ story. The main character of Shaw is a religious woman, and cannot bear a child, so when she sees an “invitation” to meet her creator or creators, her motivation is set. Unfortunately, none of the characters In Alien: Covenant, except for Michael Fassbender’s David, have any motivation to do much of anything. It ends up removing any emotional weight to the human characters, and they just become alien fodder. My last gripe about the film is the fact that the last twenty minutes seems completely separated from the rest of the film. Up until that point, it’s a slow-moving and settling horror, sci-fi. Once the final act begins, it’s almost non-stop alien action reminiscent of Aliens where it’s just characters running around small dark corridors. Alien: Covenant is another forgettable sci-fi horror film that doesn't add anything memorable to the Alien franchise, and does everything it can to correct the mistakes of Prometheus' convoluted story. Unfortunately, this is the second film in a new trilogy, so we have one more of these.