Alien: Covenant

"One wrong note eventually ruins the entire symphony." 

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

 

When Prometheus came out in 2012, I found myself in love with the visuals of the world but I found the story itself to be a little frustrating.  The film theorized some grand concepts but it didn’t bother to pay them off, but offered the promise that the next movie would pay off all the questions you had from the first film.  A great concept for building a franchise but a terrible way to make a standalone film.  I had a huge glimmer of hope after Ridley Scott’s The Martian came out in 2015.  That film was one of the most entertaining films of that year and offered a visual masterpiece, so I thought that Scott might take some of the sensibilities he learned from that film and use them on Alien: Covenant.  The word to best describe the latest Alien film wouldn’t be entertaining nor would it be thrilling but more of rote.

The colonization ship Covenant is heading toward its final destination with hundreds of colonists and thousands of embryos ready to give humanity its second chance.  The crew of the ship, however, are violently awakened by solar flares, leaving some of the crew and passengers dead.  Shortly after the flares the crew intercept a message from a nearby planet that should be able to sustain life.  The crew, led by Captain Christopher Oram, played by Billy Crudup, and android Walter, played by Michael Fassbender, decide to go to the planet to see where the transmission is coming from and see if they can colonize the planet.  The crew soon find that life on the planet was killed off by a mysterious force and that the only survivor of the Prometheus mission, David, once again played by Michael Fassbender, might hold the answer as to how to stop the dark forces.   

One of the aspects that I like most about the Alien franchise is how each film has its own flavor: Alien is a suspenseful horror film, Aliens is a thrilling action spectacular, Alien 3 is a drama,  Alien: Resurrection is a science-fiction comedy, and Prometheus is a philosophical debate about faith vs science.  Each film in the series offers something new, giving you the feeling of always stepping into a slightly different world that still offers a sense of familiarity.  Alien: Covenant is too familiar to fans of Alien and it continues the plotlines of Prometheus, which might infuriate those who didn’t like that film.  I was never infuriated with the plot of this film but it just felt for the most part unnecessary.  The last fifteen minutes of this film feel tacked on so fans who want to see the xenomorph will leave the movie on a high.  I’m a huge fan of the xenomorph and would gladly watch it for an entire film, as I have done with the first two films in this series a countless number of times.  The end feels like it could have been ripped right out of Alien vs Predator, which I tell people is an entertaining film watching two iconic creatures battle it out but it’s a horrible Alien and Predator film.    

While I feel that Ridley Scott should leave the world of Alien, as most of the films for which he offered a clear vision are in his past, I will be forever thankful to him for giving us two outstanding Michael Fassbender performances.  For those who saw Prometheus you already know that Fassbender is perfect in the role of David but what you didn’t know is that he is also perfect in the role of Walter.  While David is the more science-based, emotionless android; Walter is more human, wanting to have connections of love but knowing his is nothing more than a helpful machine.  Two sides of the same coin that, when interacting with each other, create pure screen magic.  Fassbender’s performances alone are enough reason to watch this film and the journeys that both of the characters take really makes you believe that he, as an actor, can do no wrong.  

Alien: Covenant is a great-looking film with some outstanding performances that moves the mythology of the xenomorph one step closer to the classic film.  For those who need every aspect of the world explained and don’t want to use your imagination to come up with a better story, this film will make you incredibly happy, but for those who keep wondering why we are so focused on the past of these creatures, you will be left wondering when Fox will decide to go in a different direction with this franchise.  

Rating: See It

-Jonny G


Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, members of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. While there, they meet David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The mysterious world soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

Following the 2012 “Prometheus” film, and still a prequel to the original 1979 “Alien” film, we have “Alien: Covenant”. I am a big fan of the Alien films and other such similar movies where there is an Alien is out to get you and there are tight, confined quarters to create amazing tension. (Check out the underrated movie “Life” that recently came out that a lot of people missed) Does this movie come close to beating the original “Alien”? No of course not. That is very hard to do. I would have to put this film some place in the middle of the “Alien” franchise.

With every “Alien” movie, you expect that there will be good special effects and some gory but great deaths sequences, this film isn’t any different. However I want to address the areas where this film did not match up to the original “Alien” standard of greatness.

To start with, the characters were good but none of them, excluding Michael Fassbender who carries the film with his portrayals of both David/Walter, were great. Danny McBride and Katherine Waterson both were good characters but weren't quite badass enough or have enough emotional depth of background to them to really suck you in like that of Sigourney Weaver in the original. And one thing that really bothered me, why was James Franco even a character? An A-list actor had the purpose to die in the first 5 minutes? Such a waste….

“Alien: Covenant” was also not scary. Yes there were some gory and gross deaths throughout but none of them were really scary or really intense. This and the fact that the close quarters containment factor was barely used. I get that continuing to reuse this over and over and over again would get repetitive but then you need to find other ways to bring that intensity and it just wasn’t quite there.

My last big issue has to do with the ending. It could have been way better if they would have taken out a scene about 20ish minutes earlier… I don't want to spoil the ending of course so message me if you want me to explain what I mean.

Now I know I seem to be ragging on this movie and I don't mean to be. I did enjoy it and have a good time. It was worth the 8 bucks to see it. However it could have been much better if they would have made some changes…. However if there is one huge reason to go see this movie, it is how they bring in the origin of the Xenomorph (original Alien). It was done really well and in a way that makes a lot of sense and is also very harrowing. That alone would be reason to see the movie in my opinion.

Rating: Rent It

-Nick