Alien: Covenant

The alien movies over the years have mutated manifold from straight up horror to a full on war/action flick then to a mixed backstory starting in alien 3 which was interesting but a massive failure. Prometheus visually stunning as it was was let down by an awful script an dialog in particular.

Where do we come from? Why are we here? Themes from Prometheus continue in the very first 5 minutes before the credits have even rolled. It continues to beat you over the head with its backstory which, for me makes no sense whatsoever. Some of the dialog references other master horror works such as Frankenstein but does so in a way that it's up its own arse. Forgetting what alien actually was in the first place, a coincidence that was never about back story. Characters explain the plot in basil exposition speaking like no one ever would - speaking their thoughts at every opportunity - yes we get it, it treats the audience poorly.

What I did like was the scene shown much in the trailer, a character trapped in concealed room as something happens to her colleague. It was a longer scene that was tense and exciting and I oh so wish the rest of the movie could have come close. In a strange way alien covenant takes iconic moments from the franchise and tacks them on here but makes me wish I was watching alien or aliens instead. It's technically good as always Ridley Scott is a visionary filmmaker, but is unable to turn a weak script into a good film.

Alien:covenant gets locked up in its own self importance while forgetting why we loved alien in the first place. I really wanted to like it but came a way with a huge sense of disappointment.

"Alien: Covenant" is a sci-fi action film technically perfect, with great special effects and landscapes. Unfortunately the story is terrible with the most unprepared (or stupid) crew ever seen. How could practically all the crew including the captain and the second in command land in an unknown planet without a better analyze of the soil and the atmosphere? They have a skilled android that should go alone and report whether the place is dangerous or not. One of the groups have a sick crew-member and his partner brings him bleeding to the only means of transportation they have to return to the spacecraft. The pilot risks the lives they are transporting and their colonization mission to try to rescue a few survivors. In addition, the performances are soulless and not engaging and the viewer does not care to the characters. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Alien: Covenant"

I had high expectations going into Covenant, I'd enjoyed Prometheus despite it's well documented flaws and was expecting it to rise above it's predecessor. It didn't. I can suspend belief for some things but others I can't overlook, the crew were well cast but the writing had some major flaws in much the same vein as Prometheus, highly trained people making incredibly bad decisions. You can argue that under pressure mistakes are made but not school-boy errors, taking an obviously sick and infected man onto your ship with no hint of quarantine being a major one. Having said that, I did think the aliens themselves were well projected and frightening, men-in-suits works better for me than CGI so on this point Scott won. The first two acts were good barring the critical errors, but the final act was telegraphed and obvious, it left me wondering where this great franchise can go to next? I will watch it again on disc and will definitely add it to my collection but to feel this disappointed after waiting for another of my favourite franchises to appear it left a bitter taste in my mouth, and it wasn't the Coke Zero.

'Alien' is still to this day a tense, shocking suspenseful and frightening masterpiece, one of my favourites of the genre. The bigger and bolder 'Aliens' is one of those rare sequels that is every bit as good as its predecessor. Both are two of my favourite films and the character of Ripley is one of the most iconic female characters in film. 'Alien 3' and 'Resurrection' had their issues but to me weren't that bad, while 'Prometheus' had some fine elements while also some major flaws.

My thoughts on 'Alien: Covenant' is fairly similar to my ones on 'Prometheus'. Not as bad as led to believe (having read reviews that were mostly mixed to negative), but could have been much better considering the brilliance of 'Alien' and 'Aliens'. With a good cast, and with the involvement of a hit and miss but talented (especially visually) director Ridley Scott, 'Alien: Covenant' could and should have been far better. Some undeniable strengths here, at the same 'Alien: Covenant' also commits the same faults as 'Prometheus', and makes even more of the mistake of having little point to it other than providing a few necessary answers to loose ends from 'Prometheus'.

Lets start with 'Alien: Covenant's' strengths. Even when the writing and story weren't up to snuff, Scott's films always looked visually beautiful. 'Alien: Covenant' is not an exception. The settings look tremendous, of sheer beauty and with a real eeriness, the cinematography complements it perfectly and is often powerfully arresting and most of the special effects (apart from the disappointingly cheap-looking ones for the xenomorph) are a feast for the eye. Scott's direction has moments where it is superb, if more in the visuals and spectacle than the narrative.

Jed Kurzel's music score is hauntingly unsettling and recalls one fondly of the music in the original film by Jerry Goldsmith. There are a few scary moments (though this doesn't come consistently) and credit is due for providing much needed answers to questions that were on people's lips after watching 'Prometheus'.

Of a pretty good cast, considering what they had to work with, Michael Fassbender's commandingly and intensely acted dual role is the standout. Katherine Waterston brings steel and vulnerability, yet another performance demonstrating why she is one to watch, and surprisingly Danny McBride succeeds in trying to fully form his character rather than be annoying or looking stoned. Billy Crudup also tries his best with little to do.

However, genuine tension and suspense is replaced by monster/alien action and attempts at character motivations. Sadly too much of the monster/alien action is not that exciting and only sporadically scary, cheapened by at times excessive and gratuitous gore (by far the goriest and bloodiest of the 'Alien' franchise and the approach felt a little out of place). On top of that the characters (in a film where there is too many of them in the first place) are very thinly sketched rather than fully formed and of the lot only Tennessee, Walter and David properly raise above forgettable, David especially being pretty splendidly drawn actually. The constant frustrating decision making from most of the characters also prevents one from properly connecting to them.

Script is also often very weak, even more rambling and cliché ridden than that of 'Prometheus', with philosophising and thrown in references to the likes of Wagner and Michaelangelo that gives a sense that the film wasn't sure of its identity. The story suffers from dull pacing and from being over-stuffed of too many ideas not done enough with. By the time the big reveal came it leaves one with a so what feel, due to it being so obvious too early on, and there is far too much of a you have seen it all before vibe.

In conclusion, tries hard and there's no doubting that a lot of work went into the visual aesthetics and the acting but 'Alien: Covenant' should have been much more. Certainly not awful but a disappointment. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I think people have too high expectation to new movies of famous franchises, and when it doesn't come to their expectation, they just freak out and start giving one out of ten. If you have seen lots of harsh criticism for this movie, I say it's not bad at all. It's still quite entertaining. To be fair, lots of good horror movies are barely above 6 out of ten. So don't avoid it just because people say they hate it. It's true that they throw lots of (probably too many) elements into this movie, which might turn out to be less exciting. However, the ending succeeds in opening up to more stories, which is good. Also, keep in mind that this is not meant to be like the previous alien movies. It has totally different theme. I bet Ridley is a totally different person now. I would be surprised if he makes a new alien movie with similar tone to the older ones. And it's sensible for the old Ridley to explore the "creation" stuffs. I think it's a fairly good sequel to Prometheus. Look, now we have a new franchise directed by Ridley Scott himself, which is some what relates to the alien franchise. That is just great.