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 (2017)

** (out of 4)

Sequel to PROMETHEUS and a connection to the ALIEN series, this sci-fi film has a spaceship trying to locate a planet so that the human race can continue. The crew are planning on building a colony but they notice a much closer planet that can hold life. They decide to head there to see what's on it and soon the horror starts.

To put it mildly, ALIEN: COVENANT is a major disappointment. It seems a lot of fans were unhappy with PROMETHEUS because it was more of a thinking man's movie and less of a action/horror/sci-fi film. It seems that this film was in trouble from the start because you have to wonder if there was some sort of debate before hand on what should be done with it. PROMETHEUS was a terrific movie that made you think about a lot of things but sadly this sequel doesn't do that. Instead, it almost seems as the filmmakers were forced to answer a few questions about PROMETHEUS and then they wanted to throw in the action of an ALIEN sequel.

What really shocked me about this movie is the fact that it almost put me to sleep several times. I'm not going to say that the film is a cure for insomnia but at the same time it's deadly slow at times even though there's usually something always going on. As I said, the screenplay doesn't seem to know what the film should do and the majority of the running time is just downright boring. The film starts off with a tragedy yet it's hard to have any emotions for the characters because we're just getting to know them. Another problem is the fact that the characters are all rather bland with the exception of Michael Fassbender's two-part role.

As I said, I thought the characters were rather boring and I'd argue that not many of the performances are all that memorable. Perhaps a longer director's cut will eventually show up but there's really not too much here. Fassbender delivers a fine performance but I can't say I was impressed with the rest of the cast. On a technical level Ridley Scott is a visual genius so all of that stuff looks great. There's some extremely gory scenes of violence, which are very good but the film is just way too uneven to work.

It's like part of the movie wanted to be another thinking man's movie but there's another part that wanted to be a bloody action film. It just doesn't work in the end.

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.

In the first 20 minutes I was so happy with Covenant. It felt sharp, atmospheric, there are interesting character situations, emotive moments and infinitely better writing than we had in Prometheus. As it progresses, this feeling continues - thankfully, a solid sci-fi film that got it right.

Then Ridley starts to indulge in his convoluted ideas about creation and destruction. Its like switching from 1977 George Lucas to 1999 Lucas. You can almost hear Ridley at a writing meeting saying "this'll be cool, and this, and this, and then this" and the writer saying "uh, is this for the same film or later in the series?" "Yeah just cram it all in, make it happen".

You end up with three different films - a first act like a modern Alien which I loved, a middle act of Prometheus style philosophizing that feels like more Westworld, then a last act of two shoe-horned in action scenes homaging Aliens and Alien 3 respectively. Except there is no satisfaction at all, because the aliens are rushed, a bit silly, often awkwardly CGI looking, and not even convincing as threats because we don't care about any of it.

By the end I just have no idea what to think. I just think it would have worked much better if the ideas were done justice in their own film, rather than ham-fistedly trying to ram them into an Alien film to try and please fans and make box-office.

Alien Covenant expands on the strong concept introduced in Prometheus with a worthwhile follow up to the fate of certain characters.

For me the best moments all revolve around the characters played by Fassbender and how it links to the xenomorphs. His acting is excellent and makes the synthetic characters memorable. It helps he has the best material written for any character in the film. He is supported very well by all other cast members especially Katherine Waterston and Billy Cudrup.

Generally the plot feels like a retread of the 1979 movie. I prefer these characters to those in Prometheus (particularly the stupid scientists), but it is a shame it follows the original blueprint so closely. That being said, there are some tremendous moments of horror suspense.

The alien effects are some of the most gruesome in the franchise. For me it strays over the top for the sake of shock value. The filmmakers use modern CGI to full effect which is impressive, but I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to cinema and prefer it when the xenomorph relies on models, men in suits, animatronics, cinematography and great editing.

As you would expect from Ridley Scott the visuals are consistently excellent. I love the cinematography, the use of Milford Sound, and the art design.