Alien: Covenant

Surprising no one, Alien: Covenant is not a return to the revered horror roots of the original 1979 film, despite being directed by franchise creator Ridley Scott, but it is still leaps and bounds better than it's predecessor, Prometheus (2012). Although I guess, that doesn't say much, considering how worthless that movie was and the fact that it was also helmed by Scott. Covenant is by no means a bad film--I found it quite fun--but the main thing you take away from it is how good the first Alien film is, and that we've sort of been slowly drifting from that greatness ever since.

Alien: Covenant (2017)
Released: May 19, 2017
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenplay: John Logan & Dante Harper

Tagline: "Run. Hide. Scream"

Cast:
Michael Fassbender as David 8/Walter
Katherine Waterston as Daniels "Dany" Branson
Billy Crudup as Christopher Oram
Danny McBride as Tennessee
Demian Bichir as Sergeant Lope

Most of Covenant is a thematic retread of territories explored in Prometheus, both literal and figurative. The idea of creation, what it means to be human, and the search for answers in the depths of the cosmos all return as motifs, making Covenant tip further towards a Prometheus sequel rather than an Alien prequel; though with Scott's recent revelation that he has plans for two, possibly three, more films to fully connect the Prometheus story to Ripley's, I guess that's okay. The real question is just, is it interesting?

Covenant bends so much of the story around the question of where the xenomorphs came from, and the how and why of their seemingly superior evolutionary state, but I found myself asking, "does anyone even care?" And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean that the xenomorphs, this "perfect organism" as described by Ash in the original film, were simply vicious space bugs with an uncanny knack for adaptation and intuition. The perfection that Ash admires in them comes across as the same type of perfection a marine biologist might say is embodied in a great white shark--an apex predator that hasn't had the need to evolve in millions of years because it is that effective. Covenant fleshes out this idea of perfection to the point where it borders on unnecessarily convoluted and confusing. 

I think that part of this confusion arises from the fact that Scott stated he wished for Covenant to return the franchise to the winning form of the original Alien film, and while you can see that playing out in the film's first half it loses focus midway through the second act, almost as if Scott couldn't resist delving into the metaphysical aspects of sci-fi horror overplayed in Prometheus. 

"Do you think that ship is bringing new GoT episodes?"

I know that officially both Prometheus and Covenant take place in the same universe as the tales of Ripley, Newt, and Dallas, but it's really hard to reconcile that here. For example, we've got our crew of heroes, escorting a ship of colonists to an earth-like world, Origae-6, some seven and a half light years away, but then they abandon that mission to check out a new, similar Earth-like planet that pops on their radar without any real testing of the biosphere. And they charge right in without any real defensive gear, i.e. goggles, gloves, or masks, and act like Zeus himself bitch-slapped them when two of them get sick and start spewing black chunks. Like what? That would never happen if Ripley were around.

There is a very interesting and unique moment in Covenant, however, that you won't find mirrored in other films in the Alien franchise. It concerns the ending and, without giving any spoilers, gives the viewer a very clear direction of where the story is headed, what the next installment will concern itself with, and even what exactly the conflict will revolve around. It's an interesting move to make, as it sets a course (har har) but also limits imagination for the viewer as well. 

It's a fun movie, I don't want you to think otherwise, and the special effects involving the gore and kill scenes will be acceptable for us horror hounds, but it just doesn't deliver on everything that was promised. I think Covenant is very much one of those movies, one that balances both horror and sci-fi, that will become beloved by one camp and shrugged at by the other. Those who wanted the sheer terror of the original Alien will be disappointed, while those delighted by the cerebral colonization lore of Prometheus will be delighted. For me, I wanted a few more scares but I'm willing to admit that maybe those scares are lying in wait for us in future installments of the franchise, anticipating the proper moment to hatch.

Alien: Covenant

5-Totally Terrifying

4-Crazy Creepy

3-Fairly Frightening

2-Slightly Scary

1-Hardly Horror