Written by: Kevin Berge
They're back and looking better than ever, with extra saliva. (Image Courtesy of: hollywoodreporter.com)
Quick Take: Alien: Covenant seeks to recreate the magic of Alien, retelling its story with a new cast, while ratcheting up the violence and gore. A beautiful spectacle, this movie succeeds as a horror thrill ride but fails to reach the heights its script desperately claws for with only hints of intelligence.
***Few movies are more spoiler-driven than Alien: Covenant which makes discussing it without any spoilers difficult. There will be no direct spoilers in the review, but some roles and story beats may be inferred from reading the review. Those who have not seen the movie and want to go in blind should read ahead at their own risk.***
What is the Alien franchise about? Alien was just a humble science fiction horror movie, confined largely to one spaceship. Aliens took on an action-heavy sci-fi story, playing out mostly on a space station. Every movie thereafter has attempted to find the line, striking a balance that defines the series as a whole.
They have all failed to some extent. Aliens 3 and Alien: Resurrection had Ripley and the xenomorphs and plenty of action yet failed to spark interest. Despite director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) returning to the series, Prometheus went without Ripley or a single xenomorph and fared slightly better as an overall film only to be railed on for not including them.
What made Prometheus so controversial was how it tried to use the same universe but expand the mythology in a way that came off pretentious. Alien: Covenant returns to xenomorphs while continuing to expand the universe's mythology, and it still fails to strike the balance even if it is the most entertaining since Aliens.
To its credit, this film has a strong foundation mainly because its story starts as a copy-paste of Alien. The colonization ship Covenant is headed to a new home when an accident forces them to stop, leading to the crew picking up a signal from a nearby planet that they feel inclined to explore.
The crew includes newly appointed captain Chris Oram (Billy Crudup), second-in-command and chief of terraforming Janet Daniels (Katherine Waterson), chief pilot Tennessee Faris (Danny McBride), and the android Walter (Michael Fassbender). Of course there are many more bodies ripe for the slaughter.
This is a beautiful-looking film with gorgeous set designs and computer generated creations, but that gets lost with time in a story that wants to say much more than it can deliver. John Logan (Gladiator) and Dante Harper's screenplay has big ideas, but it works far better as a pure action thriller which it becomes late in the film.
What is the Alien franchise about? Alien was just a humble science fiction horror movie, confined largely to one spaceship. Aliens took on an action-heavy sci-fi story, playing out mostly on a space station. Every movie thereafter has attempted to find the line, striking a balance that defines the series as a whole.
They have all failed to some extent. Aliens 3 and Alien: Resurrection had Ripley and the xenomorphs and plenty of action yet failed to spark interest. Despite director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) returning to the series, Prometheus went without Ripley or a single xenomorph and fared slightly better as an overall film only to be railed on for not including them.
What made Prometheus so controversial was how it tried to use the same universe but expand the mythology in a way that came off pretentious. Alien: Covenant returns to xenomorphs while continuing to expand the universe's mythology, and it still fails to strike the balance even if it is the most entertaining since Aliens.
To its credit, this film has a strong foundation mainly because its story starts as a copy-paste of Alien. The colonization ship Covenant is headed to a new home when an accident forces them to stop, leading to the crew picking up a signal from a nearby planet that they feel inclined to explore.
The crew includes newly appointed captain Chris Oram (Billy Crudup), second-in-command and chief of terraforming Janet Daniels (Katherine Waterson), chief pilot Tennessee Faris (Danny McBride), and the android Walter (Michael Fassbender). Of course there are many more bodies ripe for the slaughter.
This is a beautiful-looking film with gorgeous set designs and computer generated creations, but that gets lost with time in a story that wants to say much more than it can deliver. John Logan (Gladiator) and Dante Harper's screenplay has big ideas, but it works far better as a pure action thriller which it becomes late in the film.
Fassbender is so good you'd think he was artificial. Who's to say he wasn't? He is a bit too perfect. (Image Courtesy of: collider.com)
If there was one thing that stood out throughout all of Prometheus, it was Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) who once more dominates the screen in an even more taxing role. Few could even make the role he plays work let alone steal the show. It is no wonder Ridley Scott brought him back.
Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) more or less plays the Ripley role if less as a pure lead. While she does not have Sigourney Weaver's incredible charisma, she is strong in her own right and brings her own attitude to the role. Among the rest of the pack, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express) is the main standout, bringing his comedy and charisma to a new role for him.
Ridley Scott's career as a director has not been without its ups and downs. This movie shows him off at his best as a visual director while also driving the action and tension well. However, he likely had a significant hand in the film's story and character development which both are the driving forces that hold the movie back.
This is a bloody and violent film once it gets rolling which is earlier than other Alien films of the past. It is the closest the series had gotten to horror since the original. It may honestly play too fast and loose with the lives of its characters as only a few are remotely developed while the rest are just walking blood bags.
Those just looking for violence and death will find a good time in Alien: Covenant. This is a xenomorph slasher film, enticing primarily in its tension and death. It does little to make itself matter, and what it does in that department is often the film's greatest weakness. It tries too hard to have a philosophical undertone without maturity.
This is a more fun movie than Prometheus, but, at its core, I loved the film for the same reason: Michael Fassbender. He is the most unique and compelling actor in the movie with the most fascinating role, differentiating the film from all those that came before.
So many ideas could have been explored to make this film great: the juxtaposition of the captain's religious sentiments with a modern scientific world, thematic questions of origins and identity, how loss affects those who remain differently, the purpose behind colonization. Still, this is an entertaining slasher shlock fest that is easy viewing.
Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) more or less plays the Ripley role if less as a pure lead. While she does not have Sigourney Weaver's incredible charisma, she is strong in her own right and brings her own attitude to the role. Among the rest of the pack, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express) is the main standout, bringing his comedy and charisma to a new role for him.
Ridley Scott's career as a director has not been without its ups and downs. This movie shows him off at his best as a visual director while also driving the action and tension well. However, he likely had a significant hand in the film's story and character development which both are the driving forces that hold the movie back.
This is a bloody and violent film once it gets rolling which is earlier than other Alien films of the past. It is the closest the series had gotten to horror since the original. It may honestly play too fast and loose with the lives of its characters as only a few are remotely developed while the rest are just walking blood bags.
Those just looking for violence and death will find a good time in Alien: Covenant. This is a xenomorph slasher film, enticing primarily in its tension and death. It does little to make itself matter, and what it does in that department is often the film's greatest weakness. It tries too hard to have a philosophical undertone without maturity.
This is a more fun movie than Prometheus, but, at its core, I loved the film for the same reason: Michael Fassbender. He is the most unique and compelling actor in the movie with the most fascinating role, differentiating the film from all those that came before.
So many ideas could have been explored to make this film great: the juxtaposition of the captain's religious sentiments with a modern scientific world, thematic questions of origins and identity, how loss affects those who remain differently, the purpose behind colonization. Still, this is an entertaining slasher shlock fest that is easy viewing.