Alien: Covenant: Movie Review

"Alien: Covenant" builds upon the story of how the iconic Alien xenomorph takes form while also putting up some deep-seeded thoughts on the science and philosophy of its lore. While the film might make you think, the film sorely lacks on the fear, thrill, and horror that made the original "Alien" a classic.

The new colony ship the Covenant is on a mission to settle and populate the planet known as Origae-6. Aboard in hypersleep are the crew and the 2,000 souls with only the synthetic Walter (Michael Fassbender) and the onboard A.I. Mother awake to manage the ships long journey. The tranquility is suddenly shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenant’s energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off-course. While doing repairs, the Covenant receives a human-based transmission on an extremely habitable planet. The captain decides that newly-discovered planet may just be the perfect replacement for Origae-6, shortening their travel time from years to mere weeks. When they land, nothing seems out-of-place but when two of their crew goes severely sick in minutes, everything turns to immediate chaos.

For a series better known for its scares, "Alien: Covenant" severely skimps on this aspect to deliver a rather pedestrian expansion of the "Alien" mythology. What could have been a back-to-form stepping stone, the film feels more like "Prometheus" than "Alien". The story itself had its fair share of surprises but those are few and far between in our opinion and there's nothing new here. Even the twist ending is a clichéd mess we saw a mile away. On the other hand, the philosophies of David is a key part why the film had a positive turn. His creepy demeanor alone brings back some fear into the mix. On the acting front, the main leads were great especially Katherine Waterston showing her flexibility as an actress bringing a darker performance than when we saw her in "Fantastic Beasts" last year. The supporting cast was not so great though. We barely remember anyone outside the four main leads. But it could have been due to the film having to juggle between a massive number of characters too. If you ask us though, the biggest disappointment would be the Xenomorphs and the newly-created Neomorphs. Visually, they look great and feel great but these aliens never had enough scenes to really strut their stuff and even the few scenes they get to cause mayhem lacks punch and that primal fear that tugs audiences at their seats. Overall, "Alien: Covenant" left us at least satisfied with a deeper understanding of how the aliens in "Alien" came to be but the long-running time and the lack of a semblance of thrill also frustrated us a lot.

Rating: 3 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- great acting and great visuals
- expands further

Wy you shouldn't watch it:
- feels like a stepping stone to something greater in the next sequel
- the Xenomorphs and Neomorphs didn't get a chance to shine