"Alien: Covenant" review

Still screaming in space after nearly 4 decades.




Sequel to 2012’s “Prometheus,” “Alien: Covenant” takes place several years after the aforementioned prequel to the iconic science fiction franchise, and sees a group of scientists responsible for guiding thousands of cryonically frozen colonists to new lives on a new world, confronted by the titular creature after damage sustained to their ship has left them considering an alternatively viable habitat rather than risk a 7 year journey that doesn’t guarantee a safe arrival for all on board.

Unfortunately, the alleged paradise that the Covenant team uncovers harbors dark secrets that may make the sole android survivor of the Prometheus mission David (reprised by Michael Fassbender) the key to their survival, if they can trust him at all.

The “Alien” franchise, as legendary and influential as it may be, will never be able to escape its own legacy of storytelling derailment. Ever since “Alien 3” pissed away the potential that its predecessors had built up, this series has undeniably been built on the backs of one miss after another with the only debatable exception to that being this very film's direct predecessor.

“Prometheus,” the film in question, had its fair share of profound flaws born of meddling studio demands and a hack job of a screenplay for a production that was unfortunately marred with scenes deleted that would have greatly enhanced the final product were they properly reintegrated. The potential behind this cut material honest has me in shock that of all films for director Ridley Scott to not green light an extended cut for, he chose this one over “Robin Hood.”

Nevertheless, the film does managed to rise beyond the problems of its production due to the sheer ambitions of its filmmaking and a talented cast of actors that brought to life a movie whose goal was to expand the mythology of the “Alien” series by introducing a philosophical foundation for a new mythology arc and broadening the series’ horizons by attempting to not be a traditional “Alien” movie. It was deeply flawed but highly respectable in its noble intentions.

I recap this primarily because, in terms of execution, “Alien: Covenant” basically uses the experience of that film as a dry run for what it attempts to achieve, to more or less similar effect.

The movie basically comes across as something of a more confident and self assured sequel setting out to learn from many of the mistakes of its predecessors, direct or otherwise.

The mystery behind David’s motivations and character growth feel far more fleshed out despite managing to utilize the elements of mystery and his unsettling nature to keep you wondering just how he came to be what he has become.

Furthermore, the crew of the Covenant in general is by far the best cast of characters that this franchise has seen since the Colonial Marines of “Aliens.” They’re motivations are noble and relatable, they demonstrate a range of human emotion beyond neutral and pants soiling fear, and by the end of the film, I really did feel for the unfortunate demise of the doomed and the trauma of the survivors. Special praise is reserved for Danny McBride and Katherine Waterson as Tennessee and Daniels, who come the closest to reaching Ripley and Hicks status as characters that I would happily follow for future outings if such plans were in the works.

With the character conflicts better laid out and the overarching theme moving away from the esoteric search for man’s creation towards notions of evolution and the worth of morality and faith in measure against the coldness of scientific reality, “Alien: Covenant” generally finds a better balance between Scott’s own ambitions and the thrills and adventure that draws in the crowds that have kept the series ticking for so long, even managing to bring new elements of horror to the table apart from the standard creature feature stuff.

Unfortunately where “Prometheus’” ability to shine was hampered by several small flaws peppered about the film that compound on one another by the time of the third act, “Alien: Covenant” is a generally tighter, craftier, and more successful film with fewer flaws that hit much harder than any single problem in the previous installment.

Once the plot gets underway, the movie is generally lean and to the point, if a bit experimental at times but the inciting incidents that debuts the titular Xenomorphs of the series are rooted in certain leaps of fundamental logic that even the most diehard apologists will have trouble accepting, especially given how much of Covenant’s mission seems to be a frontier settling effort that never lets its crew forget that space is a horrendously dangerous place to be.

This same level of narrative clumsiness manages to find its way towards the end of the film as well, which sadly forgoes an opportunity to end on a satisfyingly complete note, if not at the very least on one of speculative ambiguity, in favor of a sequel hook that dulls the wind out of the sails of how invested I found myself to be in the movie up to that point.

While some of these flaws may seem fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, they sadly do a lot to soften the impact of the film quite a bit, which draws an unfortunate spotlight onto the question of whether or not it’s actually taking the franchise in a good direction.

I adore the concept of using more thematically resonant stories as a means of crafting a mythology arc to flesh out the setting of the franchise in ways that hadn’t been touched upon before but with all of the narrative hiccups that “Alien: Covenant” undergoes, I was ultimately granted a realization that the film was generally at its best when it dropped the pretense in favor of just being a horror themed adventure story carried by characters that I was actually rooting for, which is more than I can say almost every Alien film to come out over the last 30 years.

Similar to Twentieth Century Fox’s “X-Men” film franchise, the lack of a true cohesive narrative direction for the future is rather unsettling despite how good the individual film may be at the moment.

However, despite the concerns I may have moving forward, that still doesn’t change that “Alien: Covenant” is rock solid popcorn flick, with a little bit more going on under the hood than most Summer blockbusters and, for what it’s worth, the third best film in the “Alien” franchise by simply managing to be solid, even given the lofty shoes that it’s expected to fill.

7 Chest Bursters out of 10