*NO SPOILERS*
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Alien Reviews Playlist
* Directed by Ridley Scott
* Starring Katherine Waterson, Billy Crudup, Michael Fassbender, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby, Uli Latukefu, Tess Haubrich, and Lorelei King
The Plot: Long story short the crew of the ship called the Covenant receive a distress signal from an unknown planet in the middle of their voyage, so when they arrive at said planet there's an outbreak that leads to aliens forming into fully grown lifeforms and they become the vicious creatures that attempt to destroy every member of the crew.
I'll just leave it there because if I break down anything more about this plot it would really get into spoiler territory.
So five years later after the release of Prometheus, Ridley Scott returns to direct what will be the second chapter in a trilogy leading into his original Alien film. This will be the film that will answer questions Prometheus left behind, but also will be another Ridley Scott Alien film that will return to his horror filmmaking roots found in the first film. So a Prometheus sequel and an Alien prequel directed by Ridley Scott, what could go wrong?
The answer to that question is nothing at all because Alien: Covenant is another beyond worthy entry in the Alien franchise that does a great job resembling the spirit of the franchise, but also takes liberties in telling its story. It's your basic conventional Alien film, but how they handled the arrangement of characters and of how and when certain events took place was different than other films in the franchise. It could've been easy to go the route of being exactly like the first Alien film again and that's what it looked like in the trailers, but as the second act progresses there's an event that happens involving a certain character I did not see coming.
How they incorporated this story element I thought was handled brilliantly and through this specific character and the way events start to escalate there's so many doors that open as to what you think might happen next not just for this film, but future films. I guess after Prometheus it'll leave viewers with more questions, but I actually think that's a great thing because of the possibilities involved for the future of this franchise and how certain things will tie into Alien. I really like that Scott is using these new films as a way to not only bridge into a film I know and love, but to expand more of the story and have us rethink the original horror classic.
Speaking of Ridley Scott, his directing is still very strong here with an always pitch perfect visual presentation. No CGI looks off-kilter and the production design and various set pieces are just bloody fantastic. I really bought into the environments of this film and there was never a moment where I was taken aback because the intense presentation did too much or too little. I'll say though that this time around it wasn't much of that slow paced suspense found in the original film because this was more high energy and had that action oriented blockbuster film feel, but really I was pleased with the turn out and didn't really expect there to be a certain orchestration of how the horror/action scenes would be handled. There were some great nail-biting action/horror scenes in this movie and to actually feel a connection to the situation where I dislike the creature and care about the characters, then I feel Scott succeeded to put me in that mindset. It's not just another throwaway horror film because there were elements in the story and characters that didn't feel fake.
I'll say the characters in this film were just as well balanced like in Alien, Aliens and for me even Prometheus. I was actually surprised how much of an ensemble piece this film was this time around and how the movie took its time to utilize certain characters and see the turnout for the fate of said characters. I was highly invested in everything this film had to offer. Major standouts of the cast for me were Katherine Waterson as Daniels, who had a very tragic backstory that gave her character so much more meaning. Danny McBride as Tennessee was full personality and in a way kind of reminded me of Hudson from Aliens. I also really liked Billy Crudup playing the conflicted leader of the Covenant vessel. I thought he did a great job executing his character's motivations. Last, but certainly not least, Michael Fassbender gave such an amazing performance as the android Walter and I'd argue that some of his best acting work is in this film period.
I guess my only issues with the film are even though I was really getting into the last act of the film and there was great intensity and whatnot, there's an event that happens that I found to be a bit predictable. The film was trying to mislead you into thinking something else was going to happen and I actually appreciate how the film was trying to lead you astray, but the end result was rather obvious. However, the ending was pretty perfect and like I said earlier it definitely left me with that intrigue to see how future events will pan out.
Another issue I had, which might be considered a nitpick, is the fact that there were prologue short films before this movie focusing on the crew of the Covenant and I did happen to see one of them introducing the crew itself and I thought it would actually be a scene in the movie. That wasn't necessarily the case and I'm actually fine they didn't include that scene, but maybe it would've added a little more character depth. Very minor complaint, but in the end I was completely satisfied with the end result. I really had a great time with Alien: Covenant for more of the intensity and intrigue found in Scott's previous films. The characters felt well balanced, the horror didn't feel fake, it was paced well and the environment once again felt immersive.
Verdict: A-
What can I say? This has been such a great year for film thus far in my personal opinion and seeing these movies have been a constant reminder of why I love going to the movies. Something like Alien can give me thrills while something like Guardians 2 can give me drama and laughs. I really can't wait to see what the rest of the summer or, heck, what the entire year will bring. Can't wait to see the progression of this franchise and how things will eventually tie together. I think Scott's doing a really wonderful job with this series and cannot wait to see what else he has in store. His recent efforts haven't let me down so far, so color me impressed.
Stay tuned this week for my 2 part retrospective of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise leading up to Dead Men Tell No Tales. For more updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below as well as a link to my Alien reviews playlist if you'd like to see what I thought about the previous films in the franchise:
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this review. I'll say it once and I'll say it again, it's a very exciting time to be a film fan! You guys all rock and as always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff!
Take care. :-)
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