SPOILERS FREE
Let me stat by saying that I am a fan of the Alien franchise as a whole. Like most fans, I greatly consider Alien and Aliens to be the pinnacle of the whole series in regards to it reaching it's peak as those films not only compliment each other perfectly but can't be duplicated in both their presentation and levels of scares and suspense. Aliens 3 and 4 despite having their moments, never reach the cinematic heights of the previous two films and serve only to drag down the quality of the series. Things got progressively worse once Alien Vs Predator and Requiem became apart of the Alien universes cannon, greatly diminishing the credibility of the franchise. Back in 2012, many audiences wished and hoped for with great anticipation, that Ridley Scott's return to the franchise with his Alien prequel Prometheus would not only restore credibility to the franchise but answer questions that audiences had on their mind for years such as where the Xenomorph's came from and the space jockey at the beginning of Alien. Prometheus despite being a visually stunning film, is a huge disappointment for fans as almost none of their questions got answered, instead more were raised with the film clearly not making up it's mind on whether or not it's an Alien prequel until the final frame which indicated that it is. As a whole, Prometheus was ok but much hope is riding on Ridley Scott's sequel to rectify that movies problems and put the series as a whole back on track. Having now seen Alien: Covenant, one can say that although Covenant is a definite improvement over Prometheus and more pleasing to fans of the series, it still isn't as great as it needed to be to fix the problems of the previous film.
Alien: Covenant is a solid entry in the Alien franchise that marks a strong improvement over it's predecessor, as it attempts to bring the Prometheus universe closer to the Alien one that us fans are familiar with. Covenant is dark and suspenseful with large doses of gore being added to the mix along with blood. The film essentially feels like a modern day remake of Alien except it's mixed with being a Prometheus sequel as well. Michael Fassbender steals the show playing both the new droid Walter along with David from Prometheus reprising his role. The storyline for Alien: Covenant takes place a total of 10 years after the events of Prometheus with the crew of a colony ship that's bound for a remote planet, suddenly discover an uncharted exotic location with a threat that's beyond their imagination, forcing them to attempt a terrifying escape. Understanding that Prometheus left audiences more frustrated and confused rather than excited for the prospect of a sequel, Ridley and the team behind Covenant spend much of their time trying to make amends for the past by making the film as close to the first Alien as they can get with the Xenomorph's being front and center, even in pitch daylight. Covenant's attempts to clean up the mess that was laid out before it are noble, despite the film feeling like it never brings anything truly new to the genre despite rehashing the same formula and scare tactics in order to get audiences excited again about the franchise. For the most part, Covenant succeeds in bringing back that familiarity to audiences as they've craved and missed it with the last one. The performances from the main cast are strong with Fassbender clearly stealing the show and Katherine Waterston delivering a strong female performance with Danny McBride giving a strong supporting performance. Despite the main characters being highly effective in their parts, other key players such as Carmen Ejogo's character show potential but are killed off too early into the story, not leaving enough time for their characters to become fully developed so the audience cares when they meet their fate at the hands of the familiar enemy. James Franco's cameo is also left unexplained and confusing to audiences as the main backstory behind his character appears to be left out. What makes Covenant more appealing towards fans of Alien, is the close quarters and deep space terror that the original two films had as the film feels like a culmination of Alien and Aliens mixed together along with a touch of Prometheus. The problem with the film story is it's ties to Prometheus as Ridley connects both films together nicely but Prometheus ambiguous ideas are never fully explored and it's questions never answered but instead creates more confusion when tied to the events in Covenant. Ridley Scott once famously said when asked why he didn't show the Xenomorph more than he did in the first Alien by stating "Less is more." That line pretty much sums up what made the first Alien film such a classic and effective horror movie because the audience didn't know where the species came from and it was hidden throughout the duration of the film. Ridley trying to explain the Xenomorph's origins with the concept of creation and other religious allegories doesn't add to the suspense and terror of the story but takes away from the mystery behind the iconic creatures that have gone to become some of the most terrifying in film history. The hardest part of watching both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, is trying to accept the logic that led to the events of Alien and Aliens as one can see the bridge being laid out but also not approving of it's structure.
Overall Alien: Covenant despite it's share of problems in regards to being too repetitive of the first film and not offering anything new to the franchise, still manages to entertain and thrill audiences as it's a much more satisfying entry in the franchise than it's predecessor. One can clearly tell watching it that Ridley Scott tried very hard to make up for Prometheus shortcomings while bringing the storyline closer to Alien. On a technical aspect of the film, Ridley proves that he's still as master filmmaker in regards to creating fantastic visuals as the film looks stunning with brilliant cinematography, art-set decoration, and costume design with an effective score. One of the films most effective sequences directing wise, is the quarantine moment that will instantly give audiences flashbacks to Ash's infamous dinner scene in Alien when the audience didn't know what to expect but could feel the suspense building the longer the scene went. As a monster movie, Covenant is effective yet conventional as it misses the true suspense of both Alien and Aliens. It's lack of true terror is not a reason to dismiss it entirely as the film manages to stay true to the franchises brand while attempting to balance out some of the concepts tossed around with both this film and Prometheus. One certainly hopes that if a third movie is made to tie the Prometheus franchise into the Alien one, Ridley Scott will have a much stronger script and slow the pacing down even further to develop minor characters so when they are picked off by the alien creatures, the audience feels it. While the scientists presented in the film are not as frustrating than the ones presented in Prometheus (One still doesn't understand why they don't wear space suits or masks in an unfamiliar planet), the need for a strong central female character among the likes of Ellen Ripley is needed as Waterston's character was interesting but not as strong nor memorable of a character. Whether you liked or disliked Prometheus, it succeeded as a revamp of the series due to it's box office success despite dividing audiences up, but what Covenant does and deserves credit for is bringing the franchise a little closer back home as it stands as being a fun ride that falls in between Prometheus and it's two superior masterpieces
7.5/10
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