Something about this film prevented me from reviewing it last week, perhaps my mindset that, like Prometheus before it, Alien: Covenant was the kind of film that needed some serious marinating before I expressed my thoughts on it. I've since watched the film a few more times, and I think my thoughts are fully in order at this point, so let's get messy with Alien: Covenant.
Something that makes me smile every time, and something I want to bring up first is the titles in this film; just like Alien and Prometheus the letters slowly fade in, and they even brought back the music from the original Alien, which was so awesome to hear, and even better, unlike the CGI DNA from Prometheus, Alien: Covenant keeps it ominous, with the Covenant drifting silently through space. Alien: Covenant definitely doesn't come across as Alien in its prologue, with a new born David interacting with a much less old looking Wayland, it's all very Prometheusy. It's actually a really interesting prologue, as David ponders his new existence, and the first hints of his more sinister side start to appear, it's cool to see David's pseudo-humanity expanded on in this way, as well as his almost sociopathic level of curiosity, which is definitely something you see in Alien: Covenant. It certainly does a better job of setting up things than our introduction to the crew of the Covenant, who get woken up from hyper sleep in the middle of a stellar storm. The first thing we see of our Ripley lite; Daniels, is her mourning the loss of a loved one, which is serviceable in setting her up emotionally, but does very little to actually flesh her out as a character. As the film goes on Daniels does a very good job of being Ripley lite, and by the end of the film, she is a decently enjoyable character to watch. A problem they haven't fixed from Prometheus is the characters; just like Prometheus, you have a serviceable lead, and a cool ship pilot, this time his name is Tennessee, and you have a robot, whose name is Walter this time, Oram isn't a terribly likable character at first, and he does nothing to win you back in the film, and then you have some expendables. Covenant does at least give you a bit more reason to care about these people, with them all being married couples, giving each individual death a bit more weight, but I'll be honest, I still don't remember the names of about two thirds of the crew. Walter is actually one of the film's most interesting elements, being the same model of robot as David, who's also in this film, and it's really cool to see the two interacting, seeing the more human David exposing the more mechanical Walter to philosophical ideas about humanity and life. That means David is back from Prometheus, and his character is still very interesting to watch, even if the more ambiguous elements of him that were played with in Prometheus are replaced by a simpler, more directly villainous dynamic here. I keep comparing this to Prometheus, but honestly, while some describe this film as basically Prometheus 2, I disagree; I think it's more Prometheus 3, since it feels like an entire film's worth of events were completely missed. A lot of the questions from Prometheus are not answered, not philosophical questions, obvious ones, like the ultimate fate of Shaw, or why the Engineers hated humans, or what motivated David to do what he did. I suppose this is just par for the course with these Ridley Scott Alien films now, but it does bother me that we never get a true resolution to the events of Prometheus. That being said, it's still a fun little sci fi adventure; the mysteries surrounding this planet do a good job of sucking you in, and when shit gets ugly, and the weird creatures start showing up, it's a pretty fun, if basic sci fi horror film, and when the Alien itself finally shows up, about an hour and a half into the film, it's pretty cool to see. And even if you can see the big twist at the end coming from a mile away, it's still an interesting twist that makes me curious as to what happens next.
One thing that is completely nailed by Alien: Covenant is the visuals, which are amazing. The film's various sets are massive and great to look at, having the same functionality and retro sci fi look as Prometheus and Alien. And the more scenic outdoor environments are superb, again blurring the line between CG and real, and like LV-223 this planet is suitably creepy and foreboding, even more so, with the tranquillity of the forests, and the complete absence of life, you just get the sense that something about this apparently perfect planet is very wrong. The film also sounds great, with some stellar music, with some stuff returning from both Alien and Prometheus, both being great to hear. But there is one problem I have with the look of the film, and that, weirdly, is the Aliens. The weird not Aliens would be scarier if they were shown less; for example there's the potential for a great scene with these things in a field, but it's ultimately wasted. These things are shown so liberally, and they're so obviously CG, that it just doesn't work, what works is seeing it standing straight like a man, that's a scary image, not it hopping and throwing itself around like some CG demon monkey, you rarely get a really good look at them, but not because of clever direction and an eye for mystery, but simply because they're animated so fast, it's stupid. When the Alien finally shows up, it has the same problems, the Alien is shown so much, sometimes even outside and in the daylight, and it too hops around like a CG demon monkey. Again there's a scene that looked like it was going somewhere really cool, with the Alien obscured behind machinery, and clearly walking upright like a man, but with the Alien practically always in full view, and with them always knowing where it is, all the paranoia and mystery of Alien is completely lost. The film continues to forget what made the old Alien so scary, now giving the Aliens a backstory which, in isolation, I would understand, but in the context of the original Alien, it makes no sense, and again detracts from the fear factor and mystery of the old Alien. That's not even the biggest sacrilege of the original Alien in this film, that goes to a scene I can't spoil, but it's such an absurd scene, and it's a complete mockery of one of the best scenes from the original Alien, and I'll be honest, I hate it. Alien: Covenant still has enjoyment in its very Prometheusy first two acts, and when the third act kicks in, and it essentially becomes a drastically shortened retelling of the original Alien, that's still decently enjoyable, even if it completely forgets what made the original Alien so scary. But I do think that it's a less coherent film than Prometheus, and the more I think about the portrayal of the Alien in this film, the more holes I find in it. I do really like David in this film, what he offers to the mystery and his mindset towards the universe and particularly towards humans is fascinating, as are his interactions with Walter, and that adds a lot to the film, even when the uninteresting crew start dying and the evil scheme with the Aliens is revealed.
Alien: Covenant is a very flawed movie, from a production standpoint the film mostly excels, with great imagery and visuals, and Ridley Scott's usual excellent directing. But I don't like this film's portrayal of the Alien, nor am I particularly fond of the cast of characters, which are mostly hollow and forgettable, with a handful of serviceable central characters and the glorious return of David. I did however enjoy Alien: Covenant for the most part, even if I don't see it as the amazing return of Alien to the big screen that I did admittedly want it to be, and for its strong points, I can say it's a decent sci fi horror film that's worth watching.
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