Alien: Covenant – Movie Review

Ridley Scott introduced us to the world of “Alien” nearly four decades ago.  He delivered a fantastic blend of science fiction and horror that has garnered new fans with each passing year. I feel that James Cameron improved on Scott’s film by adding a big splash of action into the mix. Yes, the series went on a downward spiral after that, but no matter what you might think of 1997’s “Alien: Resurrection”, I am assure you, it is far more entertaining that “Alien: Covenant”.  Much like 2012’s “Prometheus”, “Covenant” features a beautiful production and is expertly directed by Scott.  Unfortunately, it is also saddled with a story and characters that barely even register.

Set years after the events in “Prometheus”, the crew of the Colony ship are on their way to a remote planet for them to colonize.  When they receive a signal in the form of a classic John Denver song coming from a planet not too far off, they decide to investigate.  What they find is a planet that has an Earth-like atmosphere and wheat that has obviously been planted by someone.

One of the positive things I can say is that the film’s marketing does a good job at keeping a handful of important story elements out, so I don’t want to ruin it for you about what else they find on the planet.  As I am sure you are aware, crew members do become host for the aliens and we get a nice amount of exploding body births.  Those are always fun to watch, but the fun in “Covenant” is minimal.  With the exception of Fassbender and McBride, the cast is utterly boring.  I even with McBride punched it up a bit.

“Alien: Covenant” is not terrible and it is actually an improvement over “Prometheus”.  Now that Scott has delivered his second prequel to the franchise, I think it’s time that a new team of writers and directors are brought in to give things the adrenaline boost that they need moving forward.

By: Marc Ferman