Alien: Covenant

I’m a Prometheus sympathiser. I loved it when it came out and after watching it recently, I still do. I do see and realise the flaws throughout but can get past them and enjoy the ride. With Alien: Covenant, you may think that Ridley Scott would have learnt from his mistakes, however that’s not the case. Covenant is a flawed film that many will not be able to see pass. I however could and I still enjoyed what felt like a great sci-fi thriller that’s truly trying to grasp onto more than what the films that have gone before and after it have. Read on to find out why.

Covenant follows the crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, as they discover an uncharted paradise with a threat beyond their imagination. This film twists and turns pretty much from the get go so it’s difficult to go into more detail than this without spoiling things. Michael Fassbender returns yet again to play another synthetic android, and man is he as incredible as ever! Fassbender is the MVP of this franchise, I could watch him act all day long and never get bored. Joining him is a new cast, the stand outs being; Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride and Billy Crudup. The rest of the cast are just as good but there is quite a lot of them and these three are the main drivers of the story.

I liked this film a lot but I’m not oblivious to its flaws. Like I’ve said before, I can see past many of them but I’ll highlight them here first as they do detract from the film but not to my overall enjoyment of it. You do not really care for any of these characters, maybe Katherine Waterston’s as you follow her for most of the film but I was never too worried if any of them made it to the end. Part of this is probably down to the decisions the characters make, weak ones, stupid ones and some which just have no logic or reasoning behind them. It’s obvious how stupid some of these decisions are and I’m surprised they weren’t picked out before the film was made. Maybe it’s something to do with the philosophy of the film, are they highlighting the biggest flaw in humans is the fact that we are? This feels like I’m clutching at straws but who knows. If you can look past this, and I’m sure there will be many that can’t, then there is a great sci-fi film lurking and it comes into its stride once the story kicks in.

The film only gets better as it goes on, revealing its sinister threat and delving deeper into the philosophy that Prometheus started musing about. Maybe some came for the Xenomorph, and there is a lot of that, but I personally loved the philosophical element of this film. It makes its feel like it’s grasping for more than just being another killer alien film and trying to make us think like many other great sci-fi films. At times, it feels like it’s two films battling each other, one being an Alien prequel and the other being a Prometheus sequel. In a way these franchises may have been better off separate from each other but I don’t care, in my opinion both Prometheus and Covenant, even with their flaws, are really solid films and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Despite the flaws I’ve picked out, I enjoyed the hell out of this film. It’s tense, it’s scary, it’s gloriously gory and it’s thought provoking. It’s a great addition to the Alien franchise and I would definitely watch it again even if it’s just for some very memorable Michael Fassbender scenes… Not perfect but a great sci-fi film, I’m rating Alien: Covenant a 4/5. I’m hoping that the possible sequels to this film can be more thought out with deeper layered characters but also keep the philosophical element that has me hooked.

What did you think of the latest instalment of the Alien franchise, classic sci-fi or another dud? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!