ALIEN: COVENANT – Review

Ridley Scott hasn’t worked through his daddy issues yet. Many of his films deal with men, biblical figures, robots (replicants), and others, seeking answers from their creators. The director previously relied heavily on this concept with his first ALIEN prequel, PROMETHEUS; much to the dissatisfaction of fans and critics alike. Many of the thrills and chills from the 1979 film were placed in the shadows to shine a light more on man’s search for the answers to the universe, along with an android teaching these foolish mortals a lesson or two along the way. Now, with ALIEN: COVENANT, this is the second film where Ridley Scott tries to blend “man and his creator” questions with the horror of the unknown. Although longtime ALIEN fans might praise COVENANT for delivering more of what they didn’t get enough of in the previous prequel, the British auteur still hasn’t found the right balance of scares and smarts just yet.

After a chilly tone-setting prologue that catches some up to speed on the last prequel’s most iconic character, we are introduced to a new ship and a new crew of potential prey. The Covenant is a colonizing vessel bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. When they are woken up from a cryogenic slumber, they are forced to deal with sudden casualties and a faint signal from a nearby planet that sounds like a sign of life. Their newly designated captain (Billy Crudup) decides to investigate the signal even though his first mate (Katherine Waterston) disagrees with the decision. When they accidentally trigger a threat, this potential home turns into a dark and dangerous world.

COVENANT is bookended by the type of events that fans have been asking for. One extremely tense sequence early on involving two members of the crew becoming infected is a masterclass in creating suspense! Paranoia sets in…the music builds to a creeping dread. It’s made all the more effective because Ridley takes his time letting the scene escalate much farther than most filmmakers would allow. But not too long after, you get the type of film that Ridley Scott seems more interested in delivering. He’s taken the soul searching, monologue spouting Roy Batty character from BLADE RUNNER (Rutger Hauer), and dropped him into an ALIEN story about creation. The big ideas are ambitious and show that Ridley truly cares about this series. He’s interested in delivering a science fiction story and not just another attempt at the “haunted house in space” structure that people use to describe the original film. Even if it’s a little misguided, no one can accuse him of being lazy. He isn’t just remaking ALIEN – although there are many situations throughout that made me think otherwise. In fact, he’s attempting to make you reinterpret the entire ALIEN universe.

While many complained that PROMETHEUS was Xenomorph-lite, COVENANT corrects what Ridley Scott has recently acknowledged in interviews as a “mistake.” However, the most obvious mistake might be the terrible CGI used to portray these creatures. Believe me when I say that they look truly awful. It’s almost egregious as Scott’s inclusion of one of the most misplaced shower scenes in the history of cinema.

There are many callbacks to the series throughout, both visually and narratively. Ted Kurzel’s magnificent score immediately makes this known with its faithful and familiar sound. While some nods are more subtle and fun to pick out, others are much more prominent – it doesn’t take a super-fan to acknowledge that the Covenant’s large robotic arm holding back an alien feels a lot like the Powerloader sequence in ALIENS (1986). Katherine Waterston’s character seems designed as just a callback. Try as she may, she isn’t given a character that is defined by anything. She has a by-the-numbers backstory, but it’s hardly compelling and falls short of being the strong female story that writers Dante Harper and John Logan (SPECTRE) are striving for. She’s a Ripley ripoff that goes beyond looking like a petite, muscular, white woman with short hair. Much like PROMETHEUS, the focus has shifted from telling a story about people, to telling a story about ideas.

Ridley Scott’s search for answers has brought about a certain doom. The Xenomorph is one of the most iconic creatures in cinematic history, and as it is described by Ash in ALIEN, the creature is a “Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.” That concept is a fascinating idea. A creature that’s such a perfect killer is a frightening concept. It’s incredibly agile, graced with an intelligent and cunning mind, bears long sharp claws, contains acidic blood that can melt your skin, and hides a retractable smaller set of jaws behind a set of deadly chompers. While the idea of exploring where this perfect organism came from is intriguing in theory, the reveal takes away the mystery surrounding the “perfect” evil. As is often stated when referring to horror: It’s what you don’t see that’s scarier than what you do see. It’s human nature to fear the unknown… including death.

However, it seems it’s Ash’s next statement regarding the Xenomorph that the director and screenwriters are focused on. “I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.” Scott’s admiration has come in the form of the robotic character David (Michael Fassbender, once again, stealing the show). As David and Ridley travel together in space bringing about discussions of morality and raising existential concerns, the audience is left questioning if these questions are better left unanswered.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

ALIEN: COVENANT opens in theaters everywhere May 19th.