(SPOILER ALERT: Forewarning, I will be going into plot
details and character actions/motivations to better explain the critiques made
to this film. If you want to know my
overall thoughts, skip to the very end that gives a summary, score, and
recommendation on the whole film.
Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the read!)
It seems like a long time within cryo-sleep since the last
review but it is time to awaken during the fervor of Blockbuster season with
the stellar, fun sequel Guardians of The
Galaxy: Vol 2 and the mediocre offerings that come with it in fantasy,
comedy, and action. Now, we have the
latest sci-fi action horror sequel/retread from veteran director Ridley Scott,
with his 5 year follow up to the visually stunning yet divisively hollow sci-fi
adventure horror Prometheus. This is Alien
Covenant and it is being considered as a proper return to the series since
the first two films from him and James Cameron with its tone, visual
aesthetics, and ultimately its genre clichés/troupes that it defined for years
now. We have a new cast of characters,
familiar character actors, and a desire to bring the creepy, survival
atmosphere of the story back into a series that had veered off the familiar
path with its last outing. Does this
film bring back the terror in a series this long in the running or has it gone
back to its roots and brought the same problems that have plagued this series
for a few decades now? Let’s travel into
the surface and see where the story takes us this time around.
A decade has passed since the Prometheus ship and crew
ventured out in search of humanity’s creators and disappeared into the vastness
of space. A new ship called the Covenant,
a colonial expansion ship is venturing out to Origae-6, a remote yet habitable
planet near the fringes of space. It is
not too long before the journey hits a bumpy road with magnetic waves that
awakens our crew to repair and prep the ship for another trip. That is when they receive a transmitted
message from an unknown yet viable planet for colonization that is closer to them
in a manner of weeks, instead of 7 years of cryo-sleep. The defacto captain Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) decides to scout the planet out with the crew: Tennessee
Faris (Danny McBride), Sergeant Lope (Demián Bichir), Karine Oram (Carmen
Ejogo), Maggie Faris (Amy Semetz), Ricks (Jussie Smollett), Upworth (Callie
Hernandez), Sergeant Hallet (Nathaniel Dean), Ankor (Alexander England),
Ledward (Benjamin Rigby), Rosenthal (Tess Haubrich), and Pvt. Cole (Uli
Latukefu ) and Android worker Walter (Michael Fassbender) while Oram’s second
in command Daniels “Dany” Branson (Katherine Waterston) protesting this action
to no avail. They head down to the
planet to not only discover what lives on the surface but are thrust into a
fight for survival that may birth the galaxy’s darkest nightmare.
When it actually attempts to answer the questions Prometheus left unanswered, the film is
at its most engaging and intriguing to watch but when it becomes a rehash of
every entry in the Alien series, the
film hits with a resounding dull note.
It repeats wholesale major plot points that were seen in the first two
films but with a feeling of cynicism and forcefulness that comes with a film
series being continued to bring back familiar elements for the sake of
nostalgia and profit. This film kind of
feels like the later Halloween sequels after the 3rd one, bringing
back Michael Myers for the sake of fan service type genre expectations. Alien:
Covenant falls into that same trapping with its plot and reasons for
existing. So, it is still a competently
made film with enough set pieces and action to keep the viewers glued to the
seats for this outing despite the character/plot elements leaving a lot to be
desired other than the character arc with David (Michael Fassbender) as the
most fleshed out of the cast of characters.
Before getting into the plot spoilers as it relates to how
this film ultimately falls flat at least with this review, David is the most
compelling character in this film yet again with tragedy and dark intentions
surrounding his actions. His
interactions with Walter were the most intriguing of the scenes but it does
diverge into a homoerotic-hilarity especially with the line “You blow into
this, I’ll do the fingering” as they play the flute for 6-8 minutes. Does it develop these characters, yes but it
feels like unnecessary filler to a film that is trying to be a modern version
of Alien. As for the other cast of characters, they are
thinly developed in the most crude and basic way to elicit cheap emotions to
care for their deaths when their careless, dumb actions are responsible for
their own fates. The most developed is Katherine
Waterston as Daniels "Dany" Branson, who just feels like a carbon
copy of Ripley, so she goes through the motions with most of her development as
a character and eventually a survivor against the Xenomorphs. That should cover the non-spoiler moments of
the story that were decent to watch but now, for where this film ultimately
fails to not only answer questions or payoff of the story from Prometheus but a complete mash up of
both that film and the first Alien film
that does not combine well as a result.
Now, for the spoiler issues I had with this film and it
starts with David and his overall plan/vendetta against humanity. It is established in this film that David is
responsible for creating the iconic Xenomorphs we know and love from the
previous films through genetic engineering of the Space Jockey’s bioweapons and
experimenting on the flora and fauna of their world. He also commits genocide on the entire
civilization of Space Jockeys and kills/experiments on Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
(Noomi Rapace) to finally create the Xenomorphs we know and for some reason, he
can communicate and control them like a mad scientist, seriously. Ok, this clearly changes the motivations of
David completely, which feels like Prometheus
was an afterthought of a film by not even answering questions regarding
the origins of the Space Jockeys and why they wanted to destroy Earth/humanity
in the first place. It was basically an
answer to a question nobody wanted answered about the origins of the Xenomorphs
and the questionable choices don’t stop there at all.
The switcharoo of Walter and David that was totally
“subtle”, was handled carelessly and comes across as too obvious with how the
finale plays out. It doesn’t help that
the last act copies the original film, right down to the airlock finale of the
first two films. This is compounded upon
with the overall quality of the film regarding the infamous shower scene that
feels like it belongs in a Friday The 13th
or Halloween film, pushing the
proceedings into unintentionally parody based hilarity. They also shortened the time it takes for
Aliens to grow into full sized creatures as another continuity retcon that does
not match up with the original films at all if the point of these prequels are
to match up with the Nostromo finding the vessel with these eggs in later sequels. The biggest problem of the story though is
that most of the context and explanations are relegated to YouTube videos
regarding the crew and the relationship between David and Shaw, crucial scenes
that are played off like homework because the filmmakers didn’t bother to put
those scenes into the film. This is a
clear mess of a story that comes across like a dumb yet proactive B/C grade
monster film with some talent and a bit of production value for the most part
behind it.
Now, we should get to the technical elements of the film
from cinematography to music and the SFX/creature designs along with the CGI
artistry applied to them as they are a wealth of mixed results from good to
just shoddy and cheaply done at worst.
The camera shots and views in this film are still magnificent to look at
as well as the design of the world/Covenant ships that feel like a blend
between the post modernist technology of the previous film along with the worn,
gritty look of the tech, seen in Alien. While it doesn’t quite have the same
memorable look and shot composition of Prometheus,
it is still quite a good looking film to watch with creating the world through
practical locations and skillful use of sets/green screens to really showcase
the scale of this uninhabited world.
Credit needs to go out to Dariusz Wolski, cinematographer who worked
with Scott before on his other sci-fi/drama film The Martian as he continues to really convey the stories visually
with artistic power especially in the vista moments and the horror moments of the
film. On a cinematography level, this
film is masterfully shot and expertly composed as it should with a veteran on
the production and the blend between the look of Prometheus with Alien
working quite well together despite not being as visually unique or inspired as
the previous entry in this series.
The creature designs for the Xenomorphs and also Neo-Morphs
(called Deacons officially) are suitably designed and creepy to see along with
H.R. Giger’s actual conceptual drawings/designs used as a way to showcase
David’s study and experiments to create the perfect weapon. However, the SFX and CGI on them are very
shoddy at times, due in part from the lowered production cost of $96 million
compared to the estimated $140 million from the previous film. It gives a reason as to why the CGI does not
have the same level of polish and believability as the previous film, making
for some goofy moments near the end as the Alien bounces around too smoothly
along with seeing its vision which feels out of place and dips too close into
horror film troupes. This was done by effects
house Odd Studios and CreatureNFX and their work looks a bit wonky in this film
with the vista shots and world looking spectacular but their creature movements
and placement feeling a bit too jarring, with no sense of weight to them when
they pop up on the screen. It clearly
shows that they try to keep cost down this time around and the results are
relatively mixed in the efforts and budget put into bringing these creatures to
life.
As for the music, it also had a bit of a bumpy road in solidifying
who would eventually give it the audio identity for the film but eventually Jed
Kurzel composed this entry in the Alien
series. It is a mixture of what Jerry
Goldsmith had done to the original film as well as Marc Streitenfeld’s
work on Prometheus, making a hybrid
between the dark, industrialized sound of Goldsmith’s work with Streitenfeld’s
mysterious, adventurous sound. It does
feel like an homage but distinctive enough to be a part of this film’s world
without feeling too familiar or pandering towards fan service. It is ambient music that works in the context
of each scene and hits its goal of creating the necessary emotions well despite
the issues with the screenplay. This is a technically well made film with the
oddities and lack of polish present in the effects themselves, making for some
jarring goofy moments with the creatures but the world feels lived in and believable
in its designs and shot compositions.
It has come down to this, did Alien: Covenant succeed or fail in revitalizing a long running
series that has had its shares of clunkers? Yes and No. It has brought horror back into this series
in a big way with enough thrills, blood, and gore to satisfy those looking to
enjoy a campy, B/C grade monster schlock film in cinemas. However, it fails in continuing the
storylines and answer questions left hanging in Prometheus as well as wiping the slate clean to have the Xenomorphs
yet again for a rehash of the previous films with nothing new to bring to the
series. The characters are yet again
written thinly and commit questionable, dumb actions that get them killed like
in a generic slasher/horror film while the antagonist/android characters David
and Walter are the only ones that have proper character development and go
about their goals sensibly. It is ironic
that the most human character is the robot as Fassbender is clearly the
standout of the cast despite the other cast members doing admirably well in
their roles especially with how stupidly written their characters tend to
be. The answers to questions we wanted
answered are disappointing and it raises more questions in regards the
Xenomorphs origins as well as David’s vendetta against humanity. This is clearly a misguided, haphazardly made
sequel to make the series go back to status quo with no regards to proper
storytelling or capable direction to make it work. Alien:
Covenant delivers on the monster, horror action thrills but at the cost of
quality writing, believable characters we care for, and a major retcon of the
series iconic ideas and moments that will yet again split people in the middle
with critical reactions to this film.
Score: *** out of *****
Alien: Covenant returns
to the iconography of the series we loved and were disgusted by in the first
place with the return of the xenomorphs and a simpler, modern update of the
original film. It is still a great
looking film in its cinematography despite not matching the scope and scale of Prometheus in its visual look. The action and gore is plentiful enough to
satisfy those looking for a traditional monster film to enjoy in cinemas but as
a sequel and continuation of the previous films and the series itself, it fails
to be any different from the original films and changes it up to the point
where it will divide even more fans of the series than the previous film with
the plot/character choices made in this film.
It suffers the fatigue, unimaginative issue that plagues many horror
series but mainly Halloween and even Friday The 13th in finding
convoluted, moronic ways to get back to the status quo. For fans, this is going to be either a love
or hate it film with the changes made to the continuity but also to going back
to basics with the series while everyone else, it is disposable entertaining horror
film fodder that will be forgotten and vilified before we even reach October.
