Movie: Alien Covenant
My Rating: 3 stars
I wish this movie made more sense. I always loved these movies as a kid—some more than others of course. But, I’ve really only been satisfied by the original three movies. And, that third one really only made it in by the skin of its teeth. But I’ve been pretty disappointed by most of the newer sequel/prequels. And, I am always predisposed to like new additions to my favorite old franchises. I’m usually prepared to be very generous with my judgement in those cases. But, this movie really just felt like it was going through the motions, hitting the necessary beats for it to officially fall into the Alien world, but ultimately failing to capture the essence.
On paper, this movie seems to have it all—a tough female lead, a creepy android who’s probably up to no good, some super-gross rib-cage bursting scenes, a few characters who are punished for their sexuality with said rib-cage bursting. But, this movie really feels like it was written by a committee of studio executives rather than by someone who really cared about the franchise or even sci-fi in general. It feels pretty soulless. That being said, I did like that the film at least attempted to explain some of the total nonsense introduced into the canon in Prometheus. I enjoyed getting to visit the “Architects’” world and seeing what their civilization was like. And, a lot of the Giger-style body horror is still pretty spot-on. It’s very gruesome stuff. And, it was pretty remarkable that the filmmakers managed to come up with a few original scares given how expansive and varied this universe of Alien movies has become.
I found this movie to be pretty disappointing overall. Of course, I had heard that and was aware of it going in, and I was still committed to watching it. I’ll probably never stop watching these Alien movies as long as they’re being made—mostly because of the nostalgia factor. It sounds a bit strange to say about a gruesome horror movie, but I’ll always have a soft place in my heart for these films. But, there’s also a part of me that’s hoping that one of these days a new director will do the story some justice. I’m sure they’ll continue to churn out new additions every few years, and I’ll probably see them all. So, I’ll keep crossing my fingers for a good one. I don’t think there’s any need for you to see this movie unless you have an emotional attachment to the franchise like I do. But, I’ll keep your posted as to whether a good, new one ever gets made.