Fans and critics penned much about Alien: Covenant and the franchise itself, with the consensus that the latest movie falls into the favor of the fans, and while not making everyone happy, and that’s true for any fan of a series, can’t please everyone. Ridley Scott gave a solid sequel to Prometheus [2012], and while the movie doesn’t solve all the potholes two videos available on it might help on that front: The Prologues Last Supper and The Crossing. The movie comes close on a few points to the original Alien [1979] with regard to gory gushing moments, generating a gruesome shockwave for the infamous shot of Kane’s chest busting scene, perhaps more for just the fans. Now nearly impossible to not reveal some spoilers with so much written about the movie already however I’ll try to avoid the spoilers, allow me to summarize the movie for you in one sentence. It’s Don’t Answer the Phone thereby making a Wrong Turn, once on the planet forgets the horror rules of Don’t Go Into the Woods never trust a Frankenstein wannabe and lastly, Don’t Go Into the Basement.
Unlike other horror franchises Alien, a hybrid of that genre and sci-fi, and each movie finds itself working harder to thrill and shock the audiences, some want off shoots of Aliens invading modern-day society of today others seek more of the Queen. The alien world definitely becoming more of a Star Wars universe; and Scott still has more tales to tell, and even the Neill Blomkamp Alien Project not off the table yet. Although the anger on the movies lessen a bit from the initial release regard to religious condemnation , comes up subtly with movie discussing who create whom, God never actually mentioned.
After a brief introduction, involving creation talk, gods, perfection, and music of Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla by Richard Wagner, sets the early stage. Once more the alien storyline picks up en route on ship in the vastness of space, carrying precious cargo this time over 2000 colonists seeking a new world, when an unpredictable cosmic event occurs and Walter (Michael Fassbender), an android tries to save everyone on the ship. However, James Franco buys the farm quickly, so much for his lasting impression on the film. As the crew works on repairing the ship, Mother (Loreleo King supplies the voice) notifies them about a mysterious signal is intercepted, from a human, therefore the Covenant heads to the uncharted planet. The planet is ideal for colonization, however, looks can be deceiving, and this comes across a delicious red apple offered to entice the unprepared a slight glimpse into the Garden of Eden. Soon enough the aliens attack in new destructive manners and the appearance of David (Fassbender, in a dual role) rescues them and helps to explain the planet and what happened to Shaw, from his standpoint and little evidence. David becomes an obsessed made doctor experimenting with the engineer’s bio-weapon with interest repercussions. Look for the characters of Daniels (Katherine Waterston) gives a hardened Ripley performance, while her counterpart Tennessee (Danny McBride) delivers a few comedic lines.
Every film, even the greats contain flaws, and while the story perhaps becomes muddled in the timeline of Prometheus and Alien, and with engineers, Covenant gives graphic involvement and brief ridiculous T&A moment and some stereotypical cliché, found usually in the horror genre, it’s a shower scene. The visuals and CGI nail each scene; just a look at the credits shows all the artists involved with process and the budget of $97 to $111 million, all of it shown on the screen and promotion. The aliens bring a terrifying and quicken pace of attacking and growing, understanding it allows one to compare the zombie evolution Romero’s staggered, the Alien from 1979 had a little speed but these of today built of for blitzing ravenous speed like those rabid killers of 28 Days Later.
The ending as everyone now likely knows opens the door to a sequel, and becomes a tad sinister, with a Dr. Frankenstein meeting God-himself, all in a new exciting perilous conceptual design and world. These films make it less and less like that friendly aliens don’t exist, no E.T, no Starman, forget about Close Encounters, or even a Cocoon to hide in, Aliens still vicious regardless of who’s creating who.
This review was originally published in June 2017 on the now defunct Rogue Cinema website.
TAGLINES:
- Run
- The path to paradise begins in hell.
- Hide
- Scream
- Pray
- Discover the Origin of Terror.
- The Beginning of a Nightmare.
- Witness the Creation of Fear.
- Big things have small beginnings.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2316204/
IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
Baron’s Rating: 6.0/10