Spoilers Alien Covenant Review Thread

[Mage]

I figured I'd might as well start an actual review thread for this movie, since there isn't one just. Only one to discus some contradictions.

Saw it last night, together with my girlfriend. I very much enjoyed it, although it will require a rewatch for me to really give a solid opinion on it. It was mostly Michael Fassbender's terrifying performance of David that left the both of us feeling quite unnerved. Although a certain 'twist' in the end was obvious from miles away, the execution of it was nicely done.

I'm sure a lot of people will pick this apart for being inconsistent with what has been seen before, however, I feel it's important to take several factors into account. One big problem some fans have is that xenomorphs are part of the late 20th/early 21st century, thanks to a little easter-egg in Predator 2 and the AvP movies. However, Scott was totally free to ignore those and focus only on his own previous entry in the Alien saga. This might well be the very first time an actual xenomorph lived.
Second.... Yes, xenomorph-like creatures were seen on the murals in Prometheus. This is still an ongoing tale, with a sequel to Covenant in the works. There is a good change that that will be explained. So for now, I'm not going to look in those inconsistancies to deeply, and wait for the rest of the story.

Acting..... Acting certainly wasn't bad, and in same cases even excellent. Michael Fassbender was amazing in his execution of both Walter AND David, with the character of David creeping you out all the time. Billy Crudup was quite good as Oram, with his acting being subtle and small and creating quite an intriguing character. The only real problem is characters. With the exception of perhaps Oram, no one really develops into a character, they are just people who are there. Which I suppose is quite enough for a movie like this, but there never really is any sense of feeling bad/sad for what's happening to these people.

Overall ambiance of the movie was excellent. As one would expect from Scott, the movie looks amazing and real. The shots of Covenant in space and orbit were good enough to make me feel that I was actually in a spacesuit next to it. The neomorph was haunting and outlandish, with a disturbing human quality to its stance. I'm not yet sure about the xenomorph. It was well executed, and some of it's movements reminded me very much of the first Big Chap, especially when it walks into the terraforming bay. That straight up stance, tall and lanky and human reminded me so much of Alien. However, I also think we saw to much of it. The sense of this creature being half there, half not as we got from the original was gone, and it was there in front of us in all its menacing glory. The chestbursting scene.... I am not yet sure. Part of me felt it was overdone, part of me felt terrified and mystified at the same time.

Sadly, as interesting as Shaw's ultimate fate was, it's sad that she isn't in the movie itself. The prologue released a few weeks ago, are really all the scenes she did for this movie, except for maybe one which I'm not sure yet was a model or truly Noomi Rapace on set.

What truly was amazing though, and I just found this out, was that ofcourse the creature was CGI and MoCap, but also both the Neomorph and the xenomorph were portrayed by an actor in a suite on set. THAT to me is one of the most brilliant things about this movie, a true creature again.

Overall...... This movie certainly gets atleast a B+ from me, but I need to see it again at some point when it's released on bluray. I want to give it my full attention, which is easier for me at home than in cinema's. All in all though, as a big fan of Prometheus, I felt this was not only a good follow up to Prometheus, but also a solid entry into the Alien saga.

 

[Tosk]

but also both the Neomorph and the xenomorph were portrayed by an actor in a suite on set. THAT to me is one of the most brilliant things about this movie, a true creature again.

Except pretty much every shot has the Aliens replaced with CGI.

 

[Relayer1]

I remain unimpressed with much of Scotts work and this is no exceptiion.

If you can ignore the inconsistencies with and the lack of respect shown to much of the existing franchise it fell short of being bad, whilst being nowhere near good. It's either a continuity ruining disaster or just unforgivably mediocre.

I don't know how Blomkamps Alien 5 would have panned out, but I'd rather they'd given him a shot than let Scott near the franchise again.


PS. Future instalments to 'explain' inconsistencies ? Nope.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I enjoyed it a lot.

In the flute scene, I totally thought that David was going to push that flute through Walter's brain.

 

[Mage]

I remain unimpressed with much of Scotts work and this is no exceptiion.

If you can ignore the inconsistencies with and the lack of respect shown to much of the existing franchise it fell short of being bad, whilst being nowhere near good. It's either a continuity ruining disaster or just unforgivably mediocre.

I don't know how Blomkamps Alien 5 would have panned out, but I'd rather they'd given him a shot than let Scott near the franchise again.


PS. Future instalments to 'explain' inconsistencies ? Nope.

What inconsistencies are you refering to? Not ment as a slight or an insult. I really would like to know. Some people for example don't understand where the eggs came from in this movie. Only Aliens ever gave us the Queen, the original concept of the eggs was through morphing of other lifeforms. The theory some people have is that all the eggs from the first Alien will turn out to be all the colonists from Covenant.
I think Scott is basicly ignoring all the other movies. In that case, inconsintencies would be very small. But I do agree with you that, taking every movie that ever had Xenomorphs in it into account, a lot of this movie doesn't make sense. I guess it depends on how you approach the Alien franchise. Even before the AvP movies, a lot of people already didn't count Alien3 and Resurrection as part of the canon, let alone the AvP movies.

 

[Relayer1]

What inconsistencies are you refering to? Not ment as a slight or an insult. I really would like to know. Some people for example don't understand where the eggs came from in this movie. Only Aliens ever gave us the Queen, the original concept of the eggs was through morphing of other lifeforms. The theory some people have is that all the eggs from the first Alien will turn out to be all the colonists from Covenant.

I think Scott is basicly ignoring all the other movies......I do agree with you that, taking every movie that ever had Xenomorphs in it into account, a lot of this movie doesn't make sense.

I think you pretty much answered your own question with the last paragraph there.

I dislike that David created the Xenomorphs intensely. That the ship in Alien was an ancient derelict has been part of my understanding of the franchise for decades, as was the skull in Predator2 and thus the AVP movies also. I'm choosing to go with the theory that David recreated the creature as an inevitable endpoint from messing with the aggressively dominant genome found in the black goo. Pretty much whatever you do with it and other DNA gives you a Xenomorph or a very close approximation. And there's an image of one in Prometheus.

Both Prometheus and Covenant are poor scripts rife with stupid crewmen and unexplained behaviour - I doubt Scott will tie everything up with a bow, or even care in the next one...

 

[Tosk]

I think Scott is basicly ignoring all the other movies.

And the original too, considering how damn fast the facehugger implants, how fast 'til the chestbursting, how fast 'til the adult form. (And let's not even mention the chestburster being a tiny full grown Alien instead of the usual design.) I've been ragging on AvP 1 and 2 for years due to that and then Scott went and did the same damn thing.

 

[Relayer1]

And the original too, considering how damn fast the facehugger implants, how fast 'til the chestbursting, how fast 'til the adult form. (And let's not even mention the chestburster being a tiny full grown Alien instead of the usual design.) I've been ragging on AvP 1 and 2 for years due to that and then Scott went and did the same damn thing.

AvP 1 is a better movie than Covenant.

Depressing isn't it ?

 

[Tosk]

I don't know if I could agree with that...but the fact that it's even up for debate is depressing as hell.

 

[Mage]

@Relayer1 :Valid points. I think the concept of a xenomorph being the only true outcome makes total. I do agree with you that I also always felt that the Derelict was ancient. As for the skull in Predator 2 and AvP1/2... I'm still not sure how to feel about that. Part of me thinks it's awesome, part of me treats the AvP movies as cinematic comicbooks, nothing really official. But AvP being better than Covenant.... no, I can't agree with that.
I see the inconsistencies you mean, and personally, I am going to wait untill the story is finalised and give final judgement. But I will agree that when you take all the movies into account, then yes, Covenant makes little sense.

 

[lurok]

Apologies for cross-posting, but @Nightowl1701 raised some interesting points on David, eggs, etc from the novelization...

Got to read the Covenant novelization today. Here's what Alan Dean Foster adds to what we saw in theaters:

Spoiler: Deleted Scene #5:

In his 'laboratory,' David initially shows Oram a full sized Xeno egg ("It lies as I found it, a supreme example of the Engineers' skill... and hubris") that he'd had to 'euthanize' as it 'became aggressive.' He opens its' top flaps himself, then invites Oram to look in. When he hesitates: "Really, Captain, if I had wanted to infect you with something, I could have thrown you a viable egg sac (earlier) instead of a petrified one." Slowly, carefully, Oram looks in... and sees only a dead, petrified Facehugger.

As they descend into the Egg chamber, David smears himself and Oram with a lavender-smelling ointment that blocks the overpowering smells in the chamber and protects 'from... other things.'

When the living Egg opens moments later, David sticks his own head inside the Egg himself first. "See? Alive, but inert. It's not matured, not developed enough to sense me." Oram correctly points out that David is not organic. "Very true. That's another thing the ointment is for... it blocks any indication of your living presence."

Spoiler: Extended Scene #1(?):

Oram's chestburster starts to come out as the traditional wormlike creature, but even as it emerges it molts into the Spaceballs model we saw in the film (thanks to the wildly accelerated growth rate David had programmed into this 'advanced model'). The scene continues past the film version, as the alien visibly grows to its full size right in front of David. David whistles at it; head cocked, the Xeno tries to do the same (comes out as a hiss instead). At least it tried...

 

[Mage]

That's interesting, especially about David finding the egg.

 

[Mage]

And the original too, considering how damn fast the facehugger implants, how fast 'til the chestbursting, how fast 'til the adult form. (And let's not even mention the chestburster being a tiny full grown Alien instead of the usual design.) I've been ragging on AvP 1 and 2 for years due to that and then Scott went and did the same damn thing.

According to the novel, it took 9 hours between the implanting and the actual chestbursting.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Copying my review from the other thread...

Looks like I'm going to be in the minority again.

Alien: Covenant is not just beautiful and intense, it's otherworldly and sinister. I love the lowercase alien nature of the planet, the eeriness of no fauna, the revelation that it was once the Engineers' planet, destroyed by David himself. While we don't see much of the ship itself, I love the exterior design of the Covenant, particularly the solar sails.

The development of David's character is probably my favorite part of the film: Turns out, despite Elizabeth's influence, he's still a bastard. He's more interested in scientific experimentation and philosophical exploration of the meaning of life than he is with the preservation of life. His love for Shaw is twisted, reciprocated by making her a mother in the most morbid method imaginable. Elizabeth's fate is not one I expected, and while I was initially disappointed, I pushed that away because I shouldn't allow my expectations drive my opinion of what the film actually is.

Sure, the Walter/David switch was predictable, but that's not the point. The point is that moment of horror for Daniels when she realizes the truth. I loved that dark twisting-of-the-knife moment and how it concludes the film, no matter how predictable it was or how it's obviously set-up for the next film.

I was a little disappointed that the prologues didn't appear in the film (the Elizabeth segment in the case of the second one). I think the pre-cryogenic sleep scene would've fit well between the David opener and the Walter alone sequence, and while Its omission doesn't hurt the film, it would've been a nice set-up piece for the crew. It's a pity that all we get of Elizabeth and James Franco's characters are in those prologues but that's not a big deal. I'm sure plenty of people will complain about that, however.

As for the rest of the film, perhaps its a bit too by-the-numbers, but I didn't care. I largely cared about the character journeys for Daniels, Walter, and David anyways. The rest of the crew's fate was sealed by the very nature of the film itself. They're all going to die. That's the premise of every Alien film. I continue to be baffled how that's used as a criticism against Prometheus and now Covenant.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Danny McBride's character considering how much I loathe Eastbound and Down. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope he features in the sequel.

 

[Mage]

Copying my review from the other thread...

Looks like I'm going to be in the minority again.

Alien: Covenant is not just beautiful and intense, it's otherworldly and sinister. I love the lowercase alien nature of the planet, the eeriness of no fauna, the revelation that it was once the Engineers' planet, destroyed by David himself. While we don't see much of the ship itself, I love the exterior design of the Covenant, particularly the solar sails.

The development of David's character is probably my favorite part of the film: Turns out, despite Elizabeth's influence, he's still a bastard. He's more interested in scientific experimentation and philosophical exploration of the meaning of life than he is with the preservation of life. His love for Shaw is twisted, reciprocated by making her a mother in the most morbid method imaginable. Elizabeth's fate is not one I expected, and while I was initially disappointed, I pushed that away because I shouldn't allow my expectations drive my opinion of what the film actually is.

Sure, the Walter/David switch was predictable, but that's not the point. The point is that moment of horror for Daniels when she realizes the truth. I loved that dark twisting-of-the-knife moment and how it concludes the film, no matter how predictable it was or how it's obviously set-up for the next film.

I was a little disappointed that the prologues didn't appear in the film (the Elizabeth segment in the case of the second one). I think the pre-cryogenic sleep scene would've fit well between the David opener and the Walter alone sequence, and while Its omission doesn't hurt the film, it would've been a nice set-up piece for the crew. It's a pity that all we get of Elizabeth and James Franco's characters are in those prologues but that's not a big deal. I'm sure plenty of people will complain about that, however.

As for the rest of the film, perhaps its a bit too by-the-numbers, but I didn't care. I largely cared about the character journeys for Daniels, Walter, and David anyways. The rest of the crew's fate was sealed by the very nature of the film itself. They're all going to die. That's the premise of every Alien film. I continue to be baffled how that's used as a criticism against Prometheus and now Covenant.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Danny McBride's character considering how much I loathe Eastbound and Down. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope he features in the sequel.

You echo a lot of my own sentiments about this movie. Also, I tend to not compare the Alien movies too much, since they are all so different to begin with.

 

[Campe]

The movie adds some interesting, if inconsistent, layers to the mythology. It has an amazing performance from Fassbender and good performances from Waterston and McBride.

The rest of the cast is unremarkable. The story is okay at best. The scares are nonexistent. (However, after five movies (or seven depending on if you count the AvP movies or not), that's not surprising.)

The movie is entertaining but certainly nothing to write home about.

Solid C.

 

[Gaith]

Loved Prometheus, loved Covenant. Both are first-rate popcorn flicks, IMO.

I never wanted any explanation/backstory for the xenos, so for me, the thematic incoherence and arbitrary plotting of these two movies is a weird kind of virtue that amplifies the cosmic horror and delicious, crunchy nihilism. If things made sense, and the characters behaved prudently, and the Big Questions were answered, I think I'd be bored and irritated. Instead, we get great actors, beautiful cinematography, great sets, and righteous kills. Indeed, I like to think Sir Ridley is secretly trolling us for wanting more franchise product.

Prometheus: B+
Alien: Covenant: A-

I agree with all the following criticisms, but hey, I can't defend a Taco Bell double-decker taco on fine cuisine grounds, either... And yet, I like it:

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However, I'm not sure just what tipped off Daniels that Walter was David. Was it his unfamiliarity with her intention of building a wood cabin? But that seems straightforward enough that he could have bluffed his way through it if he wanted. Did he give her some wicked look that the camera, looking down on him from behind, didn't show us?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

However, I'm not sure just what tipped off Daniels that Walter was David. Was it his unfamiliarity with her intention of building a wood cabin? But that seems straightforward enough that he could have bluffed his way through it if he wanted. Did he give her some wicked look that the camera, looking down on him from behind, didn't show us?

From what I recall, it was simply his unfamiliarity with her intention of building the cabin. She developed a close relationship with Walter and that was one aspect of it, so his lack of acknowledgement to the cabin would be enough. For his part, David simply decided not try to bluff his way and let her have that moment of terror before going to sleep. The bastard.

 

[marillion]

I enjoyed it a lot.

In the flute scene, I totally thought that David was going to push that flute through Walter's brain.

Me too.. And I'm sure that was the intent.. Foreboding on what was to happen a little later on, of course.

Overall, I enjoyed it.. Yes, the characters (most of them) were too dumb... But you have to temper that thought knowing that we, the audience, have had four decades worth of Alien movies to go by, so while WE know you shouldn't look in the pod, the crew might not..

That said.. Too many character flaws here that can be chalked up to some lazy writing.. Some of the dialog and action seemed to come straight out of an 80s slasher flick... Someone I heard on a podcast said that this was like a bad B movie with a HUGE budget.

Visually, I really liked it... the CGI wasn't overly done to the point of distraction.

I actually like the way they are creating the back story of the xenomorphs... David truly is evil incarnate, especially with what happened to Shaw.

What bothered me was the end... How did Daniels NOT get the switcheroo before she got into her pod? Seriously... She's the smartest person on the damn ship!! How does she not know that Walter's model can repair its own wounds, whereas David had to be stitched up. I didn't even think about the cabin in the woods thing... It just seemed too obvious about the self-healing.

Either way, I enjoyed it more than I did Prometheus.

 

[Riverside2233]

Acting..... Acting certainly wasn't bad, and in same cases even excellent. Michael Fassbender was amazing in his execution of both Walter AND David, with the character of David creeping you out all the time. Billy Crudup was quite good as Oram, with his acting being subtle and small and creating quite an intriguing character. The only real problem is characters. With the exception of perhaps Oram, no one really develops into a character, they are just people who are there. Which I suppose is quite enough for a movie like this, but there never really is any sense of feeling bad/sad for what's happening to these people.

Agreed. That was my biggest hang-up about the movie. I like the action, effects, and plot, but I never felt invested in the characters except for Fassbender.