"SKumm's Thoughts"
ALIEN: COVENANT (2017, R, 130 minutes, TWENTIETH CENTURY
FOX/BRANDYWINE)
Ridley Scott, for all intents and purposes, is one of the
most iconic directors of my time. My two
favorite films of anything ever committed to celluloid are ALIEN and BLADE
RUNNER.
For some reason, Sir Ridley decided that enough was enough;
five years after the crap that was ALIEN VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM was released, he
rebooted his legacy with PROMETHEUS, a largely misunderstood film which was
actually a thought-provoking journey into the Alien lore. Many fans rejected the film—mostly due to
misconceptions and a desperate desire to see the original xenomorph they were
all familiar with.
In COVENANT, Sir Ridley tries to provide the fans with what
they wanted initially—and that is where the true horror begins. In a story rife with predictability and more
silly decisions by its characters, this entry seems more of a road bump than
the prior film ever was. I understand
and see where he is going with this storyline; by “predictability” I am in no
way expecting surprises which would distract from the ultimate endpoint
(ALIEN), yet I am expecting a story in which I cannot foresee the outcome or
how we get there. In that way, I was
disappointed. Especially with the end of
the film. No spoilers here,
kids—hopefully you have already seen it before reading this review, and have
your own viewing experience to correlate (total MUTHER reference there) with my
typically inane writing.
But as a diehard fan of the original, and a staunch
supporter of what Mr. Scott did with PROMETHEUS, I cannot help but wonder at
the fate of the rest of the series. I
appreciate him as a storyteller and filmmaker, but this one…
Yes, there are more interesting creature designs, and a
heckuva lot more gore than its predecessor.
In some ways, Sir Ridley and Co. deliver more than satisfactory on many
different levels. And Lord knows I love
me some Michael Fassbender! Holy
facehugger, does my Number One Go-to-Gay-Guy get some well-deserved screen time. His portrayal of both Michael and Walter is
even better than his straight-up Michael in PROMETHEUS, and for that one I
thought he should have been at least nominated for an Academy Award.
Quick synopsis of the film for those that haven’t seen it
yet: a crew transporting frozen colonists to a habitable planet are awoken
early from hypersleep (sound familiar...?), and investigate a seemingly
pristine planet which is much closer than their idyllic new home. Turns out, the place is inhabited by
xenomorphs of a much earlier design (slight spoiler) than what we end up with
in ALIEN. There are several plot points
I have issues with (including the incubation period—really, the victims now
have the response time of the zombies from 28 DAYS LATER?!?) but will not get
into here. Again, I try not to spoil
anything in my reviews.
Overall, I enjoyed the film, but not nearly as much as
PROMETHEUS. Sir Ridley does not entirely
dismiss what he was setting up with the first film, and does progress the story
to a point which makes this necessary viewing if you are to continue on with
the saga.
But for the man that invented science fiction horror, I
would have hoped for something a little more…well, MORE. I just hope I haven’t already figured out the
next sequel…
Grade: B-
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