ALIEN: COVENANT REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 1979, director Ridley Scott shocked audiences when his second feature film, Alien, was released. I don't think anyone was prepared for the level of horror that awaited them as they sat down to watch an alien invasion movie. The film surrounded a crew aboard a spaceship and are hit with disaster after an alien bursts out of one of the crew member's chest and starts killing the entire crew. Almost four decades later, Alien is regarded as a sci-fi/horror classic and it shows one of Sigourney Weaver's career defining performances as Ellen Ripley. Because it was a box office success, James Cameron's 1986 sequel, Aliens, was released with Weaver reprising her role as the brave and fierce Ripley. Despite both films proving to be a hit with both audiences and critics, the following sequels, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection were not best received. After the release of the latter, people assumed that that was the end of the Alien films. Fortunately, they were wrong and Scott began developing a prequel to Alien in the early 2000s. In 2012, Scott's prequel, Prometheus, was released and, whilst it lacked in the alien department, it was still full of thrills and dark and tense moments. It also explained the origins of the human race and began to explain where the xenomorphs came from. Prometheus ended with archaeologist, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and android, David (Michael Fassbender), on their way to find out why the Engineers created them and then tried to destroy them. Now, five years later, the follow-up, Alien: Covenant has been released and it gives more background on the xenomorphs.

Alien: Covenant is set in the year 2104, a decade after the events of Prometheus and opens on board the titular ship which is in the middle of journeying to a new remote planet, Origae-6, with about 2,000 colonists and a 1,000 embryos, which is monitored by the android, Walter (Fassbender) who resembles David but is an improvement on the latter. Unfortunately, disaster strikes, waking the crew up early and resulting the death of its captain (James Franco). As the crew repairs the damages, a transmission is intercepted from a nearby planet. Oram (Billy Crudup), who is second in command, makes the decision to visit the planet, despite Daniels' (Katherine Waterston) objections. When the crew lands, the planet seems perfect but it doesn't take long for things to take a dark and violent turn. 

Despite Prometheus receiving a mostly positive reception from both critics and audiences, most complains were about the lack of aliens. Those who complained will not be disappointed here. Within hours of landing on the planet, two members of the crew are inadvertently infected with an alien spore that kills them, after one bursts out of the back of one crew member while the other escapes through the mouth of another. Alien: Covenant has a high level of violence and gore so those with a weak stomach may want to give this film a miss. The intensity increases and, just when you think everything is okay, Scott shocks us by using unpredictable twists and jump scares. Like in most of the films in the franchise, no one is safe and people die in shockingly violent ways. Once again, Scott has succeeded in crafting a horror film.

Unfortunately, where he is less successful is the characters. In my opinion, in Prometheus, I think that the characters were more memorable because of the actors portraying them and their performances. The stand-outs for me were Rapace, Fassbender and Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers, who monitored the situation. Of the three, Fassbender is the only one to return, however, Rapace's character, Dr. Shaw, is frequently mentioned. Waterston gives a strong performance as Daniels who, despite her initial fears, remains brave and doesn't stop at trying to kill the monstrous neomorphs (which are forerunners to the xenomorph). Waterston previously appeared in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and proves her ability to play two completely different characters. Hopefully, these roles will get her more recognition as I think that she's an underrated actress. Solid supporting roles come from Crudup as Oram and Danny McBride as Tennessee, who is the chief pilot. For those seeing Alien: Covenant for James Franco, you're going to be disappointed.

Fassbender made David an interesting and mysterious individual, however, in this sequel, we see a different side to his character. We learn that he is manipulative and, ironically, has more human emotions than the humans themselves as he almost tears up when he talks about Shaw. He is unpredictable and we never know what he is going to do next. Fassbender also successfully achieves the task of portraying two different characters at the same time. Walter is a more mature, friendlier version of David. The relationship between the two androids is interesting to watch. David's evil actions leads to a brilliantly choreographed fight that results in a surprising twist.

Much like Prometheus, Alien: Covenant features some impressive visuals. When the crew arrive on the planet, the dark and grey setting implies that it's far from the paradise they had hoped for. As the intensity increases, the setting becomes darker, 

At the time of Alien: Covenant's release, Scott announced that there will be a sequel that'll lead into Alien. I won't reveal anything but Alien: Covenant does end on a cliffhanger, indicating there is still more to come. 

While I don't think it's as good as Alien, Aliens or Prometheus (which I enjoyed more than most), Alien: Covenant isn't as bad as Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. It's a welcome return to the 'Alien' franchise and is full of thrills and dark and intense moments. 

7/10