Released: 2017
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir
Director: Ridley Scott
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Rated: R (UK – 15)
“Witness the Creation of Fear.”
Alien: Covenant is the latest installment in the Alien‘s franchise by original director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, The Martian). Set prior to the events of the first alien film, Covenant aims to bridge the gap between Prometheus (2012) and Alien (1979). So does it succeed or is it crushed under the weight of its own franchise?
Alien: Covenant begins with a flashback to Peter Weyland (Guy Pierce; L.A. Confidential, Memento) the financier of the Prometheus expedition that included the sentient android known as David (Michael Fassbender; X-Men: First Class, Steve Jobs). As Weyland tells the origin of the android’s creation, David asks who created him? To which Weyland says it been his life’s ambition to seek that answer. The main thematic focus of the film is here in its opening segment. Although not immediately apparent, the film orbits the ideals of creation, god, and faith. Sometimes it executes these with impunity and other times it, unfortunately, lands flat on its face.
The central plot follows a colonist pathfinder ship named “The Covenant” seeking a habitable planet, but during a freak solar flare, the ship is damaged. The main crew, comprised of another android like David called Walter (also Michael Fassbender), Captain Oram (Billy Crudup; Princess Mononoke, The Good Shepherd) Daniels (Katherine Waterston; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Logan Lucky) and Tennessee (Danny McBride; Pineapple Express, This Is the End), awaken from stasis and grieve the few that they lost in the incident. Newly appointed Captain Oram insists that they search a nearby planet that is habitable and may have human life.
I don’t want to spoil anything for any fans that still haven’t seen this so I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. Unfortunately, this film is filled with plot points from the opening credits.
After the release of Prometheus, a planned trilogy that would divert but also connect to the Alien universe was underway. The poor reception of Prometheus changed the original idea to a trilogy more closely tied to the previous films as fans and critics alike felt Prometheus diverged too much and left to many open questions by its end. I am not in that camp of thought as I found Prometheus to follow the Alien formula of storytelling perfectly with an added philosophical layer atop. Alien: Covenant tries to blend Alien and Prometheus together with deep thinking on life and creation coexisting with B-movie slasher scares and action.
To say that this film achieved this would be a lie but it tries and the B-movie deaths and scares are a huge part of the movie. An interesting plot exists between the characters of Walter and David. David was the first android made by Weyland Enterprises. Sentient in every way, David’s coding was to serve Peter and to then think for himself after Weyland’s death. David was left with nothing but to live. Walter is a newer model who is more helpful and his coding limits his free thought. Both of these characters are played by Fassbender and both characters steal the show. A voice change is the clear separation between Walter and David, but the look on their faces display a very obvious difference in ideas.
Next time you are looking in a mirror, try to express your ideas on your face and see what you can achieve. I can imagine the difficulty you had as did I after I tried. I’m sure you got tired and realized how silly you’re being. It is a credit to an actor who achieves playing two characters alike in almost every way except for an accent and the expression of free will, but can make them seem like totally different people. Michael Fassbender proves to be a true chameleon in his roles and sets a new benchmark for actors to follow.
Surprisingly, Danny Mcbride follows in close with his performance in Alien: Covenant. A lot of love and care went into this role for him and it shows. One scene in particular where his character, Tennessee, is about to get some news of which he has already surmised, but does not want to believe, is a stand out performance. His pain seems real along with the mounting frustration he has had up to that point.
There is one huge problem with the pace of the story in Alien: Covenant. At certain points in the plot, events happen and characters react in a very overacted, superhero-esque, comic book manner. Upon first meeting David, he is wearing a hood and shoots a flare into the sky. It is all very dramatic, but left me puzzled as to why? He’s an android. Why is he wearing a hood? Is it mimicry to humans? No, it’s just setting the character up for a reveal. Which seemed out of place and reminded me that I’m watching a movie rather than the immersion I felt up until that point. When the alien is first revealed born fully (not in its chestburster form just a skinny tiny Xenomorph) he stands up straight and looks at the character that enabled its birth. The scene implies that he’s going to hug the Xenomorph. Yes, the point was that this character essentially sees himself as a father and god to these creatures, which is awesome, but this scene just feels goofy and out of place.
While the film wants to be both Prometheus and Alien, it cannot seem to mold the two together so instead splits itself into chunks. The first hour is dedicated to both building the background of the characters, and the philosophy of discovery that originated in Prometheus. After the ship landing, the film picks up speed on the Prometheus style storytelling so we can see an alien. Alien: Covenant then shows a massive plot point through a flashback scene with David. This plot point should have been given time and effort to bring forward into the story. Then there is more alien stuff akin to Aliens (1986), a peppering of more Prometheus, then back to Alien for an action scene, then they all live happily ever after (joking). What really follows is a twenty-minute remake of Alien which rushes itself to a conclusion when the real story being told was so very good to begin with.
Exploring genesis of the Xenomorph was so fascinating and enthralling, but the payoff wasn’t worth it and any action scenes between the crew and aliens were not anyway interesting. Just redux encounters with scenes from previous films. Apart from one scene, the very first scene with an infected human, which is so very horrifying because you know what happens to someone impregnated with a gestating alien and, if you saw Prometheus, you know what happens to those who get infected by the alien spores on the planet. A certain combination of the two happens that sends a character into a disturbing and horrifying seizure with a new Xenomorph born in a disgusting new way. Of the horror scenes, this was by far the best and a stand out within the film itself.
The soundtrack deserves a special mention. It is composed by Jed Kruzel (The Babadook, Assassin’s Creed) who really has a lot of talent for composing immersive and subjective soundtracks. Sitting right in the background of your mind, the exotic instruments shine beautifully to bring home the sense of being alone in a strange new, cold, and unforgiving planet. Some scenes rest entirely on very little set and special effects, just sound and actors. In my own opinion, Alien: Covenant would be nothing without the fantastic sound and atmosphere brought to the stage by Kruzel.
The overall design is spectacular. The Xenomorphs and the Neomorphs are equally weird and foreign. While retaining some of the designs taken from the mind of H.R. Giger, they have been modernized, but don’t seem as unique in design and overall biology as Giger’s initial style. The new breed of Xenos are recognizable, but haven’t had the conceptual evolution they would need to match Giger’s and O’Bannon’s original creations.
While there is a lot of love in Alien: Covenant, it won’t be as unique an experience as the original films were. Both Prometheus and Alien had clear visions of what they wanted to be. Alien: Covenant has so many ties binding it to both franchises it defeats the goal of beginning a new trilogy to have more creative liberation. Alien: Covenant on its own it tells a sick and interesting tale. The high budget demands for a film such as this has held it back from reaching the “Promethean” (pun intended) peaks it had aimed for initially. But Alien: Covenant raises some interesting questions and adds a decent addition to the franchise.
Rating:
Thomas C:
Further watching: Prometheus – The first story set far before the events of Alien is food for thought. It does not blend action-horror and story as well as it possibly could, but still a great watch on a Saturday night.
Further playing: Alien: Isolation – A game that gives you the true Alien experience. Breathing heavily, running from the Xenomorph that never ever lets up, adding a layer late into the game similar to such classics as System Shock, never will you be as paranoid as you are here because never are you truly safe. The Xeno is always above or below you waiting for you to slip up.
Further reading: Aliens: Dead Orbit by James Stokoe – A comic displaying takes on the classic Alien moments in the media’s form. A white-knuckle adventure through the Alien universe ensues with some awesome art to boot.
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