Ridley Scott's third venture into the outer reaches of space puts us alongside the crew of the Covenant. Where are they going? To colonize on another planet. Are they prepared for what awaits them? Of course not! Scott's previous installment Prometheus was actually the first film from the Alien universe I saw. I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe it to be a GREAT film no matter what the detractors say. Then I sunk my teeth into the masterpiece known as Alien, a film made so well it's hard to imagine someone could make a film so great. Aliens is okay, and Alien 3 is just an abysmal film from start to finish. Now that you know where I stand with the Alien franchise let's (xeno)morph into my review for Alien: Covenant. Ridley Scott just KNOWS how to capture an image. Right from the film's illustrious opening sequence to it's haunting(?) final frame, Covenant is a feast for our weak human eyes. It's got everything a fan of this franchise would want, and even though that may be it's biggest downfall, you can't help but have a good time with it. Covenant boasts an extraordinarily orchestrated score from Jed Kurzel that really elevates every scenario, particularly all of the sexy alien goodness we expected. Blend that together with Scott's knack for capturing beautiful images and Dariusz Wolski's knee-buckling cinematography and you already have a technical beast plastered on the movie screen. This goes with mentioning that Alien: Covenant contains the best visual effects this young 2017 has seen. Despite the less practical approach to the alien, it's as haunting as it was back in 1979 and we get some of our best glimpses at this ferocious animal yet. Leading the cast is one of our generation's best performers, Michael Fassbender as he turns in yet another fantastic performance to add to his resumé. There is nothing this man can't do, it's almost as if he were a synthetic organism! The rest of the cast is well...fine...I guess. Danny McBride honestly gives the best performance outside of Fassy and Katherine Waterston tries to deliver her best mix of Elizabeth Shaw and Ellen Ripley and she just misses the mark. She was serviceable, but didn't blow me away. No one disappointed me more than Billy Crudup as Oram. It felt like he was sleepwalking the entire film and did not work well with what he was given. These four performers are really the only ones that get the attention, and rightfully so as they're the main characters, but they didn't really impress me outside of Fassbender. An all around great cast is what this franchise has been missing since the first film. Much like it's predecessor Prometheus, Covenant contains philisophical undertones about creators, makers, and humanity. Even though it doesn't dive into those themes as much they are very much present througout the narrative. This seems to be a continuing theme with this franchise heading forward and I hope to get a more clear vision as to what the goal is for our antagonist as it may come across as convoluted to some. Covenant really is just the perfect amalgamation of everything GREAT this franchise has offered. From it's gripping action scenes that we can find in Aliens, to it's heavy injection of horror that we can find in Alien, and it's philosophical tones that we can find in Prometheus. All of this sounds like we would end up having a GREAT product, but this is where Covenant loses me the most. When you sit back and really analayze what you just watched in Covenant you really did get something from each incarnation that has preceded it. In concept, this sounds wonderful and everything a fan would want, but it doesn't really mesh quite as well as we would like. Sometimes it felt like it was trying to be Prometheus, and then Aliens, then Alien, back to Prometheus, and so on and so forth. It felt like I was watching a story unfold that contained Alien's greatest hits with some decent performances, less than interesting characters, and a serviceable enough narrative that kept me involved. It isn't a poorly made film by any means whatsoever, don't get that misconstrued, but it's a further reminder that Scott must pass the torch to a younger film-maker ripe to tell a story in this world. Scott is an old fella, he's a whopping 79 years-old, and has made some incredible films, but it's time to move on. You have lent all the creativity you have to Alien and I think passing the torch down to someone like Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) would be a perfect fit for this franchise continuing forward. As much as I love director's staying close to their projects, after a while some of that creativity and artistry within that world gets lost. While I did enjoy Alien: Covenant, I think a vision from a younger director would have made Covenant excel instead of being just pretty good. In regards to the Summer blockbuster season, Alien: Covenant is this Summer's first base hit after the mediocre Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and the atrocity known as King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword. It feels good to get our first good Summer blockbuster in this young season even if it isn't quite as great as I wished. There's lots to love in Covenant, and it contains one of the coolest movie kills ever, but it left me wanting a more focused narrative instead of feeling a bit too much like more of the same. Alien: Covenant gets a 74/100
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