Review of Alien: Covenant (2017) by Christian G — 18 Aug 2017

A beautiful film. Gorgeous to watch with a sublime soundtrack rooted in the first 2 films original scores. The feeling of nostalgia grow with every surprise note and unveiling of familiar history. Fassbender is intriguing to watch, a subtle hint of sexuality deftly whispering from his performance with electric energy.

But then, that is the best of it. This long-winded, inticately weaved Mythos created to explain the origins of the titled Aliens is confusing and infused with so much religious connotation that its extremely hard to follow without taking notes.

So many questions remain. Where did the Engineers come from? They seemed God-like in the previous film Prometheus but now seem another lost race with too much kindness leading to their destruction. How was the wheat grown and why so much if only one survived? What ultimately turned David? We get a sense of his "Fathers" cold demeanor but what abuse led to Davids break? It's confusing and leaves an unsatisfied feeling behind.

At first the film feels like a return to form, a lost crew, an impossible situation, but then it becomes something reaching too high for a deeper meaning and in doing so trivializes the entire cast save 2.

In the grand scheme of the 2 prequels, so far only David will be the constant, everyone else is a victim. That's cold and hopeless. If there is no hero until Ripley then why make these films at all? Still, it's a more pleasing film than its predecessor.

At least there is more action and some secrets are revealed. Two more to come? I'm not sold on seeing more of this mythology played out. But we'll see.