Review of Alien: Covenant (2017) by Terence G — 05 Sep 2017

I really really wanted to love this movie. It was visually perfect, appropriately gory and adult, and did away with (most of) the religious bs from Prometheus. I didn't even really mind that there was nothing new here - just another take on the same formula of Alien(s). But it did that well, and any fan will definitely find this worth watching.

Fassbender, playing the role of two versions of an Android, was thoroughly engaging, and probably the highlight of the film. But none of the other characters were remotely interesting. What is presented as a "tough female lead" (short hair, masculine nickname, grey tank-top a la Ripley) seemed to cry more than kick ass - basically an anticipated riff on an Alien motif that was wholly underwhelming. Everyone makes such stupid and unbelievable decisions (ooh, a totally unknown alien organism, let's get up close and touch it!) that I couldn't care what happened to anyone. I was almost rooting for "the bad guys".

So, stronger and better developed characters, and a script geared towards a more intelligent audience, would have made this movie an easy A. Still pretty entertaining. 3rd best Alien movie for sure.