A bit of a rant first.
I tried to keep well away from any reviews and spoilers other then watching the first few trailers, and the first TV spot. However, keeping away from recent reviews was very hard to do with the likes of the Internet and Social Media. Well things were going great, I managed to kept away from AVP Galaxy and avoided most known sources that will most likely have Alien Covenant reviews over the last few weeks... BUT afew days ago my f**king phone let me down when I was checking the daily world news on my Upday app that's on my phone. The first thing I seen in big bold black letters on my mobile screen was "Alien: Covenant review: a stupid, disappointing mess that cheapens the original franchise" (by
wired.co.uk) Dam I was looking forward to going to see Covenant without knowing any reviews like I did when I first seen Prometheus back in 2012... Dam this put me on a downer for the rest of that day. However Iater that day, i decided to check a few more reviews to see if it was really as bad of what
wired.co.uk said in there title? I first read some tiny bits of Private Hudson's review why trying to keep away from any spoilers. Then I read some of the overall reviews (mostly the positive ones) that were on AVP Galaxy's front page. After that my hopes went back up since most of the reviews were saying it's better then Prometheus and I infact like Prometheus so this could be a good thing.
Well I managed to get to a premier at my local cinema that was showing Alien Covenant on the 11th at 8:30pm and here is what I think.
Alien Covenant is good, but not as good as Alien or Aliens, let's be fair Ridley Scott never going to top his own film Alien. I would say its a solid sequel to Prometheus, if ur ok with Prometheus going down the Alien path. I do think some fans are going to be pleased, were some are going to have problems with this film. However what Ridley Scott has done is miles better then any of the later Alien and AvP films. And Covenant just tops Prometheus with better action and horror ands it's pretty brutal and gory for a 15 certificate.
Will contain plot SPOILERS so only read on if you already seen it. Or if you don't care for spoilers....
SPOILERS....
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Plot:
Basically the Trailers and TV spots give away too much of the story. And it steals alot from the first Alien movie. Sometimes it improves on them, were sometimes it doesn't. An example I liked was how they received the signal from Shaw. Were I did not care much for the Alien getting tracked by Walter or should I say David when it was hunting Daniels and Tennessee in the final act of the film. It just felt Ridley was shoehorning some of the things that work really well in the first Alien movie and trying to do them on a much bigger scale in Covenant.
We all knew David was going to turn bad. He has basically become Dr Frankenstein with abit of Roy Batty thrown in. I'm still not 100% sure if david will become the creator of the classic Xeno from Alien? The Eggs that he creates in Covenant seem to be of him playing about with the black goo and insects and other organic matter. However because someone behind me was eating a big bag of crisp and making loads of noise, I had problems making out the dialogue when David was talking to Walter or the captain who got facehugged. Talking about David, it was very obvious that he was pretending to be Walter when he got on the ship and escaped the planet with Daniels and Tennessee and that other dude. The film is definitely left wide open for a sequel and God knows what David will get up to with all them humans in cryo sleep. Another thing we don't see Walter die so is it possible that he survived? He also had healing capabilities because that wound on his neck heals when David first attacks him? Also did at least one Neomorph survived on the planet at the end? I can only remember one getting killed by the captain?
The lack of The Engineers was a bit disappointing, I wanted to see more of the one from Prometheus. We do get to see a short scene were David releases black goo on the city below that have a species similar to the engineer's but it's not clear if they are the same race? David just wipes out the whole city/planet? I hope we get to see the Engineers from Prometheus back in the next film.
In the Final Act that scene where Daniel's was swinging around on that steal cable why trying to shoot the Alien seemed a little over the top. The reason I say this, is because everytime she was swinging about trying to shoot the Alien I was thinking if that was real the ships burners would Fry her to death. How f**king lucky can she be? And it was not just that, f**king Tennessee was crashing in to things when trying to keep the ship stable in flight. Man she was lucky to get through that unscathed. I'm gunna put it in the same over the top scenario as Ripley having the Queen hanging of her leg why the air lock is open in Aliens.
Another dumb moment was adventuring out into the open (even if you heard a signal from another human) without a space suit. Now I can't remember if it was hinted that the planets air was breathable and safe in Covenant? If it was then fine, but I can't remember anything being said before they went looking for the ghost signal? However if not then Ridley you need to at least not repeat this Cliche.
Cast:
Michael Fassbender yet again steals the show as David and Walter. The other cast members were either forgetful or neutral when on screen. However thank God the weren't as dumb as some of the crew members from Prometheus. Daniels just felt like another Ripley type, and I don't think her character brought anything new to the Table. People give Noomi Rapace playing Shaw a lot of stick, but at least Shaw character felt fresh and not another Ripley wannabe clone. Basically non of the actors did a bad job in Covenant. The just never stood out, like the cast of Alien/Aliens only Michael Fassbender did when playing his roles and that brief appearance by Guy Pearce.
Neomorphs/Xenomorph
I thought the Neomorph design looked freaky, especially that scene in the movie were David gets confronted by an adult Neomorph. The Xenomorph looks good as well. However u will notice they can sometimes look abit CGI in some parts. The life cycle seems to be a lot faster then in any other films you will literally see the Xeno/Neo grow right in front of your eyes, it looks very weird. The one problem I had with both the Neo and Xeno was they both move way to fast and bounce around way to much, making it hard to appreciate the design of the creatures, because everything is moving way to fast on screen when either are attacking humans. But when we do get shots of both creatures standing, looking around or walking normally they look very scary and horrifying.
The Xeno most of the time moves on all fours just like the runner from Alien3 did. However the was a brief moment at the end were it was walking on two legs looking for Daniels and Tennessee in that room with the vehicles and it looked awsome in a freaky disturbing way. I almost had a vibe that Bolaji Badejo soul was inside that alien in that brief moment. Wish we got more alien walking around on 2 legs.
I think I liked the Neomorph more in this film then the Xenomorph. The is nothing wrong with the Xenomorph it looks great and serves its purpose but them adult Neomorphs look f**king creepy and are refreshing to look at. Would love to see it in the shadows picking people off slowly. That's what's also missing from this film, the lack of the boogeyman lurking in the shadows taking its time to kill. more scenes like Brett's death in Alien were the suspense builds up would of been a welcome, and not always have them attack like the mindless zombies from World War Z.
SPOILER END..................
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Overall:
Positives:
Fassbender and the small brief appearance of Guy Pearce.
Neomorphs/Xenomorphs
Pretty violent and gory for a 15.
Looks gorgeous.
Music Score is excellent a mixture of both Alien and Prometheus.
Definitely left open for an interesting sequel.
No dumb characters like Fifield and Millburn from Prometheus.
David art work being a nod to Gigers.
My mate being stoned out of his head on whitey why watching this. Lol I never knew he was stoned, he just looked a little white and was shivering after the film was over. He did say the film f**ked him up lol. Don't do drugs kids
Negatives:
Lack of the Engineers race.
has one or two movie cliches.
Last act pacing seems to be a little rushed.
You won't care for most of the characters.
Verdict:
A solid 7/10. Infact I'm pushing towards a 8/10 i am definitely stuck between a 7 and 8. Defo one of the better Alien films and just tops Prometheus. I can't wait to see were the sequel to Covenant takes us.
My films in order as of now are.
Alien
Aliens
Alien Covenant
Prometheus
Alien Res/Alien3 still wonded by A3.
