Alien Covenant Fan Reviews

[USS-Sulaco]

Why did Mother

Spoiler

open colonists' cryosleep quarters for David at the end of the movie? Walter was Covenant's only synthetic not David. No security protocol? She even calls him David but it the final log Walter uses his real name which is a signal for Mother that something's wrong. Confusing.[/spoiler

[close]

Spoiler

I figured he simply accessed Mother by assuming David's personality before entering himself as a valid crewmember.

[close]

Spoiler

I didn't get that impression. There was serious emphasis put on what David says to MUTHR  'special command override David xxxx' like it was a long established code. Most Likely interp = weyland granted him special executive powers (in aid of the search for a way to prolong weylands life) that have simply been overlooked and not rescinded since the Prometheus mission. Or it is part of a grander, longer term conspiracy we are yet to dwell into

[close]

I thought he said it was a new code for her to register.

My interp of that was that it was new in its application to that specific ship (but still pre-existing in the greater Weyland sphere). So basically log this code it hasn't been used here yet but it means I'm in charge now and I can do whatever I please with this level of security clearance. And she acknowledged. Could be wrong though. Need to see it again.

[Imbrie]

I think that is it exactly.

[echobbase79]

It's good to see on here that most fans are either loving it or saying it's good.

[Citadel]

I saw twice and the second was worst.

Is it more disorientating? I felt I had no time to even breathe with the pacing during first showing, will I have a similar feeling?

[Darkness]

Spoilers

Well, chaps, I had the pleasure of seeing it last night at the preview. Since joining the online fandom, I am notoriously difficult to please... I hated AvP and Requiem, Predators was average and I didn't like Prometheus all that much. I thought Covenant was absolutely brilliant. I really struggled to find any faults with it. Perhaps because I hated Prometheus so much... well not hate - Prometheus is a well-made movie - but a terrible Alien prequel. Covenant just counters everything I didn't like with Prometheus which is why I think I enjoyed it a lot.

The creature stuff in Covenant is exactly what I wanted from Prometheus. Actual alien life-forms that were a precursor to the Xenomorphs from the Alien series. Not generic-looking crap that had minor characteristics borrowed from the life cycle. The neomorphs were fantastic, so ferocious and deadly. The backburster and introduction of the neomorph sequence will go down as the one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the franchise.  So much tension and terror, the music was phenomenal. As somebody else said, so much gore - I am surprised they got away with so much to say it was a 15.

Now, the Xenomorphs... I know a lot of people have gripes with the life cycle but I don't mind it. The idea here is that they are David's genetic creations - they're not going to be exactly like the ones from the Alien series and I don't think it's ever implied that David is the sole creator of the Xenomorphs. It's just one strand he created through experimentation. I still subscribe to the view that the Engineers created them thousands of years ago as a weapon. Now, the Xenomorph's introduction... Yeah, I would have preferred a chestburster but it's not a dealbreaker that we get a miniature Xeno - afterall, we got something similar in Alien 3. What does piss me off is that the momentous sequence was ruined by David's loopy behaviour - putting his arms in the air and the Xeno doing the same... it seemed absolutely bizarre to me. I guess it's some kind of metaphor to David being the creator of them but it just came across as stupid on screen. The Xenomorphs thesmelves though were great - it was so nice seeing them back on screen. The CGI creatures... I don't mind so much with the Neomorphs but they did rely it on way too much with the Xenomorph. I'm not even sure there was any practical at all going on - some closeups of it kinda looked practical but I'm not sure. It's not a major issue though. The CGI elsewhere was top notch.

The cast... they were all great, never had any issues with any of them. I really need to see it again to digest all the different characters. I thought James Franco was going to have a bigger role than what he did. Felt that was kinda pointless having him in there. Noomi Rapace was another pointless addition - you couldn't even tell it was her in the holograms - I do wonder if they should have had the full prologue of Shaw and David in his flashback sequence. I am glad the Engineers were barely in this - Ridley Scott made the right call there. Get rid of them quickly and don't focus on them like they did in Prometheus. Seeing the flashback and seeing them wearing gowns gathered together... just took away from the mystery of them so good riddance. I actually think Prometheus should have shown the Engineers through just holograms instead of any live Engineers. Fassbender was great as Walter, it was nice seeing their different voices and actions. David, I feel, has just lost it - some of his behaviour in the film is crazy. The whole kissing Walter and Daniels... again just so bizarre. And the ending? Where the heck does the series go from there?

The pacing... as people have said, the film moves at the speed of fright. A two hour film... didn't feel like two hours at all with the amount of action. I do feel it's just part of a much larger arc that we've not seen yet. It's not a big deal, the film could have done with more padding and more exposition. Maybe more time could have been spent getting to know the characters or exploring the planet before they are infected.

So summing up, don't watch this if you're expecting something akin to the Alien trilogy or a story as grande as Prometheus - this isn't what it's about. For me, Scott stripped out most of the mumbo jumbo about philosophy, creation and the Engineers, he upped the gore significantly and he brought back the Xenomorphs with lots of horrific creature action. He tied up some loose ends with the Engineers and brought in a new group of characters. I can forgive the story and the characterisation because the creature stuff was so good. Covenant is what Prometheus should have been. I can't really argue with that. I'll do a full review when the Blu-ray comes out - who knows, maybe when I've had time to digest it on the small screen, my rating may fall slightly. But for now, I'm giving it 9/10.

9/10

[Evanus]

So it's a good thing they decided to just write out the engineers in an extremely lazy way... 

[Robopadna]

So summing up, don't watch this if you're expecting something akin to the Alien trilogy or a story as grande as Prometheus - this isn't what it's about. For me, Scott stripped out most of the mumbo jumbo about philosophy, creation and the Engineers, he upped the gore significantly and he brought back the Xenomorphs with lots of horrific creature action.
9/10

First, really good review, thank you for giving some real thought to it.  This part really disappoints me though.  I could not care less about the Alien itself after the first movie.  Deaths for carnage's sake are boring and you could just watch saw if that's your thing.

The questions Prometheus brought up (but never once bothered to answer...   or simply forgot they brought them up) were the real hook for me.  I thought we were going to get an interesting/stimulating revitalization of the franchise instead of another bug running around killing people in corridors while they make bad life choices.

[Rudiger]

Dreadful, just dreadful.

Every single character in the movie deserves to die. Seriously, they are just so dumb. You wouldn't trust this lot to deliver a pizza, never mind 2,000 colonists. One by one, and over and over again, they do dumb stuff for no logical reason other than to get themselves killed. You would have thought that the first death might have triggered some basic sense of self preservation. But oh no, not this lot.

While none of the characters / performances sunk to Logan Marshall-Green levels of bad, there was little to get excited about. Danny McBride brought some much needed charisma, while Billy Crudup and Demián Bichir weren't bad, the rest we just so incredibly bland.

Equally as poor and disappointing as Prometheus, for pretty much the same reasons.

[cucuchu]

Spoilers

Well, chaps, I had the pleasure of seeing it last night at the preview. Since joining the online fandom, I am notoriously difficult to please... I hated AvP and Requiem, Predators was average and I didn't like Prometheus all that much. I thought Covenant was absolutely brilliant. I really struggled to find any faults with it. Perhaps because I hated Prometheus so much... well not hate - Prometheus is a well-made movie - but a terrible Alien prequel. Covenant just counters everything I didn't like with Prometheus which is why I think I enjoyed it a lot.

The creature stuff in Covenant is exactly what I wanted from Prometheus. Actual alien life-forms that were a precursor to the Xenomorphs from the Alien series. Not generic-looking crap that had minor characteristics borrowed from the life cycle. The neomorphs were fantastic, so ferocious and deadly. The backburster and introduction of the neomorph sequence will go down as the one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the franchise.  So much tension and terror, the music was phenomenal. As somebody else said, so much gore - I am surprised they got away with so much to say it was a 15.

Now, the Xenomorphs... I know a lot of people have gripes with the life cycle but I don't mind it. The idea here is that they are David's genetic creations - they're not going to be exactly like the ones from the Alien series and I don't think it's ever implied that David is the sole creator of the Xenomorphs. It's just one strand he created through experimentation. I still subscribe to the view that the Engineers created them thousands of years ago as a weapon. Now, the Xenomorph's introduction... Yeah, I would have preferred a chestburster but it's not a dealbreaker that we get a miniature Xeno - afterall, we got something similar in Alien 3. What does piss me off is that the momentous sequence was ruined by David's loopy behaviour - putting his arms in the air and the Xeno doing the same... it seemed absolutely bizarre to me. I guess it's some kind of metaphor to David being the creator of them but it just came across as stupid on screen. The Xenomorphs thesmelves though were great - it was so nice seeing them back on screen. The CGI creatures... I don't mind so much with the Neomorphs but they did rely it on way too much with the Xenomorph. I'm not even sure there was any practical at all going on - some closeups of it kinda looked practical but I'm not sure. It's not a major issue though. The CGI elsewhere was top notch.

The cast... they were all great, never had any issues with any of them. I really need to see it again to digest all the different characters. I thought James Franco was going to have a bigger role than what he did. Felt that was kinda pointless having him in there. Noomi Rapace was another pointless addition - you couldn't even tell it was her in the holograms - I do wonder if they should have had the full prologue of Shaw and David in his flashback sequence. I am glad the Engineers were barely in this - Ridley Scott made the right call there. Get rid of them quickly and don't focus on them like they did in Prometheus. Seeing the flashback and seeing them wearing gowns gathered together... just took away from the mystery of them so good riddance. I actually think Prometheus should have shown the Engineers through just holograms instead of any live Engineers. Fassbender was great as Walter, it was nice seeing their different voices and actions. David, I feel, has just lost it - some of his behaviour in the film is crazy. The whole kissing Walter and Daniels... again just so bizarre. And the ending? Where the heck does the series go from there?

The pacing... as people have said, the film moves at the speed of fright. A two hour film... didn't feel like two hours at all with the amount of action. I do feel it's just part of a much larger arc that we've not seen yet. It's not a big deal, the film could have done with more padding and more exposition. Maybe more time could have been spent getting to know the characters or exploring the planet before they are infected.

So summing up, don't watch this if you're expecting something akin to the Alien trilogy or a story as grande as Prometheus - this isn't what it's about. For me, Scott stripped out most of the mumbo jumbo about philosophy, creation and the Engineers, he upped the gore significantly and he brought back the Xenomorphs with lots of horrific creature action. He tied up some loose ends with the Engineers and brought in a new group of characters. I can forgive the story and the characterisation because the creature stuff was so good. Covenant is what Prometheus should have been. I can't really argue with that. I'll do a full review when the Blu-ray comes out - who knows, maybe when I've had time to digest it on the small screen, my rating may fall slightly. But for now, I'm giving it 9/10.

9/10

Glad you enjoyed it and I am pretty much in the same camp as you in regards to Prometheus. Very much looking forward to Covenant next week and optimistic that I can look past the faults that some others have found.

One thing...you are the third person I have seen referencing the Xeno bursting from Oram and the hands in the air. In my mind, I am thinking of it in a cheesy way and its completely out of place. Is the Xeno stretching or something and David mimicking it? Or is he just waving his hands like an idiot and the Xeno copying him? I don't really understand the context I suppose. It sounds terrible.

[reecebomb]

Spoilers

Well, chaps, I had the pleasure of seeing it last night at the preview. Since joining the online fandom, I am notoriously difficult to please... I hated AvP and Requiem, Predators was average and I didn't like Prometheus all that much. I thought Covenant was absolutely brilliant. I really struggled to find any faults with it. Perhaps because I hated Prometheus so much... well not hate - Prometheus is a well-made movie - but a terrible Alien prequel. Covenant just counters everything I didn't like with Prometheus which is why I think I enjoyed it a lot.

The creature stuff in Covenant is exactly what I wanted from Prometheus. Actual alien life-forms that were a precursor to the Xenomorphs from the Alien series. Not generic-looking crap that had minor characteristics borrowed from the life cycle. The neomorphs were fantastic, so ferocious and deadly. The backburster and introduction of the neomorph sequence will go down as the one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the franchise.  So much tension and terror, the music was phenomenal. As somebody else said, so much gore - I am surprised they got away with so much to say it was a 15.

Now, the Xenomorphs... I know a lot of people have gripes with the life cycle but I don't mind it. The idea here is that they are David's genetic creations - they're not going to be exactly like the ones from the Alien series and I don't think it's ever implied that David is the sole creator of the Xenomorphs. It's just one strand he created through experimentation. I still subscribe to the view that the Engineers created them thousands of years ago as a weapon. Now, the Xenomorph's introduction... Yeah, I would have preferred a chestburster but it's not a dealbreaker that we get a miniature Xeno - afterall, we got something similar in Alien 3. What does piss me off is that the momentous sequence was ruined by David's loopy behaviour - putting his arms in the air and the Xeno doing the same... it seemed absolutely bizarre to me. I guess it's some kind of metaphor to David being the creator of them but it just came across as stupid on screen. The Xenomorphs thesmelves though were great - it was so nice seeing them back on screen. The CGI creatures... I don't mind so much with the Neomorphs but they did rely it on way too much with the Xenomorph. I'm not even sure there was any practical at all going on - some closeups of it kinda looked practical but I'm not sure. It's not a major issue though. The CGI elsewhere was top notch.

The cast... they were all great, never had any issues with any of them. I really need to see it again to digest all the different characters. I thought James Franco was going to have a bigger role than what he did. Felt that was kinda pointless having him in there. Noomi Rapace was another pointless addition - you couldn't even tell it was her in the holograms - I do wonder if they should have had the full prologue of Shaw and David in his flashback sequence. I am glad the Engineers were barely in this - Ridley Scott made the right call there. Get rid of them quickly and don't focus on them like they did in Prometheus. Seeing the flashback and seeing them wearing gowns gathered together... just took away from the mystery of them so good riddance. I actually think Prometheus should have shown the Engineers through just holograms instead of any live Engineers. Fassbender was great as Walter, it was nice seeing their different voices and actions. David, I feel, has just lost it - some of his behaviour in the film is crazy. The whole kissing Walter and Daniels... again just so bizarre. And the ending? Where the heck does the series go from there?

The pacing... as people have said, the film moves at the speed of fright. A two hour film... didn't feel like two hours at all with the amount of action. I do feel it's just part of a much larger arc that we've not seen yet. It's not a big deal, the film could have done with more padding and more exposition. Maybe more time could have been spent getting to know the characters or exploring the planet before they are infected.

So summing up, don't watch this if you're expecting something akin to the Alien trilogy or a story as grande as Prometheus - this isn't what it's about. For me, Scott stripped out most of the mumbo jumbo about philosophy, creation and the Engineers, he upped the gore significantly and he brought back the Xenomorphs with lots of horrific creature action. He tied up some loose ends with the Engineers and brought in a new group of characters. I can forgive the story and the characterisation because the creature stuff was so good. Covenant is what Prometheus should have been. I can't really argue with that. I'll do a full review when the Blu-ray comes out - who knows, maybe when I've had time to digest it on the small screen, my rating may fall slightly. But for now, I'm giving it 9/10.

9/10

Glad you enjoyed it and I am pretty much in the same camp as you in regards to Prometheus. Very much looking forward to Covenant next week and optimistic that I can look past the faults that some others have found.

One thing...you are the third person I have seen referencing the Xeno bursting from Oram and the hands in the air. In my mind, I am thinking of it in a cheesy way and its completely out of place. Is the Xeno stretching or something and David mimicking it? Or is he just waving his hands like an idiot and the Xeno copying him? I don't really understand the context I suppose. It sounds terrible.

Spoiler

i believe David was mimicking, but it looked so daft. The oddly unfitting music was making it much worse and the crowd in the theatre burst out laughing. It really felt like a parody, not kidding. 

[close]

[bacchus]

A general trend I've noticed so far  -  people that enjoyed Prometheus tend to dislike Covenant. I'm in that boat.

[Evanus]

A general trend I've noticed so far  -  people that enjoyed Prometheus tend to dislike Covenant. I'm in that boat.

I hope I'm not. 

But yeah, I'm afraid I will be. What I've heard so far doesn't sound very encouraging...

[cucuchu]

Spoilers

Well, chaps, I had the pleasure of seeing it last night at the preview. Since joining the online fandom, I am notoriously difficult to please... I hated AvP and Requiem, Predators was average and I didn't like Prometheus all that much. I thought Covenant was absolutely brilliant. I really struggled to find any faults with it. Perhaps because I hated Prometheus so much... well not hate - Prometheus is a well-made movie - but a terrible Alien prequel. Covenant just counters everything I didn't like with Prometheus which is why I think I enjoyed it a lot.

The creature stuff in Covenant is exactly what I wanted from Prometheus. Actual alien life-forms that were a precursor to the Xenomorphs from the Alien series. Not generic-looking crap that had minor characteristics borrowed from the life cycle. The neomorphs were fantastic, so ferocious and deadly. The backburster and introduction of the neomorph sequence will go down as the one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the franchise.  So much tension and terror, the music was phenomenal. As somebody else said, so much gore - I am surprised they got away with so much to say it was a 15.

Now, the Xenomorphs... I know a lot of people have gripes with the life cycle but I don't mind it. The idea here is that they are David's genetic creations - they're not going to be exactly like the ones from the Alien series and I don't think it's ever implied that David is the sole creator of the Xenomorphs. It's just one strand he created through experimentation. I still subscribe to the view that the Engineers created them thousands of years ago as a weapon. Now, the Xenomorph's introduction... Yeah, I would have preferred a chestburster but it's not a dealbreaker that we get a miniature Xeno - afterall, we got something similar in Alien 3. What does piss me off is that the momentous sequence was ruined by David's loopy behaviour - putting his arms in the air and the Xeno doing the same... it seemed absolutely bizarre to me. I guess it's some kind of metaphor to David being the creator of them but it just came across as stupid on screen. The Xenomorphs thesmelves though were great - it was so nice seeing them back on screen. The CGI creatures... I don't mind so much with the Neomorphs but they did rely it on way too much with the Xenomorph. I'm not even sure there was any practical at all going on - some closeups of it kinda looked practical but I'm not sure. It's not a major issue though. The CGI elsewhere was top notch.

The cast... they were all great, never had any issues with any of them. I really need to see it again to digest all the different characters. I thought James Franco was going to have a bigger role than what he did. Felt that was kinda pointless having him in there. Noomi Rapace was another pointless addition - you couldn't even tell it was her in the holograms - I do wonder if they should have had the full prologue of Shaw and David in his flashback sequence. I am glad the Engineers were barely in this - Ridley Scott made the right call there. Get rid of them quickly and don't focus on them like they did in Prometheus. Seeing the flashback and seeing them wearing gowns gathered together... just took away from the mystery of them so good riddance. I actually think Prometheus should have shown the Engineers through just holograms instead of any live Engineers. Fassbender was great as Walter, it was nice seeing their different voices and actions. David, I feel, has just lost it - some of his behaviour in the film is crazy. The whole kissing Walter and Daniels... again just so bizarre. And the ending? Where the heck does the series go from there?

The pacing... as people have said, the film moves at the speed of fright. A two hour film... didn't feel like two hours at all with the amount of action. I do feel it's just part of a much larger arc that we've not seen yet. It's not a big deal, the film could have done with more padding and more exposition. Maybe more time could have been spent getting to know the characters or exploring the planet before they are infected.

So summing up, don't watch this if you're expecting something akin to the Alien trilogy or a story as grande as Prometheus - this isn't what it's about. For me, Scott stripped out most of the mumbo jumbo about philosophy, creation and the Engineers, he upped the gore significantly and he brought back the Xenomorphs with lots of horrific creature action. He tied up some loose ends with the Engineers and brought in a new group of characters. I can forgive the story and the characterisation because the creature stuff was so good. Covenant is what Prometheus should have been. I can't really argue with that. I'll do a full review when the Blu-ray comes out - who knows, maybe when I've had time to digest it on the small screen, my rating may fall slightly. But for now, I'm giving it 9/10.

9/10

Glad you enjoyed it and I am pretty much in the same camp as you in regards to Prometheus. Very much looking forward to Covenant next week and optimistic that I can look past the faults that some others have found.

One thing...you are the third person I have seen referencing the Xeno bursting from Oram and the hands in the air. In my mind, I am thinking of it in a cheesy way and its completely out of place. Is the Xeno stretching or something and David mimicking it? Or is he just waving his hands like an idiot and the Xeno copying him? I don't really understand the context I suppose. It sounds terrible.

Spoiler

i believe David was mimicking, but it looked so daft. The oddly unfitting music was making it much worse and the crowd in the theatre burst out laughing. It really felt like a parody, not kidding. 

[close]

About the only positive thing I can extract from this is that it implies David has truly malfunctioned and lost his android mind....Just trying to understand it from the perspective of Ridley Scott.

[salomonj]

It's really nice to see mostly positive reactions

[Citadel]

Alien is pretty much a perfect film, there's no arguing. But Ridley is not the same director.

The positives in Covenant outweigh the negatives. Same goes for Prometheus. For me, that's enough to merit a very good movie. I know most here are pissed off with the negatives that they can't even find anything positive to redeem the experience for them, which is sad, but that's that. Sure, there's shit in there that's inexcusable, but at least it keeps everyone talking.