I wanted and I managed to avoid trailers, news, or any kind of reviews (still haven't read any yet). I knew about the synopsis, I knew there would be an explosion, I knew they were shooting in New Zealand, that is about it.
I'm not aware at all if everybody on the forum has watched it yet so I'll put the whole thing in spoiler tags. Things may be written as facts but they are mainly my opinion.
Spoiler
Ok, straight to the point : Very disappointed overall to be honest.
Although this is just a movie, I was a bit in a state of shock the whole day and I'm still trying to process things right now. Sometimes, I just couldn't believe what I saw. I am saying that as a 'Prometheus' 'partisan'.
Not only had I to deal with this sense of void which last a couple of days every time after watching an alien movie in the theaters, regardless of its quality, but also had to deal for the first time with this thought that no more Alien movie would ever be a masterpiece again (I really wish I'm wrong), because 'Covenant' is really missing the point(s) of what made the original so special,
Here are some elements I would like to address :
Continuity with the previous movie :
Here is an important one, the smooth transition existing from 'Alien' to 'Aliens' and absent from 'Aliens' to 'Alien³' for example, no need to hold forth on that.
We are left at the end of 'Prometheus' with Elizabeth Shaw still searching for answers, after having displayed some extraordinary survival instincts and David helping by giving her a ride with a Juggernaut to the Engineers' homeworld, only to see that in the sequel she is dead a long time ago and David has become malevolent. (Was he already on LV-223 ? My take on that would be no, mainly because he saved the couple of doctors in the storm and waited Holloway's ''green light'' to give him that goo infected drink (that last bit was confirmed by Damon Lindelof's audio commentary) .. though I admit it is a debatable suject)
There is no denial that the path 'Covenant' took destabilized me. In spite of the synopsis, I secretly expected Shaw would have gone to another place after being on Paradise, or at least wouldn't have died because of David.
Yet, there was this beginning scene with young Weyland and David playing the piano, which I would qualify as almost perfect in every aspect, fitting undoubtely well with Promy but which also gives the premise of a change/adjustment of David's character.
Another point : I wasn't expecting that much talked about answer about why the Engineers changed their mind and wanted to 'wipe out' Earth. Unless I missed something, it isn't taken into account.
In 'Covenant', se saw the urns, we saw the holograms and the ship, but on a higher level, I can't say it is fluid with Promy.
Story :
Having the colony ship deciding to change course to have a look at an unknown planet, seems good.
Seeking for an unknown transmission, déjà vu but why not.
David experimenting all sorts of things, creating the alien but also killing everyone on the Engineer's homeworld ... ... ... enough said
David and Walter's interaction : very good some times, pushed a bit too far other times. Unneeded kiss, unneeded fight (or at least not in a Terminator/Super Heroes/[insert what you wish] fashion) unneeded twist at the end though I was open to witness a bad ending but not necessarily in this way.
Atmosphere :
When things feel too 'Hollywoodian' in the pejorative meaning, it is difficult to get immersed in the universe of the movie. Visuals are generally excellent but doesn't serve the atmosphere : for example the interior of the Covenant Ship, despite being beautiful, doesn't distinguish itself from another hollywoodian movie. It doesn't set anything for an unsettling experience like the Nostromo did.
Also, throwing in the mix some Alien score or Prometheus score (doesn't matter how great they are) give me the impression that whoever decided that seek safety.
Bet let's be positive a bit : The best moment would be as stated before, young Weyland and David in this white room and beautiful landscape in the back ground.
The departure from the planet when night was falling communicated good vibes too.
David arriving with the Juggernaut, sunlight behind him, before unleashing the goo was nice (I'm still talking about the atmosphere and not about David's action), as well as finding the crashed ship in the forest.
Seeing the planet from the ship when Tennessee was talking to Mother was excellent too.
Fear :
In 'Alien', I could resume the monster it in this way : ''it isn't there, but it is there''. And not only when the monster was onboard the Nostromo, it is true from the beginning of the film : figuratively speaking, this invisible death coming slowly, in a strange manner, but surely to you. That is why I find really special Bolaji Badejo screentest which materializes this in a great manner.
Here in 'Covenant', ''they are there, but they aren't''. Which is a terrible thing to say. I would never have wanted to reach such a conclusion. Even when they were present in front of your eyes, I did not feel any threat. No visceral scaryness. Surprizing fast moves are there but that should not be the core of an Alien movie.
Monsters :
Esthetically very nice to be fair but here again the motions are not in adequation with expectations, too Hollywoodian, and they are too present on screen.
David communicating with the alien should never had happened...
I'm not too keen either on that new way of impregnation.
Cast/Characterisation :
Call me harsh if you like but it would only be Katherine Waterston, speaking of the new cast, who would fit the alienverse. I'm very demanding on this element, but I can get that people would not understand what I mean. She really has something, something unexplainable coming from deep inside. Like Carry Henn, Lance Henriksen, Veronica Cartwright, Tom Skerritt, Charles Dance, Sigourney Weaver...had in the previous movies.
All the others played their part as they should, but do they really fit this particular universe ?
Pacing seemed quite fast therefore there wasn't much time to spend on charaterisation. No to mention that when it was the case, focus was given on David and Walter.
So here were my non-exhaustive 'first impressions'. As a NON-Alien movie, I would rate it 7,5 max but since it is not the case, I cannot give more than 6,75 placing it way below 'Alien', 'Aliens', 'Alien³', 'Prometheus' and slightly above 'Resurrection'.
I am sure there was a lot of work behind this movie and bashing it repeatedly or in an unfair manner like Promy was sometimes, is a highly questionnable thing to do, so out of respect for all the efforts that have been done and for the people who liked it, I'll surely refrain from doing the same. However, I can't help myself thinking that the balance between wanting to make money and taking true creative risks has been strongly corrupted in favour of the former.
