Alien: Covenant

• Directed and Produced by Ridley Scott
• May 4, 2017 (Odeon Leicester Square) / May 12, 2017 (UK) / May 19, 2017 (US)
• Based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett

A colony ship lands on an uncharted planet only to make a terrifying discovery. That is generally how it works.

Some things are not good ideas no matter who is selling them-even if that person is Ridley Scott. Any movie set in the Alien Franchise is not really one you can use to contemplate humanity’s place in the universe. Yet it opens with Ridley Scott once again trying to make some statement on that very topic. Why? Just give us something with killer monsters.

Alien: Covenant relies on some nonsensical aspects given how this universe works. What I can’t quite figure out is why they went around an alien planet that no human has ever checked out without any kind of environmental suits on. They possess them yet never touch them. Such a move may work on Star Trek but in the Alien Universe, it really bothers me. In this universe space travel is much harder and much more dangerous. It seems like a bad idea until you ascertain a level of safety.

There is something to be said for economic storytelling. In other words getting to the point. Be precise with the dialogue and show only what is needed to tell your tale. We get what feels like an unnecessary length of time of travel. Not just on the ship but in the structure they detect. Why did they not just plop next to it? There was no need to be so far away. We get to see the minutia of an infection entering into a body. Get to the story!

I understand that David 8 (Michael Fassbender) having long hair is a short-term way to differentiate him from Walter One (also Michael Fassbender) when they are first together but how does an android get long hair? They were never shown to have organic components. They were completely synthetic. And then the long hair is gone. Nobody really seems to question why nor are we given an explanation why.

This movie answers the question of who created the xenomorphs. Not that anybody who has watched these really cared. I don’t think anybody was considering that question. Not every question in a story needs an answer even if it might be interesting to ponder. Once you answer a question like who was behind something it’s always anti-climactic. The mind can create better than what can be shown.

The big question for me is did the Engineers create us or are they just similar to us? And if they created us why did/do they want to wipe us out? If they were biologically similar to us why would they need to create a pathogen that would infect everything to get rid of us? Because they just were unwilling to slaughter our very primitive species 35,000 years ago themselves feeling it was too hard? The further back in human history you go the fewer people there were. Wiping us out by hunting would have been pretty easy.

The dialogue is a mixture of wannabe insightful to “we’re in danger from things we do not understand.” And Covenant wildly swings between the two as it tries to further connect these new films to the original universe. Mixed with the explosions, deaths, and crashes are extended bits of discussions meant to be analytical of humanity or general existence. This has trouble deciding what it wants to be. Is it a science fiction discussion of man’s place in the universe? Is it a story involving disastrous contact with an alien civilization/species? Or is it a more traditional Alien film? Covenant is all of them at one moment or another.

The characters are relatively forgettable. Darned if I can remember too much about ANY of them. That is the danger of a large cast in a film. You need to develop characters so what happens and what they are doing matters to the viewer. There were something like fourteen characters in the main film to develop. Sixteen in the entire movie. And I could not tell who died or when. Or even what their duties on the ship were.

It is visually stunning. Covenant is really cool to look at and that gets you through a lot of the issues you will notice. It throws a lot at you and the questions you will have only come when you’ve seen this a second time and the cool factor has worn off so your brain can think. Like how come Daniels (Katherine Waterston)-a character so developed we get no other name and are hard pressed to recall what her job was-never is concerned about whether or not she is actually dealing with Walter One and not David 8? That was MY first thought since they are physically identical.

Daniels is meant to be the strong female character but cries more than Sarah Connor or Ellen Ripley did in any of their films combined. Stress tears or tears of sadness are okay but an emotional breakdown every few minutes communicates weakness. I swear at least once she had to be dragged by Tennessee (Danny McBride) after crumpling to the floor until she got to her feet again. Strength is stepping up in the situation and not breaking down over everything.

I guess the issues come down to laziness and poor characterization. These are issues prevalent in modern films though not exclusive to modern film. Wallowing in emotion is not strength or emotional intelligence. It is being ruled by your emotions. Not following previously established concepts (spacesuits for unknown places for one) in order to make the story move faster. A needlessly large cast. A big budget but shallowly delivered film. Cut down the cast, return to the blue collar feel of the first, and less fluff. Do not try to be dangerous Star Trek.

Alien: Covenant is an okay movie with a very good budget. While it’s nice to see another story in the alien universe, this is not the type of story you want to see in the Alien Universe. With uncertainty on what it wants to be and characters that do not matter, you can move on.