Alien: Covenant

Alien: Covenant

2017, R, 122 min. Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez.

REVIEWED By Josh Kupecki, Fri., May 19, 2017

Consider the rocky road of the Alien franchise. Ridley Scott’s 1979 original is a bona fide classic of the horror genre, with James Cameron’s 1986 sequel following close behind. But after that, things get a bit dodgy. David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet didn’t fare too well with their entries into the series, and that brings us to Scott’s return to the director’s chair with 2012’s prequel, Prometheus. A prequel introducing nothing less than the origin of humanity, the film was met with a contentiousness that seems to have perplexed Scott. In recent interviews, he was under the impression that the acid-blooded xenomorphs were played out, or as Scott put it “he was definitely cooked, with an orange in his mouth.”

Give the people what they want, it seems, as Scott’s new entry Alien: Covenant plays like a greatest hits of your favorite Alien moments. After a prologue that seeks to bridge the gap between films, in which Michael Fassbender’s android David confers with Guy Pearce’s Peter Weyland, the aging CEO who created him. It’s an interesting opening gambit, all Kubrick and Wagner. But, just like that we are swept away into the deep space life of the spaceship Covenant, where married couples are the crew, and the ship houses thousands of souls in hibernation, on their way to a distant, habitable planet to thrive and prosper. When what amounts to a space burp (actual scientific nomenclature) damages part of the ship, this year’s model of android Walter (also Fassbender, but his hair is different. Acting!) wakes up the crew, who consist of mere sketches of actual characters, the better to dispatch them once the xenomorph actually shows up. How that happens is through a series of convoluted events that, when I think back, are perplexing and lazy. But, the alien is back, dispatching his victims in increasingly gory ways, while Katherine Waterston runs around trying to figure out what the hell is going on (no easy answers to that particular question). Rarely do I comment on characters’ hairstyles in movies, but the decision to give Waterston a hybrid bowl-cut/Prince Valiant bob is one of the most ill-advised things this film does. And in a film that treats its audience like morons, that is saying something.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More Ridley Scott Films
Gladiator II
Ridley Scott heads back to the Colosseum for a lackluster sequel

Richard Whittaker, Nov. 22, 2024

Napoleon
Ridley Scott's superficial biopic is all strategy, no tactics

Richard Whittaker, Nov. 24, 2023

More by Josh Kupecki
Green Border
An angry, visceral masterpiece about refugees turned into political pawns

Aug. 16, 2024

Evil Does Not Exist
A glamping development threatens a small mountain village in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Drive My Car

May 10, 2024

KEYWORDS FOR THIS FILM

Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle