I believe my feelings towards Alien: Covenant are more complex than they have any logical reason to be. I think it boils down to my liking the movie a great deal despite the fact it seemed to be working against that happening and I don't think I can express why without going into spoilers so here we go.
I loved Prometheus. That film ended with our heroine Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) deciding to basically give up going back home, give up the rest of her life essentially, so she can seek out the "Engineers" for answers to mainly two questions; Why did you create us and why did you decide you were going to wipe us out? Shaw's ultimate confrontation with the Engineers sounded like a great movie... in Covenant you find out that David (Michael Fassbender) killed everyone before any questions could even be asked.
On one hand you could feel like Ridley Scott was saying "fuck you" to everyone who criticized Prometheus for not being "Alien" enough by not only giving us a typical Alien movie but simultaneously shitting all over what the end of Prometheus had promised. In that regard I was disappointed. Shaw's quest for answers intrigued me... at the same time I love the character of David and the thought of him just fucking killing EVERYONE after everything they had gone through is kinda thrilling. That story might have been a more thrilling movie than this though... and yet I still loved this and mostly because of David and of course Walter.
To me it feels like maybe Ridley fast tracked his journey to the Facehuggers here as the "typical Alien" stuff feels much less inspired than the David stuff. Listen I fucking LOVE the original Alien, but this ENTIRE franchise has been nothing but humans on the run from a Xenomorph (or several). Each movie, a variation of the same thing. The android David, his creator Peter Weylon (Guy Pearce) and the Engineers though? Now there was some intriguing stuff... but ya know, people want their Xenomorphs.
Why am I ranking this so high then if I'm complaining? Well yes I want some new stuff, but I ain't gonna complain if I get some good old blood soaked Alien action. What I did like though is that the previous film and this one made it look like we were getting a new Ripley in the trailers, with the newest one being Katherine Waterston and this movie all but confirms that this chapter of the franchise is still forcefully being different even if the Facehuggers and Xenomorphs have showed up because their not replacing our iconic female protagonist as the star of this franchise, they have completely turned the tables and made the inhuman android antagonist the star of this franchise.
Was this the plan since Prometheus? Who knows, but if it wasn't Ridley clearly recognized Fassbender's performance and just the all around character of David being the clear breakout of that film and makes him an even more integral part of not only Covenant, but now the ENTIRE Alien franchise. I don't mind telling you that I LOVED the fact that he is responsible for the iteration of the alien we are so familiar with and love... and even though you see that final ending coming in advance I still loved it because I wasn't on the edge of my seat on whether or not Daniels was going to figure out Walter was actually David in time to save herself, I was on the edge of my seat because I was praying that David gets away with it. Her realizing it when it was too late brought joy to me.
That's not a knock against Waterston's performance or the character of Daniels, it's just the character of David is so god damn intriguing I want this batshit crazy android to succeed. With that said though I do hope the Engineers show up again... I mean to introduce that the creators of life on Earth were planning to wipe out mankind and then NOT tell us why is kinda a dick move, but seeing that David has turned into a futuristic Victor Frankenstein makes me not care that much whether or not I get answers.
Review by Mr.DuLacVIP 7BlockedParentSpoilers2017-05-20T02:28:30Z
Serve in Heaven or reign in Hell?
-David
I believe my feelings towards Alien: Covenant are more complex than they have any logical reason to be. I think it boils down to my liking the movie a great deal despite the fact it seemed to be working against that happening and I don't think I can express why without going into spoilers so here we go.
I loved Prometheus. That film ended with our heroine Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) deciding to basically give up going back home, give up the rest of her life essentially, so she can seek out the "Engineers" for answers to mainly two questions; Why did you create us and why did you decide you were going to wipe us out? Shaw's ultimate confrontation with the Engineers sounded like a great movie... in Covenant you find out that David (Michael Fassbender) killed everyone before any questions could even be asked.
On one hand you could feel like Ridley Scott was saying "fuck you" to everyone who criticized Prometheus for not being "Alien" enough by not only giving us a typical Alien movie but simultaneously shitting all over what the end of Prometheus had promised. In that regard I was disappointed. Shaw's quest for answers intrigued me... at the same time I love the character of David and the thought of him just fucking killing EVERYONE after everything they had gone through is kinda thrilling. That story might have been a more thrilling movie than this though... and yet I still loved this and mostly because of David and of course Walter.
To me it feels like maybe Ridley fast tracked his journey to the Facehuggers here as the "typical Alien" stuff feels much less inspired than the David stuff. Listen I fucking LOVE the original Alien, but this ENTIRE franchise has been nothing but humans on the run from a Xenomorph (or several). Each movie, a variation of the same thing. The android David, his creator Peter Weylon (Guy Pearce) and the Engineers though? Now there was some intriguing stuff... but ya know, people want their Xenomorphs.
Why am I ranking this so high then if I'm complaining? Well yes I want some new stuff, but I ain't gonna complain if I get some good old blood soaked Alien action. What I did like though is that the previous film and this one made it look like we were getting a new Ripley in the trailers, with the newest one being Katherine Waterston and this movie all but confirms that this chapter of the franchise is still forcefully being different even if the Facehuggers and Xenomorphs have showed up because their not replacing our iconic female protagonist as the star of this franchise, they have completely turned the tables and made the inhuman android antagonist the star of this franchise.
Was this the plan since Prometheus? Who knows, but if it wasn't Ridley clearly recognized Fassbender's performance and just the all around character of David being the clear breakout of that film and makes him an even more integral part of not only Covenant, but now the ENTIRE Alien franchise. I don't mind telling you that I LOVED the fact that he is responsible for the iteration of the alien we are so familiar with and love... and even though you see that final ending coming in advance I still loved it because I wasn't on the edge of my seat on whether or not Daniels was going to figure out Walter was actually David in time to save herself, I was on the edge of my seat because I was praying that David gets away with it. Her realizing it when it was too late brought joy to me.
That's not a knock against Waterston's performance or the character of Daniels, it's just the character of David is so god damn intriguing I want this batshit crazy android to succeed. With that said though I do hope the Engineers show up again... I mean to introduce that the creators of life on Earth were planning to wipe out mankind and then NOT tell us why is kinda a dick move, but seeing that David has turned into a futuristic Victor Frankenstein makes me not care that much whether or not I get answers.