Alien: Covenant fails to impress long time fans of franchise

Main character Captain Daniels (Katherine Waterston) defends herself against the alien Xenomorph aboard the colony ship, the Covenant.
Main character Captain Daniels (Katherine Waterston) defends herself against the alien Xenomorph aboard the colony ship, the Covenant.

Alien: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus (2012) and the next installment of the Alien prequel series came out on May 19. The science-fiction horror film, starring Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston, revolves around the colony ship, the Covenant, as it diverts from its original destination after receiving a cryptic radio transmission from an unknown Earth-like planet. Despite high expectations from Alien fans, the film fails to overcome the predictable, depthless plot, much like its predecessor.

Fassbender does a stellar job portraying both David, a synthetic and survivor of the failed ship the Prometheus, as well as Walter, a newer synthetic, accompanying the Covenant on its journey. I couldn’t help but appreciate how seamless his acting was, considering the amount of interaction between Walter and David. His performance saves the rest of the severely underdeveloped cast of characters from becoming blatantly obvious. The Covenant’s entire crew proved to be bland and very one-dimensional; I didn’t end up really knowing much about any of them at all. They seemed to be included solely in aid of comic relief and filler lines. Waterston fulfills her role as the unrealistically optimistic brave Daniels, yet fails to deliver anything outside of her archetype.

The color grading in the movie was beautiful. The dark grey tones really enhanced the overarching ominous and suspenseful mood of the film. The special effects also lived up to expectations, providing the audience with true Alien-esque gore. I lost count of all the times an alien jumped out of someone’s back, severely mutilating them. The film’s horror was presented very classically much like the special effects; lots of blood and an endless amount of jump scares. However these well done feats are not enough to surpass the sheer predictability of the plot and its twists. The movie, while well paced and interesting, was nothing if not predictable. Every “unexpected” surprise could easily be deduced just by how the film was set up.

I felt that in order to fully grasp the concepts in the movie, it would be beneficial to watch Prometheus first, which I did after watching Covenant. The movie didn’t disappoint in regards to horror and cinematography, but failed to establish a well-thought out, fluid storyline. Overall, Alien: Covenant, while action packed and thoroughly entertaining, did not do much in terms of revitalizing the Alien prequel series as a whole.