Plot: Following on from the events of Prometheus, the crew of a colony ship on a mission to a remote planet discover a more ideal paradise with a dark secret.

The Alien franchise has gone through a few transformations. It started with a bang in 1979 as it gave the sci-fi genre a horror angle to it, and director Ridley Scott's claustrophobic environment made this quite a viewing experience.
Then seven years later, James Cameron took the reigns with a 'balls-the-the-wall' action extravaganza. Both films have been considered some of the greatest films of all-time.

Since then, they haven't come close to that same success. Alien 3 saw the directorial debut of David Fincher. While it was mildly entertaining, it was first and foremost, a letdown.
Five years later in 1997 saw in my view the pointless fourth installment of Alien: Resurrection. While it may have been perfectly fine viewing. The story just did not feel that it needed to be told.

2004 and 2007 saw Alien go into its wilderness years with a couple of spin-offs in its Alien vs. Predator series. While the concept would bring in audiences, the films themselves were not that memorable. To be fair, some moments of AVP were great fan service and the execution of the fight scenes were pretty cool. But I'm afraid, that was about it. Especially, when its sequel AVP: Requiem was just the worst.

Five years later saw our prayers answered, as Ridley Scott returned in 2012 to his sci-fi roots for the prequel that is Prometheus. Taking place in the Alien universe, this was a story of an event that took place long before the events of the first Alien movie.
I still remember the hype surrounding it like it was yesterday. The trailers got me super-psyched, and I could not stop watching them. It was also the first film I went to see at the cinema at a midnight screening. After seeing it, my views were as mixed as you could get. Whether it was loved or hated, it was one of the most talked about films of that year.

While the mythology was interesting and the visuals, set designs and score completely spectacular. The characters were just so stupid and there were plenty of dumb moments that just ruined the films logic. That being said, I still enjoy watching it, and it is gorgeous to look at.

Now we have Alien: Covenant. Being billed as a sequel to Prometheus, many people including myself were hoping for a much more coherent story, and hopefully starting to see the connection between these prequels and the first Alien movie.

If you remember the end of Prometheus, it saw Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender's characters leaving the planet LV-223 to find "paradise" where there creators were from.

Well, we eventually get to see what happens after that. Meanwhile, we have a new crew to get to know.
The first act is very good. There's lots of new characters to know about, and they're introduced rather well. I was loving the practical sets, as Ridley Scott is so well renowned for. Also, some of the intense scenes had me on the edge. The frantic camerawork and editing made it quite a thrilling and exciting opening act with enough gross-out moments that would have fitted in well with the original Alien.
Then there's quite a dramatic change to the tone. The stuff I was seeing on screen felt like a mix of 'Jurassic Park III' and 'King Kong, which I never thought I would say. When I got used to the shift in tone, it begins to go down a path that I was not expecting, but enjoyed by the end of it.
Sadly as we were building towards the final act, there was a big action set-piece that never got me engaged whatsoever. The main reason I think I reacted in that way, was probably the execution of the creatures involved. They were supposed to be scary. Bu I did not care for it at all.
Then the finale managed to be rather good for the most part. This was when I could see the complete transition from being a Prometheus sequel, to an Alien prequel. There's a twist that was pretty obvious. But I thought they ended on a note that I am rather intrigued to see where they go from here.

There is only one performance that carried this film from start to finish, and that is Michael Fassbender. After being the star of the show in Prometheus, Fassbender is still great. The evolution his character has was quite impressive to watch, and he really is the star of this current series of films.
Katherine Waterston still does not do it for me. Apart from her pretty good minor role in Steve Jobs, every other performance I've seen her in just does not feel engaging at all. Most of you will remember her from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. In that, I felt her to be pretty forgettable despite the heavy amount of screen-time.
In this, she is definitely more memorable. But she just does not have that presence of a leading role. I was not really rooting for her in any of the action set-pieces that she was involved in. I could probably say the same for Billy Crudup. I like the story-arch they were giving his character at the start. But his performance was did not have me interested in how his character would end up.
Thankfully, there was a saving grace, in the form Danny McBridge no less. The actor more known for his comedic chops actually played serious rather well. I liked his introduction, we get a solid backstory and he ends up being a well-rounded character by the end of it. He is definitely the Bill Paxton of this film. The rest of the cast were a solid support. They looked the part and played to a solid quality. But they all felt pretty disposable in the end.

Lots of the technical aspects are as you would expect for a Ridley Scott blockbuster. The practical sets and costumes are gorgeous to look at. It is thorough in its detail and it amazed me how much of it was actual sets or location shots instead of green screen. The score by Jed Kurzel was a nice surprise, and it will delight fans of the original Alien movie. Also, most of the visual effects seamlessly flowed into the live-action. However, there were some parts including a major creature design that looked very digital and felt out of place with everything else.

As well as that part of the visual effects I have just mentioned, the writing was also the big negatives. The choices they make in moving the story along either did not work for me or gradually grew on me. It takes a few different shifts in its tone, which took a while to adapt and it therefore slowed my momentum in getting into the film. They had good reason to do this as this seemed to be the film that switches from the Prometheus tone into the Alien tone. However, I think a more subtle execution would have been the better option, rather than an abrupt one.

In the end, this eighth Alien film is pretty solid on the whole. It begins with a pretty strong first act, then the rest of it is a bit of a bumpy ride. Some bits worked very well, some not so much and there were some big moments that I could not care for.
Fassbender is the big draw and without him, this could have been a major disappointment. It's great to look at, the practical sets are impressive and the score is a nice bonus. However, there were too many inconsistencies in its tone that ruined the flow, the major action set-pieces were not exciting and lots of the parts that were supposed to be scary were far too cliched and predictable. A bit like in Prometheus, it does well in its world-building and mythology, but not so much on the execution and its characters.

If I had to rank it, I would give it the edge over Prometheus, as it is much more coherent and the characters were nowhere near as dumb in this one. So it seems to be in that pool with Alien 3 as well. But I think the thing everyone will be saying is the more Alien films we see, the more I think nothing will ever get close to the quality of Alien or Aliens.

If there is a 3D option, don't go for it. There were a couple of moments that looked like it would be a 3D moment. But a lot of the film is in a dark environment or takes place at night. So with 3D glasses losing about 30% of light from the picture, quite a bit of the film will be tough to see.

Rating: 7/10