☆ ☆ ½
Alien:
Covenant (2017) – R. Scott
Perhaps the Alien franchise has truly worn
out its welcome? Can we say now that the
first two films (Alien, 1979, and Aliens, 1986) have been the only real good
ones? The reboot to the series,
Prometheus (2012), was positioned as a prequel – and Covenant is the sequel to
that film. However, most of the new
plotting and backstory from that earlier film seems to have been jettisoned in
favour of a straight-up action-based echo of the first film from 1979 with only
Michael Fassbender’s David remaining as the epitome of evil (a mad scientist in
the classic tradition, albeit a “synthetic”). So, the only reason to check this
out is for the special effects and the nail-biting tension as spaceships careen
wildly, aliens burst from host bodies or stalk their prey down dark tunnels or
corridors, and the 15 crew members are picked off one-by-one (not unlike a
serial killer film). Sure, H. R. Giger’s
creatures are as gruesome as ever and the plot mechanics still work (a
mysterious signal brings yet another ship to a lonely planet) but everything
has gotten so old. There are glimpses of
grander themes (one crew member is religious, there is talk of creators both
human and not) but it all amounts to nothing.
Purportedly, there is yet another prequel in the works, but what promise
could it hold beyond more clichéd thrills?
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