Alien: Covenant (2017)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup

Synopsis:
A damaged colony ship investigates a seemingly habitable planet off their original course.

Impressions:
I didn't really like Prometheus. I considered it to be a mixed bag when I was feeling charitable, so I wasn't looking forward to the sequel, even when it was reworked to fit more in line with the main Alien continuity. I was going to see it in theaters when I was under the illusion that Neill Blomkamp's project would depend on this film's success. When I learned there were never any plans for that movie to be made, I didn't see any reason to spend money on this one. Now that I've seen it, I'll say that I liked it better than Prometheus, even better than Alien: Resurrection, but I still wasn't that satisfied. I didn't like all the CG for the critters and wasn't fond of the neomorph design at all. They messed with the life cycle, which annoys me, though you can argue that it's because these still aren't quite the xenomorphs we know so well. The characters were generally better than the ones in Prometheus, but I still didn't connect to them that much. The one thing I did rather like was the interaction between Walter and David. That was cool. You can really tell Ridley Scott was trying to recapture the formula that made the original Alien work so well, but he didn't quite get the old magic back. Some viewers liked the new ground being broken by Prometheus, so if you're one of those people, you'll be disappointed here. There may be enough that works for you to find it a worthwhile watch, but you may want to pass on it instead. Take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50