2017 Movie Review - It Wasn't That Harsh of a Bite in "Alien: Covenant"
SYNOPSIS:
The crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, discover an uncharted paradise with a threat beyond their imagination, and must attempt a harrowing escape.
Please note that the following review may contain some spoilers:
FIRST ACT (THE HOOK):
The story opens with a philosophical exploration of Michael Fassbender's David discussion with Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland on a flashback. I, for one, was on the same page with David's naive-yet-clever analysis about the fragility of human life despite our arrogance in creating another being that will resonate in our world. There's a slight reminiscence to the first original film, Alien when the next scenes shift our attention to the introduction of the colony ship and its scientists and crews. Ridley Scott clearly returns to bring a fresh variation to the franchise by interjecting tragedy to James Franco's character who died in a fiery hypersleep, leaving his wife, Daniels as a widowed heroine of the film.
As a different chapter opened before my eyes, the film unfortunately continues to repeat some of the flaws from Prometheus. The writers couldn't help to rehash the adventurous plot where all these brilliant scientists are treated like some newbies, stepping foot on an uncharted planet without spacesuits or scans of the environment, simply assuming there are no highly dangerous aliens or deadly pathogens awaiting them in the wilderness. The only silver lining I appreciate is the direction of cinematography which always advances further and farther by every iteration.
SECOND ACT (THE SWITCHEROO):
A truly perplexing second act sees Michael Fassbender's stretching his acting chop in a dual role as two androids, David and Walter. In a rather sudden dramatic shift of tone, Ridley Scott decided to ingrain the philosophy of humanistic narcissism in the language of a creator. It is a much interesting discussion on paper but far too short to be explored in two-hours running time especially when the derivative questions about humanity's failure in search of their creator still revolves around our heads.
In one way or another, the film also tests audiences' intelligence poorly. From the moment David's adopting the same haircut as Walter's, the plot predictably calls for a thrilling switcheroo to build tensions in later proceedings. Alien: Covenant, regardless, manages to do its best when new elements are introduced such as the way the new Xenomorphs (being referred as Protomorphs) burst out of any available orifice or the zero-gravity fight between Daniels and Xenomorph.
THIRD ACT (THE ENDING):
In its final act, the film kicks into a high gear delivering a gore galore that we expect out of the franchise, yet it felt a little too rushed and follows the all-too-familiar ending trend of Xenomorph's being ejected into space. What continues after the climactic revelations that Walter is actually David all along seems too obligatory especially for a sequel-driven industry. Furthermore, I couldn't help asking more and more questions: Why would David go to such great lengths to save Daniels and Tennessee from the Xenomorph? Does he think that they could be a good subject experiments? Does he think that if all the crewmembers died, he wouldn't be able to board the next expedition trip to Origae-6? I certainly didn't expect to be left with more questions than answers.
THE VERDICT (NO SPOILER):
Alien: Covenant finds itself divided into two aspects - a film on a mission to recreate action-horror tensions of the original franchise and a film on a quest to indulge us with answers from its prequel, Prometheus. The most frustrating thing is there will be only few things for casual viewers to enjoy because it delves so much into the mythology of Alien world. While, an Alien-franchise fan like me, might find it far too preoccupied with many lingering questions that makes it at best a mediocre entry. As it stands at the moment, Alien: Covenant should only thank Katherine Waterston and Michael Fassbender for their commanding performances.
