Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott is going crazy in his old age and so he’s trying to squeeze as much as possible out of his child – the Alien. Because I don’t really get the new Alien trilogy starting with Prometheus. Sure, the first one was a bit interesting, but the Covenant is not only stupid, it’s outright a copy of the first Alien. Why? And don’t even get me started on the CGI that sometimes looks like it’s made by a below-average Nigerian IT student. The Covenant is downright stupid and has no redeeming qualities in terms of the Alien saga. (19/05/2018)

A film where someone alternately screams hysterically in confusing scenes and alternately philosophizes about the issues of the space game show quiz in far too clear shots. Everyone behaves so erratically that the Prometheus crew reminds of professors of logic on a trip to the land of the eight-way. After a totally WTF birth scene, I decided that Alien had just died for me. One star for Franco's compression without having to utter a bare sentence on board. That is the right decision. The only one. (15/05/2017)

It’s worse than Prometheus and the least interesting film in the entire saga. While the much-criticized Prometheus somehow matures into a better experience with repeated viewings, Covenant is an overripe and completely squeezed lemon. The mythology built around the most famous space killer is not interesting and the result is like a mediocre movie by a mediocre director, which takes place half of the time at night, in darkness, in dim light (Prometheus was much, much more visually engaging and colourful in this respect) and you won’t find any sign of Scott’s visual bravado. The crown is put on by the WTF mutual welcoming of the android and the newly hatched alien, which is like a cut from a Zucker brothers parody. What was that, dear producers? Please let Alien be a milestone in film history where it belongs and don't milk it like a cash cow, the poor thing is already barely hanging on. (24/05/2017)

Once again it’s not the hit we were hoping for, but I think it’s at least a decent sci-fi horror flick. In any case, it’s a pity that it’s so half-assed and unfocused, because the plot arc potential is big. Unfortunately, it’s watered down by dense characters, dense dialogues and some dense scenes, too. The birth of the first real alien was actually funny. Overall, it has the same problems as Prometheus, but a couple of positives things on top. And if you were pissed off at explorers taking their helmets off too soon in Prometheus , here when landing on a new planet, they won’t even bother to put them on. Edit: I have to say that this wore off quite fast. Much faster than Prometheus, to which I returned after the screening. When I think back about Covenant, I mostly remember the negative aspects, which in the previous one was the opposite. And this is a relevant reason to lower the rating. (18/05/2017)

Enjoyable shit!! Covenant has a slightly longer run-up than I would have liked and the opening isn't very engaging, but anyway, the 15-strong crew makes it clear from the start that the horror viewer is not going to be short of a high body-count, and it isn't. As soon as the crew sets off to visit a new planet, a densely atmospheric, juicily brutal (finally a decent use of the R-rating), visually arresting and at times goosebump-inducing inferno begins, and it doesn't let up until the climactic finale, which lasts around half an hour and meets the strictest criteria of a true horror fan. Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston are absolutely amazing, the white xenomorph is one of the most attractive creatures I've ever had the opportunity to see on screen, Baby Alien and the unexpected final denouement are also satisfying. Overall, it's got decent balls especially when the Alien is rampaging on screen. If it wasn't for the slower opening, I'd go for the full score. Nerds and nitpickers will probably grumble, others might be satisfied. Interesting fact: one old man was so turned on to the alien that he had to see it even at the cost of not being able to walk. Apparently, he wanted a repeat of the theatrical opening like 38 years ago. Story 8/10, Atmosphere 9/10, Gore 8/10, Visuals 10/10, Action 8/10, Suspense 8/10,Humor 2/10. Entertainment 8/10, Scares 3/10. 85%. (15/05/2017)