Review Alien: Covenant film review by Michelle Johnston

The Home Video was released in the UK today so my relationship with the movie moves into its next phase. 

The matters that really stood out for me, being very familiar with the story and with that different perspective that one receives in the intimacy and comfort of ones home are as follows:-

1) Its a very competently made film, the sense of authenticity that Ridley brings to the genre is there and it is great eye candy. 

2) Unlike Prometheus and Alien, although those years ago, the really crucial ingredient that is missing is any intrigue or surprise or real audacity. For entirely different reasons the former films always had you guessing Covenant was entirely predictable but with another quality confusion.

3) The confusion lies in the fact that it cannot make its mind up what it is about. The prologue and two conversations with Walter are thematically powerful and for the only time in the movie when David describes his loss of Elizabeth I was genuinely moved. Probably because all those elements are connected to Prometheus that sense of elevation and engagement was real. However the overall structure of the intro and outro is an A L I E N  retread and you can not repeat the same formula and generate any real surprise and terror, its a contradiction to attempt to you really scare you and draw you with the utterly predictable. In to the mix is the third theme Bladerunner hijacking Alien which completely undermines any sense of personal narrative momentum because at the core of the film is a nihilistic mad robot. 

I was entertained by Ridleys film making skills and bored, confused and mostly disappointed by the story with just fleeting moments when the promise of answers lifted the story only to be contradicted by either subsequent contradictory behaviour or no follow through.

One thing I am certain of I doubt I will be pulling it out to view again as I have Prometheus over the last few years.

Would i see a follow up unless it sounded entirely ridiculous Yes would I shed tears if they stopped now ..no.