An Isaac Assimov and David Cronenberg Hybrid

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2017)

As the title of this review suggests, this were the two main 'influential' elements that popped into my mind as I was halfway through this film.
Casual horror fans will not be disappointed as there are plenty of boo and gore scenes. However, one should not expect this to be James Cameron's all out war 'Aliens' as well. Ridley Scott took the criticism for Prometheus to heart and set on making this a full-blown 'Alien' film. Will Alien fans be satisfied? Probably. Scott briefly returned to his roots only in the last act. However, the suspense and feeling of dread still permeates the whole of the first two acts of the film.
(Heavy Spoilers here!)
The human characters aren't given much to develop. James Franco's scenes are blink or miss. However, I was surprised by the amount of screen time given to David, Fassbender's android character from the prequel. The character arc which began in Prometheus, precipitated in the prologue in Covenant, culminates full circle in the parting shot, complete with Wagner's orchestral piece. Scott has done almost the impossible by matching Cameron's portrayal of a robot (in Terminator 2), by not making it sympathetic but by giving it a purpose other than serving mankind. There is more depth and less sentiment here than in Cameron's T2.
Given that everyone knows that Fassbender plays two roles. This brings to mind of David Cronenberg's 'Dead Ringers'. The similarities are almost startling. Both sets of twins are intellectual, biologically curious, self-serving, socially inept, whilst having a facade or pretense of serving the female protagonists (Jeremy Irons plays gynecologists and Fassbender plays androids serving both female survivors of physical abominations).
The body-horror theme is of course recurrent in the entire Alien canon. The same theme also resonates in many Cronenberg's movies. The face-hugging and chest-bursting scenes only invokes memories of Cronenberg's 'The Brood' (also released in 1979 as Scott's Alien), 'Videodrome', 'Scanners', 'Dead Ringers'. For the latter, the obsession with dissecting 'mutant woman' with abnormal genitalia is a close cousin of the Alien universe.
This film is surprisingly multi-layered and will be much talked about especially in regards to David and the consequences that will no doubt be portrayed once again in an inevitable sequel. A fresh take on an old franchise.