A good but not great addition to the Alien story

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2020)

Ten years after the events in 'Prometheus' a colony ship, the 'Covenant', is taking settlers to their new home. It is seven years short of its destination when a freak event damages the ship and forces the early awakening of the ship's crew. During the repairs a signal, of clearly human origin, is received from an uncharted planet. Scans show that it is at least as habitable as their intended destination but much closer; the crew decide to investigate. A team goes down to the planet while others remain on the Covenant. Once there they find signs that it was once cultivated but no signs of any animal life. As they look for the signal two of the crew are infected with strange spores... a new alien nightmare is about to begin! As xenomorphs hatch the landing craft is destroyed; the remaining crew only survive because they are rescued by a stranger who turns out to be David, the Prometheus's android. They are not safe though.
I know opinions are much divided on this film; the critic on the radio said it was the worst film on television this week while the reviewer in the newspaper picked it as the 'film of the week'... even if I wasn't a fan of the franchise that would have made me curious. While I wouldn't go to either extreme I certainly lean more towards the latter view. In many ways the story mirrors the original film with its story of space travellers being awakened earlier than expected before a transmission lures them into danger... thankfully there were also plenty of changes to keep things interesting... as well as the required amount of scariness. The story gives an interesting account of xenomorph development, although sadly certain established facts are contradicted; most notably the way these ones hatch so much faster than those in 'Alien'. The cast does a solid job; most notably Michael Fassbender in the dual roles of David and Walter, the Covenant's android; a later model. Katherine Waterston impresses as Daniels, effectively the lead human character. As one would expect the special effects are top notch. There are some weak points; the crew makes some silly choices and I doubt anybody watching won't have spotted the final twist a mile off. Overall though I thought this was a solid addition to the franchise; good but not great.