People who didn't like Prometheus may end up liking this one

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2017)

Call me the minority, but I actually quite liked Prometheus. I suppose many people were disappointed with it due to the lack of aliens, but Alien: Covenant delivers on that. I've got a feeling this movie will still be very hit or miss with people. This one feels more like it is calling back to the original Alien and ticking boxes. There are deaths, there are familiar creatures in there, but is that really a good thing?
Let's get the bad out of the way first. The CGI on the aliens is certainly quite shaky. I could tell straight away when they were not really there and I did end up missing the rubber suits in the earlier movies. Next, it could be argued it was really trying to be like the original Alien, but I don't think it comes close to that level. I wouldn't consider this a Horror movie, myself, but some could see it was trying to be like one. The movie could also be seen as quite predictable, but that's not always a negative.
If you were looking for aliens, then Alien: Covenant will deliver. The big muscle guys from Prometheus hardly appear in this, and are instead replaced by these "Prototype" aliens that aren't quite the Xenomorphs we come to know and love. The plot is basically these crew members on the Covenant ship go to this planet after a distress beacon sends them there. Things go horribly wrong and we have the Walter/David Androids played by Michael Fassbender returning from Prometheus. The other cast do a great job too, but Fassbender is still the highlight.
Ridley Scott continues to direct great visual scenes from Prometheus and the set design is top notch. It certainly looks like an Alien movie, but maybe that could be seen as a problem of it so trying to be an imitation of one. It didn't bother me personally, but it's kind of hard to be surprised at anything that's already been done quite a bit. There's a few good action scenes here and there, and I certainly didn't find it boring despite the slow start. A few religious and creationism themes from Prometheus return in this movie, but some questions are also left unanswered by the end that might annoy some viewers.
So, will this be more hit than miss compared to Prometheus? Well, I think it could go either way once again. Some who wanted to see more of the religious and creative themes, as well as a nice mix of aliens here and there could like it. On the other hand, some may see it as a failed imitation of the original Alien and just not working for them as they wanted. It definitely wasn't perfect, but what people want from these is never going to please everyone.
7.5/10