Definitely the definition of a "reboot"

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2017)

What I mean by that is Ridley Scott took his science fiction classic and create this prequel trilogy (this is the middle instalment according to him) and created a different vibe, feel, almost a different direction entirely. Prometheus and now Alien Covenant have an artistic almost interpretive dance feel to them. I love Prometheus but there were plenty of complaints about it basically that it lacked the Alien connection. Covenant fixes that. It gives you more to the same storyline but brings back the Aliens in a big way. Maybe we won't understand the full picture until the third film but so far I'm intrigued enough to stay with it. Covenant is unique in that it gives us that familiar vibe that the original Alien and Aliens and Alien3 brought to the table but still keeps that fantasy, history aspect that Prometheus built. That does make the first half of the film a little dry, slow moving and it doesn't build the suspense all that well. However, once Ridley Scott mixes in the horror and darkness that made the original Alien a classic things start to come together. There are some truly first rate horror scenes and they utilize some of the more classic visuals (the Alien in the chest) and recreate them to great success. I love the concept that to make it fresh and new rather than coming out the front...the Alien comes out the back. Simple but effective.
I read one review that really trashed the cast of the film calling them monotone and boring and stereotypical. I didn't get that at all. Are they as memorable as some of the original cast, no. I do think they tried too hard on Danny McBride's character as "Tennessee" but he does get a good story arc and McBride is actually very good in the role and has some tense and emotional scenes. Michael Fassbender returns to his role as David and also Walter, the Androids. I recall Fassbender being one of the best parts of Prometheus and he was good in this but I felt something was off with the character development and something was missing. Still he did well. Katherine Waterston was fantastic as the heroine of the film. Whether or not on purpose she has the look and feel of an Ellen Ripley type character though a little softer around the edges. I would love to see her take over in future instalments of this franchise. Billy Crudup and Demián Bichir round out what I consider to be the main and supporting cast with a few other third string characters as well all played well enough but without a lot or any back story. The film might actually have too many characters who are ultimately not much more than fodder for the Alien(s).
Ridley Scott is a sci-fi legend in the directors chair of course. It is obvious he is very passionate about this franchise and he has or has had ideas in his mind for a very long time about the lore behind the Alien franchise and how it ties into human beings. He might be taking it in a very intellectual direction and I think we are all okay with that but he'll want to be careful to remember what we love about this franchise as well which was the horror and survival nature and isolation. While not the best of the series it holds its own and hopefully represents a good bridge between Prometheus and the end of the new trilogy that links all the series together. 8/10