Enjoyable, gorgeous, thought provoking science-fiction

Rating: 9/10 (16 October 2018)

I'm a big fan of "Prometheus," so when I saw that Best Buy was selling this bad boy for the low, low price of ten dollars, I was sold. I bought it, took it home, and put it right on my shelf for a few weeks until yesterday I figured the time was right, right to watch what I assumed would be the sequel to "Prometheus." And it is, kind of. You see, "Alien: Covenant" is not a direct sequel to "Prometheus," as it takes place 10 years later. However, a few of your favorite characters may or may not return, and your favorite creature may or may not be hugging some faces.
Here's the thing. The "Alien" franchise has a very loyal audience and a deep mythos that's easy to get absorbed in. And while watching "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant," it's kind of easy to see that Ridley Scott might be making things up as he goes along. However, that doesn't stop these movies from being highly philosophical and exceedingly interesting. The best parts of these movies, and this movie specifically, is when it deals with the subjects of creation, God, and life. The opening scene is extremely riveting, featuring an android gaining the knowledge of immortality for him, and inevitable death for his human creator. This film deals with a bunch of interesting topics, and I was enthralled by the questions that were brought up.
But, if you're watching a movie with "Alien" in the title, chances are you're looking for some alien violence, and boy do you get it. The action in this movie was intense, thrilling, and white-knuckle. The very first, and very last set pieces were so exciting that my heart was actually racing, something that hasn't happened to me while watching a movie in a long time. And the aliens are a bit different in this movie, as well. They can run, and run fast, moving sporadically and unpredictably, and in my opinion, this just added to their horrifying nature, because how can you defeat something when you don't know what it's going to do next?
This may get me crucified, but I think Ridley Scott, when it comes to action, is a mediocre director. For some reason, he seems to enjoy adding a lot of shaky camera to his action scenes, which I find very distracting. However, when it comes to this movie, he didn't overdo it, and I found that the slight shaky cam actually enhanced the intensity; there were times where I legitimately found it hard to watch because of how insane things were getting. And again, I'm not saying Ridley Scott is a bad director, because when it comes to science-fiction, the man is a God. Seriously, this movie is gorgeous. There are shots and sequences that I can't stop thinking about it. I mean, just watch the trailer and tell me that the film doesn't look incredible. Any other director and this movie wouldn't look as good as it does. Say whatever you want about Scott, the man knows science-fiction, and the man puts impeccable, beautiful detail into all of his movies. Seriously, this is the best-looking film I've seen in a long time, and simply how lovely his movies look is what makes "Alien: Covenant" as good as I think it is.
The acting was also very good by everyone, even though the characterization was lacking. I have heard that there are scenes on YouTube that were taken out of the film that expand on the characters and add some much-needed characterization, and maybe this is laziness on my part, but I didn't watch them because I don't think a film should require homework before I watch it. However, because I loved this movie as much as I did, I will definitely go back and watch it. And even though the characters are a bit bland, that doesn't stop the performances from being excellent. Katherine Waterston especially was not only the most attractive woman I've ever seen on screen before in my life, but also gave a very explosive, emotional performance that I won't soon forget. James Franco too was on fire in this movie, and I'll leave it at that.
"Alien: Covenant" is one of the best science-fiction movies I've seen in a long time. It's just so existential, contemplative, and thought-provoking, as well as exciting, suspenseful, thrilling, and horrifying. It's not just a movie you can put on and enjoy because of the violence and action, but it's a movie that brings up life-questions, a movie that deals with creation and creator, a movie that questions what it means to be a created being, and what it means to be a creator, and it's all of these things that elevate this film to new heights. Because, being an "Alien" film, all they really had to do was rehash previous plot points; they could've made a 2-hour movie about people being trapped on a ship and stalked by an alien - rinse and repeat, give us money please. But this film doesn't do that. It challenges its audience, brings up incredibly interesting philosophical questions, and leaves a ton of things open for interpretation and discussion, and I don't have a doubt in my mind that I'll be thinking of this movie and theorizing about it for a long, long time.
9/10