Another ludicrous prequel from Scott

Rating: 1/10 (17 May 2017)

If you were bitterly disappointed by the first prequel "Prometheus", get in line for a second helping of ridiculous plotting, a non descript crew and shoehorning of chunks of Alien lore so that Scott can keep the prequel train chugging along.
The colony ship "Covenant" is waylaid by unlikely events leading to it investigating a signal from an unknown planet leading to a trail from the original film. The film has the trademark Scott polish and looks beautiful but that is not enough to save it.
This has some of the laziest writing (both plotting and dialogue) I have ever seen but especially in such a legendary franchise. Ridiculous chain events lead to the crew gambling on visiting this strange planet and it is galling to say the least that any semblance of common sense let alone exploration training is lost within seconds. No spoilers in saying that you might want to have a breathing helmet on when first landing on a new planet. I love a good roller-coaster but this just made me angry.
As for the cast, they are done no favours by Scott. Rewatch "Alien" or "Aliens" and you will see textbook examples of how to quickly introduce a team of characters which separates their personalities and moves the story forward. Unfortunately, the heroine is Dany Branson played by Katherine Waterston who was the worst aspect of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and if anything she is worse in this. Her acting persona is a charisma vortex and of course that is a heavy anchor for the rest of the ensemble.
The shining light is Michael Fassbender who as a synthetic can be seen in various roles with flashbacks and so on. Every time he is on screen, the film intensifies and is interesting for that heartbeat. An interesting short film would be just the philosophical discussions he holds in this film.
The rest of the film is standard B grade shoot 'em up but because everyone acts so stupidly you actually end up barracking for the xenomorphs. In fact the pivotal scene which is halfway through the movie is so ludicrous that people laughed in my screening (Think Jedi)
Scott was lambasted for the ponderous "Prometheus" so he has doubled down on the action setting up a Gothic palace which needs to be explored but as with any Poe poem or Shelley novella, things can only lead to the macabre despite any action the characters take. This film has more in common with Texas Chainsaw then the Alien franchise.