Best of the bad lot

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2017)

After Prometheus, I definitely checked my expectations when it came to the pre-release anticipation for A:C. But Prometheus wasn't solely responsible for that lack of enthusiasm. Years of franchise fatigue played into it too, from my initial disgust at the death of my favourite sub-characters in Alien 3, to the mind boggling, almost self-parody that was Resurrection. Let's not mention the AVP films that never actually existed (forget I mentioned it).
So basically, there have only ever been 2 genuinely good films in this franchise. The impeccable, groundbreaking horror Alien and the equally remarkable, progressive action-horror Aliens. Despite the aforementioned dislike of narrative choices made in A3, I find it an oddly fascinating and beautiful film, especially the Assembly Cut. So we'll say 2.5 genuinely good films in this franchise. Yet there are 7 films set in this universe. That's not good odds really is it?
So Covenant. Where does it sit in comparison to the others?
Well it's not bad, but it's not great either. It's just kind of meh... I enjoyed watching it at the time, but I also could have done without it. I also could have done without the even further demystification of the Xenomorph and its origins. Ridley's reasoning for not including the Xenomorph in Prometheus was that 'everyone knows what it is, it's not scary anymore.' Yet he brings it back in Covenant only to even further explain where it came from, and perhaps more puzzlingly, it's illustrated in full daylight, in big open spaces, wandering around and running over things as a blatant CG model. There's no Alien stalking people through dark, claustrophobic spaces here unfortunately. Technology makes directors lazy.
It's not all bad. There's gore galore and the new Neomorph is quite vicious. It's introductory scene was actually quite suspenseful and felt like it was leading somewhere, but alas. It was probably the best scene of the movie. The characters were better than Prometheus in that they actually felt like people this time around. I was reluctant to take Danny McBride seriously, but I think he nailed his role better than anyone else in Covenant. And the visuals. Perhaps excluding the overuse of a CG Xenomorph, Covenant looked wonderful in the same way Prometheus did.
But it wasn't enough. Even disregarding a number of silly decisions and awkward dialogue (the whole cinema burst into laughter at 'you blow, I'll do the fingering,') the ending was underwhelming and the edgy ending just seemed to think it was a lot smarter than it was (I predicted it about 20 minutes earlier) and was obviously setting up an inevitable sequel.
It's may be better than Alien 3. I don't know. Only a repeat viewing will tell me for sure. But based on my initial reaction, I won't be in a hurry to pick it up on Bluray. I'd still much rather see Neil Blomkamp reuniting with Ripley and Corporal Hicks. Take note Fox!