This is the same man who made Gladiator...

Rating: 4/10 (19 May 2017)

"ALIEN COVENANT" REVIEW: I consider Ridley Scott's "Alien" to be a masterwork. With moody lighting, phenomenal practical effects, and breathtaking set design; the original film was an absolute classic of the Horror & SciFi genres. Seeing Scott was once more taking the helm of this franchise gave me cautious hope. The last installment, "Prometheus", was kinda mediocre; lackluster writing, but solid performances, interesting story-line, and gorgeous (albeit a bit stale) visuals. I thought to myself, "perhaps, 'Alien: Covenant' will pick up the slack."
Wow, the film was terrible. I mean just a total schlock-fest. A complete dumpster fire. The writing was atrocious, filled with cheesy one-liners and heavy handed "subtext" throughout. It completely blows even "Prometheus" out of the water with the amount of just laughably bad decisions made by characters. Speaking of characters, I can't remember the majority of their names because they served little purpose besides cannon fodder. They really tried forcing the magic of Siguorney Weaver as Ripley once more with this movie's protagonist and it just did not work at all. And what the hell was with the casting of Danny McBride?? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan. The dude's hilarious, but so very inappropriate for any serious role. Every time he popped on screen, I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like a parody film. However, I think the greatest sin of all was the Alien effects. Gone are the life-like puppets and models by genius, H.R. Giger. Visuals that (mostly) remain timeless, still as impressive. Instead we get some run of the mill, low quality, CGI monsters. Ugh. My only positive notes pertain to couple epic spectacle shots that worked well. So yeah, don't waste your money on "Alien Covenant". Maybe in the future watch it on DVD for the "so-bad-it's-good" aspects, but otherwise, stay away. 4/10