Good quality science fiction

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2017)

After reading some of the negative reviews, I thought I should offer a bit of balance. Scores of 1/10 are more indicative of a desire to fit the film to a preconceived narrative, than a genuine assessment of the film, in my view. So I will try not to do that in the opposite direction!
No spoilers here. You don't need to reveal the plot to review a good film in detail. To me, that is a key marker.
I loved the original Alien films (all of them), with Alien and Aliens being the obvious favorites. I also enjoyed Prometheus. I like SF and am always grateful for good quality SF to watch. Some of the films in this universe are all-time classics, some are just decent films. They are all better than most of the drivel that comes out of the film industry to my slightly geeky tastes.
The great thing about the five films prior to this is that they are all explore slightly different aspects of the SF genre - with an obvious 'suspense horror' thread throughout.
Part of the commonality between them is the atmosphere created by the set design and technology imagined for the films, as well as the aliens themselves. Covenant does not let the series down in this respect, providing an environment that allows you to suspend your disbelief so that you can become involved in the world created.
The human technology and on-ship environments are industrial and functional, if a little too neon for my liking this time around; the planetary environments familiar but unearthly, close enough for comfort but with an undertone of untamed extremity; the non-human artificial environments are cathedral-like and Gothic. More advanced such that the technology is hidden rather than exposed as in the human environments - ancient and Gothic technological advancement, rather than the shiny newness of Star Trek.
There is a weakness in the character building of the human crew and some of their decision making - however, this is not as bad as perhaps made out in other reviews. These calls are less plot devices, as they were not necessary to the story at all, nor decisive to the outcome, and more just irrelevant parts of the story that might have been handled better.
They may even be belated attempts at character development wedged in later on... though this is of little importance in my view, as the star of the film is David, and his character is constructed and acted beautifully.
The film lacks suspense almost entirely. It is still good SF, don't get me wrong, and there is some horror in there, but suspense can't be something that was being aimed for as far as I can tell!
A disappointing aspect of Prometheus was that it drew the suspense out so far that it was never going to be able to reward the viewer with a big enough scare / novelty to justify the build up. This distracted and so detracted from the other qualities of the film in terms of its exploration of various religious and philosophical subjects. Perhaps this left you feeling a little bit 'cheated', and hindered the understanding of the underlying story, which while interesting, was actually, not very complicated.
Even though we were told it was not an alien film, we knew it was, and were always waiting for the alien to jump out and terrify us like it did in Alien and Aliens. When 'it' did eventually appear - 'it' was just not quite right.
Covenant almost conversely lacks any sort of meaningful suspenseful build up at all - and is equally unable to provide novelty in terms of the aliens themselves. It does provide our alien fix early and often, but they are more book stops to the story being told, than the story itself.
I suspect that providing genuine novelty in this universe is almost futile where the aliens are concerned. Primarily, because we all know what is coming at us by now; and secondarily, because the ultimate viscerally terrifying Alien has already been created - despite thousands of attempts throughout film making history - no monster is as terrifying as the original Xenomorph.
It is impossible to recreate or better the suspense and novelty of the original films; or perhaps even to recruit a more perfect actress than Sigourney Weaver upon whom to attach it.
You cannot recreate an artistic masterpiece, even with better technology. Often, the leaps the effects guys made in the 70s, 80s and early 90s create part of the magic - which CGI just can't quite capture. Star Wars 4, 5, 6; Terminator and T2 and Alien are good examples of this.
So Covenant doesn't try to better or match the early films in this respect. Why waste time trying to do that? They have tried to give those who hated Prometheus the aliens and gore they wanted AND those who appreciated it, some of the back story, Gothic mysticism and geeky SF exploration of ideas that they wanted.
And the result is, for me, a great film that provides a very high quality of entertainment in a universe we all enjoy. But also that delivers perfection for nobody!
That lack of perfection is fine by me. That the makers have used a much loved 'franchise' to attract the funding to make such solid if not masterfully great SF is more than fine by me too. Enjoy...