Sits awkwardly across two stools, being good enough to work, but not excelling at either (suggestive SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (13 August 2017)

It is a testament to the alien itself that the franchise continues, and that it continues to interest and engage. Even as the franchise has become messier as it expands, the core strengths remain – although this does depend on who you speak to. Prometheus does seem to have pleased those who were happy that the "horror" element of the franchise was put behind the expansion of the story and mythology of the alien as a creature, and Covenant seems to be trying to keep that element while also producing an 'Alien' movie in terms of what that mostly has meant. It is a flawed attempt, but yet still provides enough of value to enjoy.
On the horror side, there are plenty of creatures, tension, fast- movement, and intensity; but it does all have the downside of feeling overly familiar. It doesn't help itself by having sequences which are directly or indirectly referencing the original films, but not quite doing it as effectively. For instance, the shower scene here is not bad, but when placed against the horrific cruelty and sexual nature of a similar scene in the original, it pales. Similarly, the other scenes deliver, but yet still fall short of something which we are constantly reminded of. The creatures themselves retain power, and the characters are decent enough to make us invest, and it is all professionally delivered.
On the other side, the mythology is more fully explained in terms of the development of the creature we are familiar with, the motivations of David and, by extension, of the Engineers. The problem is that there is a lot of true horror and character in there that needed to be brought out more than it was. The horror/thriller aspect takes time from that element, and I wanted to be more shocked or chilled by David than I was – too often the events were related as such, as opposed to having a depth to them. Again this element did still work, but I was left wanting more given what it did. Fassbender helps this element loads though, and his performance makes the most of the time allotted for this, although on the flipside it does frustrate as I wanted more.
The plot itself, outside of these elements, does better at creating characters we like, or that have interesting flaws; but Covenant relies on them being stupid, and taking bad decisions with no basis – mainly to allow the plot to move. There is enough to the film to make that less annoying, but it is still annoying to see heavily armed with guns but yet apparently oblivious to disease or microbiological risks associated with stepping onto a new planet. That aside though, there is enough in the horror, and in the mythology, and in Fassbender, to make Covenant worth seeing, even if it doesn't deliver on its full potential.