A triumphant return to form

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 2017)

Alien: Covenant is uninterested in answering any of the questions presented in Prometheus. Instead it focuses on what made the first Alien movie work so well: creating a sense of terror and isolation in space where no one can hear you scream.
This film takes place between Prometheus and the original, focusing on a mission to colonize a remote planet. They receive a transmission from another planet that is seemingly better suited to support human life. As you may have expected, this does not go well.
This movie is a triumphant return to form for the franchise. It is the same form of the original classic, with a crew in space hunted by an alien. With the exception of a few subplots, the story doesn't stray far from that description. But Ridley Scott directs it with the same sense of dread that made the original such a classic.
It is full of graphic violence, but the real scares come from the aliens themselves. They are brought to life with terrifyingly realistic special effects, and their on screen presence is very menacing. I feel like they could have shown less of them, maybe having them lurk out of sight, but they were still scary when shown in all their glory.
Alien: Covenant is significantly better than the previous outing, Prometheus, and an effectively creepy thriller. Though I am disappointed that it didn't continue the story of Prometheus, I am still glad we got another Alien movie that focuses on tension and atmosphere.
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