Unispired Sequel/Prequel

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2017)

I'd like to report that the crushingly poor box office and mediocre reviews are all undeserved - but, I can't. I liked PROMETHEUS more than most because I thought it had a decent and fairly original sci-fi story about creation - artificial and natural. Unfortunately, that tale was crucially compromised by trying to shoe-horn it into the Alien franchise.
Now, with COVENANT, we have a movie that is trying to serve as both a sequel to PROMETHEUS and a direct prequel to the original ALIEN. It satisfies as neither. COVENANT is well made, with some striking production design and good SFX. Michael Fassbender is a superb actor and he does a solid job at bringing unique characteristics to two different androids from the same model line. The rest of the cast is largely solid, with the exception of Danny McBride. But, the script is muddled and Ridley Scott's Direction, while technically assured as always, isn't inspired, either. Large stretches of the movie play as an alternate version/ remake of the original film in the series (with bits and pieces of ALIENS, a touch of #3 and even some BLADE RUNNER tossed into the stew) - but, to what purpose? The bland reaction by critics and audiences should serve as a loud signal that the time has come for Ridley Scott and the studio to let this franchise go into hibernation in some film vault pod of it's own...until the inevitable reboot down the road, natch.
P.S. How does Jed Kurzel merit an "original music by" credit? So much of it is a variation of Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant themes from the original film (with more than a nod to the style of James Horner's sequel work). Shamefully, Goldsmith's only mention is buried at almost the very end of the credits lumped with the other "Songs". Songs? Not even an Themes based on acknowledgment? Really? Sure, it's a great credit to have, but, wow.