An Absolute Blast of a Horror with a Rocky Start

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2017)

Alien: Covenant follows a colonization ship called 'Covenant' as it sets out to, you guessed it, colonize another planet. Along the way the crew comes across an uninhabited planet with all the means of supporting life, and it's closer than the one they were going to, so they decide to check it out. What's the worst that could happen?
I know I'm in the minority when I say that I absolutely loved this movie. While it isn't as good as the two original Alien movies, it's up there to me.
With the exception of some parts of the beginning, I thought that the movie was really well written. It did a good job of developing the characters through quick dialogue just enough to increase the stakes higher than if they were all expendable. All the characters, who are married to one another, speak to each other like actual married couples. And it isn't just generic lovey-dovey dialogue, it's mature and realistic. While I didn't always know who was married to who most of the time, the stakes were still there. And even when the characters landed on the planet the way the story was carried from then on was great fun but still well-written enough to make complete sense.
As a whole, the movie is both creepy and intense. With the stakes put in, the action is just that much more exciting. And with antagonists like xenomorphs, it's terrifying. There was a slight alteration to the aliens that works really well with the story, and actually makes them infinitely more creepy. It adds another layer of intensity and complexity to the movie that I personally really appreciated. Furthermore, the movie constantly has this level of urgency where the characters learn fairly quickly that there's something wrong, and a large portion of the movie is spent with them simply trying to get out of that problem. But they can't. Very little of this movie is glossed over or skipped ahead of, especially towards the last two acts. So the audience is constantly on edge, waiting for the moment when the characters will either meet their end or get away.
The movie is beautiful, whether it be the set design, landscapes, or CGI. The sets are fleshed out for the most part and manage not to bore. The landscapes on the planet are breathtaking, and the CGI is great. A lot of people had a problem with the movie replacing the classic alien costumes with CGI. Personally I have no problem with how a filmmaker decides to use special effects, so long as it looks good. Sure, I prefer practical effects too, but I doubt this movie could've been done with costumes. The aliens move in oftentimes inhuman, impossibly fast ways that simply couldn't be captured by a regular human, and thus the fear and intensity would be largely gone. And in-movie, the CGI looks great. The aliens are creepy and mostly real, though it isn't unobvious that they are fake. It's not so bad that it took me out of the movie, though.
The acting I found to be often good and more often fine. There wasn't a lot to praise, other than Michael Fassbender. Acting-wise, this guy carries the movie. He plays two characters, and he's fantastic as both. Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup were good as the leading characters as well, and the rest of the cast was good for what little they were often given.
My biggest problem with this movie was the beginning. While it did a good job setting the scene and stakes and showing the contrast between the people and androids (which helped with the character development as well), there was one point that I think was poorly timed and another that was glossed over. The main character spills her beans about a semi-important idea she had with her husband too early, and it just doesn't feel natural. If it had been done later, it would've been better. Later, when the characters go to the other planet, it takes them a couple weeks. Those weeks are completely skipped. Those weeks would've been the perfect time to slip the character and her husband's idea in, as well as develop the other characters. Personally I think that the movie simply should've spent maybe half an hour in those weeks, making it a two-and-a-half-hour- long movie. That way the stakes could've been even higher. Although the dialogue did suffer at the beginning a little, and Waterston's performance went from very emotional to not emotional way too quickly, causing a small problem with her performance.
Overall Alien: Covenant is a solid addition to the Alien franchise. While I don't think it's as good as the first two, I'd say it's right behind them. I don't really get all the hate going it's way, I had an absolute blast with it. In the end I would definitely recommend it despite the fact that you'll probably complain about it too.