A far cry from 'Prometheus'

Rating: 4/10 (31 March 2018)

The 'Alien' franchise has seen its share of ups and downs, from the first two installments earning their rightful place as cinematic classics to the clunkers that were 'Alien 3' and 'Alien: Resurrection' (we're not including either of the embarrassing AVPs). The series underwent a sort of rebirth in 2012's 'Prometheus,' which was directed by Ridley Scott and boasted a clever story and tasteful interpretation of the space-set saga. However, 2017's 'Alien: Covenant' appears to be another downward turn for the franchise.
Picking up more than 10 years after the events of 'Prometheus,' we see what happens when the crew of the Covenant - who are on a colonization expedition - are sidetracked from their mission to inspect a nearby Earth-like planet due to a mysterious signal that's received. Of course, no film that has begun this way has ever led to a series of positive events, and 'Covenant' is no different. With the ship's captain (James Franco) dead from a freak accident, crew members ranging from Daniels (Catherine Waterston) and Oram (Billy Crudup) to Tennessee (Danny McBride) and Karine (Carmen Ejogo) descend upon the unknown planet to investigate. Quickly, things are revealed to be much more sinister than first thought.
Where 'Covenant' differs from the superior 'Prometheus' is in its core underpinnings as a film - the latter is a smart, out of this world suspense thriller and the former is a space-set slasher "murder by numbers" gorefest. Sure, there are plenty of similarities between the two, including Michael Fassbender's chillingly good portrayal of the cyborg David being a main draw. But 'Covenant' falls way short in terms of feeling fresh and exciting. Instead, it settles for cheap scares and the kinds of gags you'd expect to see in low-budget horror films. Even though there are plenty of interesting plot developments introduced in 'Covenant,' including questions about the origins of the classic xenomorph to the fate of Elizabeth Shaw, the film falls far short as a whole.
Sure, the 'Alien' series is far from over. But in order for it to continue to go strong, whatever follows 'Alien: Covenant' must be a much improved film, or it could risk bringing an early end to the franchise.