A review on Hollywood feature length film, ‘Alien: Covenant’ (2017). The Production Houses are 20th Century Fox & Scott Free Productions while its Distributor is 20th Century Fox. The Story is written by Jack Paglen & Michael Green.
+ Crew I
- Directed & Produced by Ridley Scott
- Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
- Screen Play by John Logan & Dante Harper
- Edited by Pietro Scalia
- Music by Jed Kurzel
- Produced by Mark Huffam, Michael Schaefer, David Giler & Walter Hill
+ Note
The film is a sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus, the second installment in the Alien prequel series, and the sixth installment overall in the Alien film series, as well as the third directed by Scott. Javier Botet portrays a Xenomorph via motion capture. Goran D. Kleut plays the role of both the Neomorph and the Xenomorph in costume and on set. Each Alien film features a different type of group interacting with the Xenomorphs: Miners in the original Alien; Military in Aliens; Prisoners in Alien3; Smugglers in Alien Resurrection; and Research Scientists in Prometheus while Scientists / Colonists in Alien: Covenant.
During his confrontation with Walter, David asks him if he’d rather “serve in Heaven or reign in Hell”. The line refers to John Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost”, where Lucifer claims it is “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”. This fits with David’s ultimate desire to no longer be subservient to mankind. In addition, “Paradise Lost” was the original subtitle for this film, before “Covenant” was chosen.
+ Main Cast
- Michael Fassbinder as David 8 and Walter
- Katherine Waterston as Daniels “Dany” Branson
- Billy Crudup as Christopher Oram
- Danny McBride as Tennessee
- Demián Bichir as Sergeant Lope
- Carmen Ejogo as Karine Oram
- Amy Seimetz as Maggie Faris
xxxxxxxxxx
+ Supporting Cast
- Jussie Smollett as Ricks
- Callie Hernandez as Upworth
- Nathaniel Dean as Sergeant Hallett
- Alexander England as Ankor
- Benjamin Rigby as Ledward
- James Franco as Jacob “Jake” Branson
- Uli Latukefu as Pvt. Cole
xxxxxxxxxx
+ Recurring Cast (Guest Appearances)
- Noomi Rapace as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
- Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland
+ Plot
The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.
+ High Points
i – Michael Fassbinder’s performance as Walter & David 8 (Reprising role) is played out magnificently. Both roles were written very differently which was challenging for the actor.
ii – The guest appearance reprised role by Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland was very pleasing to watch.
iii – The story has touch of Prometheus and Alien. I loved both of these films hence made a good combination as Alien: Covenant.
iv – The production design are yet again praise worthy. Ridley Scott is truly a master in its Art direction.
v – The Visual effects and Makeup & hairstyling helped this suspense sci-fi horror film to reach the ranks of a successful film in the Alien franchise.
vi – We are able to witness blood / gore as Alien franchise have in common with intro of new species of Alien race.
+ Low Points
i – It’s not rocket science to find out the minor hints / clues that they give for the film’s twists and turns, including how the film is going to end. Almost every twist came out as very predictable.
ii – The character developments usually lack in slasher films. Here too is another example of it. However the backstory they gave in Prometheus for Dr. Elizabeth Shaw was missing for the protagonist as Daniels “Dany” Branson.
iii – It character of Walter was not as inspiring or fascinating as of David 8 in (its predecessor) Prometheus.
iv – There was serious lack of strong supporting cast missing in this film as did in its first part. Such as in the film Prometheus, there was Michael Fassbinder as David 8 (Android), Idris Elba as Janek (the captain of the ‘Prometheus’ spaceship while having a military background), Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers (daughter of Peter Weyland and had conflicts with Elizabeth Shaw) and Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland (Head of this Trillion dollar company and searching their creators for many answers especially how to stop death).
In Alien Covenant we have Michael Fassbinder as Walter (Android), James Franco as Jacob “Jake” Branson (in Cameo appearance, former captain of ‘Covenant’ spaceship and husband of Daniels) and Billy Crudup as Christopher Oram (New captain of ‘Covenant’ spaceship).
v – Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw performed much better than Katherine Waterston as Daniels “Dany” Branson
vi – The characters of its predecessor were well written than in Alien: Covenant.
+ Overall
A good effort as sci-fi horror thriller of deep, bloody gore film which will leave the viewers satisfied with a welcome back note to Alien franchise especially Michael Fassbinder, who yet again delivered charismatic, cunning character.
Rate: 3.50 out of 5 stars
Mr. Khan's Reviews 