REVIEW: Alien: CovenantBy Quinn OxleyMay 19, 2017These things have terrified me since I was old enough to walk. I couldn’t sit in peace through the first half of Walt Disney World’s Great Movie Ride knowing that I would have to come face-to-face with H.R. Giger’s hellspawn. I swore I would never watch any of the Alien films - that I wasn’t composed of the kind of stuff that could stomach the gore and the depravity.

A few weeks ago, I watched all four of the original films in one day in preparation for Alien: Covenant. Little did I know I didn’t have to see any of them to understand the newest installment.

I had to have seen Prometheus. Unfortunately, I haven’t, so I had no idea what the &$%* was going on.

The best summary I can give is this: a colonization mission goes awry when a random neutrino burst damages the ship and kills the captain. In the wake of this tragedy, the crew picks up a stray signal from a nearby planet ideal for colonization and decides to investigate. This being an Alien film, rest assured things get… extraterrestrial. And explode-y.

As I said, I did not see Prometheus, so I was largely lost. Even having read many synopses and watch many analysis videos on the 2012 film, I had so little idea of what was going on. From what I can gather by research since seeing Covenant, apparently this film complicated the lore significantly, which is even less helpful for my situation. The friend I saw it with (who has seen none of the films and understood it as little as I did) compared the film to being “thrown around by a bunch of people who were showing me pictures of organs.” Without going into spoilers, all I can say to account for my confusion is that I didn’t understand the antagonist’s motivation.

From what I did gather, however, I can say I enjoyed what I did see so long as I tried not to compare it to the first two original films. Michael Fassbender, as usual, commits his whole self to his dual role. Katherine Waterston is no replacement for Ripley, but she gets the job done and plays a realistic, relatable character. While I’m a lightweight when it comes to horror, I wasn’t terrified; I was on-edge just enough (most of the time) to get the thrill of any modern-day horror film.

The main thing that would sabotage the viewing experience for anyone is going in with the expectation that they were getting an Alien film. A creature feature. It was much more about the larger story than the xenomorph. Go in wanting more Prometheus and less Nostromo, if that makes sense.

Is it good, though?

Again, depends on what you’re wanting. I was thoroughly confused and found myself wanting more Alien, but I would go in again and likely come out pleased if I’d had the proper expectations.

Rating: 5.5/10

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