In 2015 fans of Alien received word that Neill Blomkamp, director of the fantastic science fiction movie District 9, had plans to make a fifth Alien movie. Supposedly it would take place after the second Alien film, and pretty much ignore the events of Alien 3, a movie that many fans were disappointed by. It would also see the return of both Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn to reprise their roles as Ripley and Hicks. However, when director Ridley Scott made it clear that he had plans to make a sequel to Prometheus, the project for Alien 5 was put on hold. A real shame if you ask me, for I would have loved to see Ripley and Hicks back in action. And that brings us in a roundabout way to Alien Covenant, which is a sequel to Prometheus, but a prequel to the first Alien movie. You still with me on this? Okay, now if you want some more information about Prometheus, you can find it here. Without further ado let’s dive into Ridley Scott’s new film.

Alien Covenant takes place ten years after the events of Prometheus. We join the crew of a gigantic colony ship called Covenant, which is on a mission to a distant planet to raise a new human civilisation. During the trip something goes horribly wrong and the ship get’s damaged, waking the crew from their cryosleep. While they are trying to make repairs to the ship, a transmission is intercepted from an unknown planet. A transmission that appears to be of human origin. Abandoning their original plans, the inexperienced captain of the ship decides to check out the origin of the signal. When they finally arrive on the planet, it seems to be a match made in heaven. The planet appears to be perfect for colonisation. But looks can be very deceiving as the crew of the ship is about to find out. For the planet hides a horrifying secret. A secret so terrible that they will all soon have to fight for their lives and survival is by no means certain….

One of the biggest complaints that people had about Prometheus is that it focussed very little on the Alien Xenomorphs. With this film, Ridley Scott brings the alien monsters back with a vengeance. From a story point of view, the movie does an okay job. We definitely get some more answers to the questions about the origins of the Alien species, as well as the fate of the survivors of the Prometheus. Still, the story is not one of it’s stronger points. This movie really brings back the horror to the franchise and in that regard it succeeds. Their are some truly terrifying and very gory scenes in the movie, that really are not for the faint at heart. Some of the new creatures in the film, are incredibly well designed. The movie starts off a bit slow, but picks up the pace in the second act, and ends in a satisfactory way.

The actors in the movie are all relatively unknowns, except for Michael Fassbender, who this time around also plays a different android called Walter. As in Prometheus, Fassbender again steals the show, with a very good role. The female lead this time is played by actress Katherine Waterstone, who plays the role of Daniels. Daniels can be compared to Ripley in many ways, as she is also a strong woman that eventually gets to fight against the horrifying monsters. The rest of the cast was okay, but the characters they played had little to no substance to to them, and as such were pretty forgettable. In the end the movie was a good addition to the Alien franchise, but I did not enjoy it as much as Prometheus. Still, it was nice to see the Xenomorphs back in action, and with the script for the third installment already finished, I can’t wait to find out what will happen next.
I give Alien:Covenant a 8 out of 10 score.
very interesting, i’ll give it a watch!
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Hope you will enjoy it, it is a pretty cool movie 😊
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Thanks for your review! I agree with just about everything you said. While I also missed Xenomorph screen-time (but that’s probably because I’m OBSESSED with them, LOL), I enjoyed the lore and attention to the story-building quite a lot. 🙂
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You are welcome and thank you for your comment 😊Yes, it really feels like it is turning into this really epic story with a real mythology to it now. I look forward to the next installment, because it is rumored to completely tie everything up leading to the first Alien movie. Which means that we will probably get a lot of more Xenomorphs 😀(I am obsessed with them asleep, but don’t tell anyone okay ? lol).
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Well, looks like I’ll have to catch this once it is out on DVD as I have no chance of a cinema viewing. I was kind of thinking I was done after Prometheus but having read a lot of good and bad reviews about this movie, it kind of seems worth at least trying. And I do love a good bit of horror and gore.
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Well: there is plenty of horror and gore to go around in this one. To bad you won’t be able to see it in the cinema. Hope you will enjoy the film when you catch it on dvd 😊
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This is one that I really want to see. The trailers for it looked really good and dud a great job of getting me interested. On the flip side, the moment that I heard Alien 5 would likely retcon Alien 3, I virtually lost interest in it. To me, the Director’s Cut of Alien 3 was the second best film of the original 3, sitting just behind Alien 1.
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I am also one of the people that quite enjoyed alien 3. The only thing I think the film did not handle very well was the characters of Newt and Hicks. I really would have liked to have seen more of them. This one is really good, and leaves you wanting more when the film ends. Luckily the script for the third film is already completed. Hope you will enjoy the film when you see it 😊
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Covenant was one that I wanted to see in the cinema, but i’m unlikely to get to see it until the DVD/BluRay. Still, i’m keeping my fingrs corssed that i’ll enjoy it.
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Finally I get to read your review! I’m glad you liked the movie 😁 Can’t wait to read your reviews on others movies👍🏻
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Thank you. There will be a few reviews coming up in the next few days, on Resident Evil, as well as the third Star Trek movie and some anime. Thanks for your continued support really appreciate it 😊
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Yay to more love for Prometheus and Alien: Covenant! Great review! This was a lot of fun, and I do love the horror/gore elements as well. I’m so thrilled to learn that the script for the third film is complete. Can’t wait to see where this prequel trilogy goes from here!
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From what I have heard (although these are only rumors so far), the third movie is going to directly tie into the first Alien movie, and tie together all the movies with the existing alien universe. Looking forward to that a lot 😊😊
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Will definitely be giving this a shot. I’m always up for some good old alien gore. It’s a pity that we’ll have to wait even more for Ripley though
Great review!
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Thank you 😊Yeah, I would have loved to see Ripley back in action, but I don’t think that is going to happen anymore, as much as we would want to. Still, the lady that played the female lead in this part reminded me a lot of her. Hope you will enjoy the movie if you get a chance to see it 😊
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8/10 is a promising score. I’ve read some pretty mixed reviews, but I’m a big Ridley fan so this is a priority that I will have to watch soon. I too really want to see Ripley kicking ass once more. Sigourney Weaver is one incredible actress who embodies both strength and humanity beautifully.
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Yeah, the movie has been kind of a hit and miss with a lot of people. Some people seemed to absolutely hate it, but there are also a lot of people that loved it. The cool and dark atmosphere of this movie, is the thing that I enjoyed the most 😊
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Yes, atmosphere is what I most think of with the Alien movies. In particular the first one which is faultless in creating tension.
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Fair assessment. Ridley was always going to have an uphill battle with me but I think because he dumbed me down so much with Prometheus, I was able to have a good time with this one.
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Haha, that is a wonderful way to put it. Glad you enjoyed this one. Looking forward to his next part, which supposedly is going to tie the previous two movies to the first Alien. That actually sounds pretty cool 😊
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Thanks for the review I am releavtily new tho this franchise having just watched Alien and Aliens a few months ago. Was gonna check this out in theaters but never did. going to give it ago tonight.
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I recommend seeing Prometheus first 😊 As this one is a sequel to that film. You can watch this one without having seen Prometheus, but a lot of things in Covenant will make more sense when you have seen Prometheus. Hope you will enjoy it 😀
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It’s a shame that Alien 5 has been abandoned because more adventures starring Ripley would be cool. You may want to check out Alien: Out of the Shadow by the way. It’s an audiobook set between Alien and Aliens.
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Yeah, that really is a shame as I would have loved to have seem both Ripley and sergeant Hicks back in action. That said, at the moment is is completely unclear where Alien will be heading to next. As mentioned yesterday Ridley Scott might not get another chance, so who knows, maybe Alien 5 will now be getting the green light.
I’ve read that book, and it was very cool (although I later learned that there was an audiodrama version too, which I would have preferred). Thanks for the recommendation though 😀
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Yes, th main reason why I didn’t like Alien Covenant is that it isn’t Alien 5! I care far more for Ripley and Hicks than any of these nobodies.
This is not so much a prequel but a rehash – even th Soundtrack (arguably its greatest asset) features familiar tunes from both Alien and Aliens.
Sure, Covenant is well-made, but doesn’t advance the franchise in any way
Great write-up tho! 😉
Cheers!
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Haha, I hear you 😊 I definitely would have loved to have seen alien 5 with both Ripley and Hicks in it. But alas that was not to be.
I know I am in the minority here with this film, most people really did not like it. But despite the characters being really flat, I kind of liked this film (although I agree that there were certainly elements that felt like a rehash 😊).
Thanks for the kind words and the comment. I appreciate it 😀
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