Finally, a worthy sequel to the original Alien films. Covenant manages to replicate some of the tension and suspense of the first film, while also bringing something new to the saga.

Premise: Ten years after the events of Prometheus, the colony-ship Covenant is on its way to settle 2000 colonists on a remote planet when it’s damaged by an unexpected solar event. While carrying out repairs, the crew pick up a human transmission coming from an apparently unexplored region of space, and must decide whether or not to investigate.

Verdict:

First things first, let’s get this out of the way – obviously, Covenant is not as good as Alien or Aliens, both of which are stone-cold classic pieces of cinematic history. But saying that a film is not as good as two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made is not saying much.

While I do have a soft spot for the 2003 “Assembly Cut” of Alien 3 (which is infinitely better than the muddled 1992 cinematic release), the strength of that version of that film is that it’s the culmination of the three-film story of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley character – take that away, and the film loses much of its impact. And although there are bits that I like in 1997’s Alien: Resurrection, that film feels like it takes place in a completely different universe from the other films – which is something that is even more true of the two Alien vs Predator films (which, even being generous, are total B-movies with no real depth at all).

“…‘Covenant’ is the best film in the Alien saga since ‘Aliens’…”

I’m also a bit of a Prometheus apologist, insofar as I think there are some great ideas in that film … which are sadly lost amongst all of the forced plot contrivances and badly written character decisions. From that perspective, I can happily confirm that no scientists in Covenant try to “coochy-coo” an extra-terrestrial cobra, like they inexplicably did in Prometheus. The long and the short of it is, I think Covenant is potentially the best film in the Alien saga since Aliens back in 1986, which is no mean feat.

I think it’s pretty uncontroversial to say that Prometheus was not the film that anyone – the audiences or the filmmakers – hoped it would be. Audiences wanted a clearer connection to the events leading up to 1979’s Alien, and while the filmmakers of Prometheus originally wanted to branch away from the Alien mythology (Ridley Scott famously saying at the time that he thought the Alien was played out as a cinematic presence), I think Covenant is a clear indication that the filmmakers learned from the mistakes made in Prometheus. In particular, I think the filmmakers realised that the golden opportunity offered by making prequels to the original Alien film was that they could delve into the creation and history of the so-called Xenomorph, which was a far more interesting subject than Prometheus’ quest for the answer to why the Engineers created human life.

“…‘Covenant’ does a great job of incorporating ‘Prometheus’ into the Alien mythology…”

If it sounds like I’m talking around Covenant a lot more than talking directly about it, that’s because I’m very cagey about giving too much away. I really enjoyed watching Covenant, but I think a lot of that is related to the fact that I avoided seeing trailers or reading spoilers beforehand, and so went in without a clear idea of what was going to unfold – which meant that I then found myself very pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected directions that the plot took.

What I will say is that the working title, Alien: Paradise Lost, perhaps gives a better description of the tone and themes of the film. I will also say that Covenant does a great job of incorporating Prometheus into the Alien mythology, but without becoming too bogged down with being a “direct” sequel to Prometheus. If you haven’t seen Prometheus, then I think everything that you need to know about the events of that film is summarised in Covenant, but if you have seen Prometheus, then one of Covenant’s strengths is the fact that you will now go back and probably see Prometheus in a whole new light.

“…maintains the creatures’ sense of mystery and threat…”

The film is also gorgeous to look at (which was certainly one of Prometheus’ saving graces), and Ridley Scott not only has a great eye for the location work (including shooting in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park), but the fantastic production design work generates a real feeling that this film takes place in the same universe as the first Alien film (which makes sense, given that Covenant is set less than 20 years before Alien). And while some purists will miss the “man-in-a-rubber-suit” vibe of the original depictions of the Xenomorphs, the various CGI creatures in this film are able to demonstrate far more agile and animalistic behaviour than could previously be achieved with puppetry and costumes, yet manage to also avoid losing their sense of realism and tangibility.

Unlike Prometheus, Covenant does include “proper” nods the Alien mythology, although unlike the Alien vs Predator films for example, Covenant still maintains the creatures’ sense of mystery and threat, and doesn’t overplay its hand too soon. Also, while some diehard fans have pointed out that certain aspects of the Xenomorphs’ lifecycle appear to be inconsistent between the various films, I would remind everyone that the Xenomorph is clearly a highly adaptable and mutable hybridised organism, so fluctuations in its lifecycle from film to film are by no means necessarily continuity errors as some have suggested!

“…adds some new twists and revelations that cast a new light over the saga as a whole…”

The cast is also very solid, and although I don’t want to give away which characters might be making a swift exit as the film unfolds, I do want to single out Danny McBride for his surprisingly layered performance in the first serious role I’ve seen him play (although I did spend the first 20 minutes of the film expecting him to start cracking inappropriate jokes at any moment), and also Michael Fassbender for bringing not one but two android characters to life (that’s not a spoiler, as they both appear in the opening scenes of the film). Also, the fact that this is a colony-ship, where all of the crew are in couples that intend to settle down and start a new life away from Earth, adds an interestingly fresh dynamic to the on board relationships.

Overall, Covenant manages to both incorporate the familiar elements of Alien-lore that were noticeably missing from Prometheus, while also adding some new twists and revelations that cast a new light over the saga as a whole. I was very intrigued by some of the developments in the final act, and if it is true that the rough script for the next film in the series is ready for production to commence in 2018, I will be very interested to see where things go from here.