Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. 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.

 In the year 2093, the colony ship Covenant is transporting 2,000 colonists and another 1500 or so embryos to their new home.  However seven years from their destination, the crew is awakened when a neutrino flare damages the ship’s solar sail. In the event the captain is lost and First Officer Oram (Billy Crudup) takes charge. Soon they receive a transmission from a planet not far off their course.  The planet is very similar to earth and the crew decides it appears to be an even more suitable planet to colonize than their original target.

New first officer Daniels (Katherine Waterston) objects to landing on a planet they know nothing about. The crew out votes her and soon they are exploring the surface searching for the source of the transmission. They find it the crashed ship last seen carrying Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and the android David (Michael Fassbender) off the planet at the end of Prometheus.  Two members of the crew become sick after ingesting some sort of tiny black spores that ultimately result in the release of two Xenomorph creatures. The creatures take out a handful of the crew before the rest are saved by David.

When Scott’s return to the Alien universe, Prometheus, was released in 2012 it was met with much anticipation and much disappointment. I was not among the disappointed so I looked into why people hated that film so much. What I found is the film does not appear to be as despised now as it was when it first came out. And I found that most people seem to hate the lack of Aliens (Xenomorphs) and they felt there were too many unanswered questions. Scott’s latest entry addresses these complaints and in the process makes Prometheus a better film.

The film opens with a scene featuring Guy Pearce reprises his Prometheus role of Peter Weyland (although quite a bit younger.) Weyland is discussing with his newly activated android David his desire to find his creator. David knows that Weyland is his creator and he appears fascinated by the concept of the creation becoming the creator. This opening scene clarifies David’s actions in Prometheus regarding the death of Holloway and Alien impregnation of Shaw.  If you haven’t seen Prometheus or haven’t seen it recently I recommend watching it before seeing Alien: Covenant.

It’s not as necessary to watch the remaining films in the series although some scenes will play differently for fans of the series vs those coming in new. In one scene in particular, the audience reacted with an audible noise of familiarity upon a character being assured that it’s perfectly safe to get a closer look at the inside of an opening egg.

The film has several genuine jump scares and is pretty gory in places.  The horror of the original Alien film is definitely present combined with the epic feel of Prometheus and Aliens. But what makes this film great is that it does some things very different. Notably is the presence of a true villain. We’ve seen many characters in this series that have made things difficult on the heroes, mostly out of ignorance. But here we have a villain that greatly understands the creatures and how they work. All of these elements make for a tense and frightening scenes throughout.

The performances are very good and feel genuine. Danny McBride has made a career of playing arrogant characters with a sweet internal insecurity. Here he plays Tennessee, a character who has few of the attributes of his previous characters. Tennessee is a team player but also with a strong sense of what’s right and true love for his crew mates. Waterson’s Daniels is a perfect balance of vulnerability and almost unconscious strength. Her character has so many reasons to give up but when things are at their toughest she never hesitates. Daniels authenticity comes primarily from Waterson’s performance. 

The stand out performance, however, comes from Fassbender in the dual role of David and a later, less human like, model named Walter. While the seamless special effects help, it’s Fassbender that make you forget that it only individual playing both parts in some memorable scenes featuring only David and Walter.

The film is not perfect. One chest bursting scene is a bit weird as the creature slowly stands up. It looks a man shot against green screen as way of shrinking him down.  That scene aside this is one of the best films of the series. It does a tremendous job of pulling Prometheus and Alien closer together. But mostly it’s just as intense and exciting as you would want an Alien film to be. Scott has stated that he has plans for as many as four more films and he’s ready to get started on the next as soon as the next year. If they are going to be as good as Alien: Covenant, I excitedly look forward to them.

Alien: Covenant will be released in theaters May 19, 2017 (USA)