Alien Covenant May seem Rehashed but Injects Fresh Blood into Franchise

As I was pulled along with the plot of Alien Covenant, I realized I was on very familiar ground. Once again, a lonely spaceship is traversing the universe and just feels at the tragic mercy of the vast expanse . Throw in a duplicitous android, add a swarm of marauding xenomorphs, and the day only awaits saving from a fierce heroine who will inspire a generation of young girls. Another Alien movie, I thought - ho hum. Then the ending arrives. Yes, Katherine Waterston as Daniels does her bit, but this installment’s finale sets the 2017 Ridley Scott film apart. In a word, wow…

The second film of the Alien prequel, the opening takes place long before the flight of the Prometheus. Set at the birth of David, we are reinforced in Weyland’s quest to bring sense to man’s existence and find a creator. “You and I, son...We will find it,” he tells Michael Fassbender.

On the other hand, the back and forth on the mystery of life reveals that the android isn’t such an automaton, and while he may not actually experience emotion, he can certainly evoke one. “Bring me this tea, David,” Weyland emotes distinct irk on the cyborg’s lack of respect.

Yes, something is awry as Wagner’s The Entry of the Gods into Valhalla foretells deviation from the plan. But the last we saw, David was in heap and heading for the Engineers planet with Shaw.  

So we must be safe from the unintended consequences of David's sentience, and all seems well as the next model overseas the sleepers on Covenant. A colonizing vessel of 2,000, a shock wave forces Walter to awaken the crew before their arrival at Origae-6, a habitable planet seven light years away.

Including the captain's, 47 chambers fail, and we are reminded that the dangers of space require no monster. Of course, the franchise does, but beforehand, we feel the loss. Daniels watches helplessly as her husband succumbs, and the tragedy turns malfunction into a personal affair.

The rest of the crew also come in couplings, and the stakes are more perilous at every turn. Nonetheless, a human signal from a nearby, very habitable planet maybe has things looking up. The decision now falling on Oram (Billy Crudup), the crew can get back into stasis or discover that the new world they seek is just below.

But the new captain is no Ripley. The uncertainty he carries, cast a dim light, and the too good to be true setting screams catastrophe. Yes, severe indigestion is again on the menu, and we soon learn that this was the last stop of the Prometheus. The planet is also crawling, and David reemerges to give refuge to the imperiled away team.

Even so, the mystery swirls around the the cyborg’s cryptic dialogue, and by another comparison, David no Ash. In other words, David doesn’t deceive like a man. He talks more like a god, and when the danger should seem obvious, his omnipotent lies cast a lull.

Of course, Walter knows better, and as the newer model, he sees the flaws. “You were too human. Too idiosyncratic,” Walter lectures, and schooled by Weyland, the arrogance has carried over.

Ten years to ruminate, the created now ponders creation like his father, and minus Asimov’s Three Laws, David has run wild. He alone should decide who is worthy and who isn’t.

Still, the final battle/escape shows our mettle again. But for all the flaws that David disdains in humans, he knows he can count one certainty - the human need to believe. The ending is all set up. In a word, Wow…

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Poster :

Studio : 20th Century Fox