Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant was an extremely frustrating watch. Much like Prometheus, there’s a lot of good and interesting things happening, but there’s so many bizarre decisions that it’s hard to really enjoy it. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. The biggest whiplash being that the “Ripley” of Prometheus, Elizabeth Shaw, who survived 1,000 deaths in that movie, is killed offscreen prior to the events of Covenant, so she’s just NOT IN IT AT ALL. The whiplash of that decision cannot be overstated, and makes me understand why Napoleon and Gladiator II were so bad - Ridley Scott was losing his touch. Not only that, but the whole mystery you’re unraveling in Prometheus is just dropped cold turkey in Covenant, as you discover the real origins Ridley would like you to explore, the xenomorph’s perfection. Which, to be fair, in and of itself is fascinating, but the way we got to it was too frustrating to appreciate it. Must watch if you’re an Alien fan, but otherwise, this is very skippable.
-Z
While I was really looking forward to a follow-up to Prometheus, this was a bit of a let down in that respect. I still enjoyed watching it despite a pretty predictable plot - I guess I’m pretty in on anything that advances the Alien universe at this point! Michael Fassbender continues to be great here, and a surprisingly serious performance from Danny McBride. But I would really enjoy another prequel movie that explores more of the plot that was getting set up in Prometheus.
-E
