Alien Covenant (2017) - Faulty But Forgivable!

★★★☆☆

‘Alien Covenant’ is a direct sequel to 2012’s ‘Prometheus’, which audaciously hints that we and aliens are actually made by the same maker the Engineers, and also a second prequel to 1979’s ‘Alien’, a classic that stands out in its genre for decades to come. Director Ridley Scott says there could be two more prequels after ‘Covenant’ before we finally go on to ‘Alien’, so I don’t expect it’d reveal much about the Engineers but there’s too little to feel satisfied at all.

‘Prometheus’ leaves us many questions unanswered. ‘Covenant’ leaves us a few more, which is why I feel kind of frustrated watching it. There’s a very short flashback where android David (Michael Fassbender) is wiping out the Engineers by releasing those black goo to the air when he arrives on their home planet. Why? Do the Engineers create and own the black goo, or they collect it from somewhere else? And what for? What happens to Dr. Shaw and David exactly? Since the film hints that it’s David who murders Shaw after she puts him back together, why does he want to do that? ‘Covenant’ doesn’t answer questions that ‘Prometheus’ leaves us. It just builds up more mysteries and rushes on to the action part. I wish the sequels coming would get to explain it all though I know there might not be any satisfying answers after all. Why do the Engineers create us and later want to destroy us? I guess, it’s just because they can!

I see ‘Covenant’ as a sci-fi drama rather than some horror film. Yea, it’s bloodier and grosser. There’s chestburster, backburster, facehugger, Neomorph, Xenomorph and stuff, but the thrill and scare is long gone. The action scenes are no longer able to hold my breath even though they’re well choreographed. Fortunately ‘Covenant’ doesn’t spin out of control like any other lousy monster films out there. It manages to keep its rhythm, its grace and philosophical feel throughout under Sir Scott’s direction, especially the interaction between David and Walter (Michael Fassbender, also), which I feel like is the highlight of the show, instead of the final standoff between our heroine and the alien that’s no surprise at all, or the plot twist in the end that in fact makes no sense but is to just serve as a prerequisite to another sequel!