Right then, first things first. The latest Alien instalment from Ridley Scott is more of a second Prometheus instalment than an out-and-out Alien film in the old vein. Now we’re all on the right track I’ll begin writes Richard Doherty.
Alien: Covenant takes place about 10 years after Prometheus left off and, once again, we find ourselves on a big, industrial space vessel hurtling towards a destination in deepest, darkest outer space. You know, the kind of dark, cold expanse that just screams at you “You’re all going to die!” (Although, of course, in space no-one can hear you scream).
This time, our vessel is a colony ship and 2000 lucky souls are headed to a new home several years journey away, whilst they all sleep in some kind of suspended animation….if they’re lucky. After a bit of a mishap with the air conditioning where someone gets a bit toasty, the crew find themselves a few men down and before you know it, a new destination rears its head to save them from the long journey ahead. You know, the long journey that’s been carefully planned out, taken years to get everything ready for and upon which the lives of 2000 are resting. Why not try out this new planet ? It’s closer and it’s very Earth-like and it could save us years on our trip. You’re almost screaming “Don’t do it” at the Captain (played by Billy Crudup) but no, off they go to ‘take a look’. #facepalm
Let’s cut to the chase: we all know how this is going to pan out. Wandering off in to a beautiful sunset ain’t gonna happen. Multiple gory deaths, a fair bit of blood and some vicious looking aliens are the order of the day, all set in some very dark and foreboding environments. I’m not joking, I don’t think we ever actually see sunlight in this film! What we do get to see are some more of the strange “Designers” (the ones who Dr Elizabeth Shaw went off in search of at the end of Prometheus). Michael Fassbender’s David is back in two forms and we have a new, bit-of-a-drip-turned-ballsy-kick-ass female heroine in the form of Daniels (played by Katherine Waterston).
Some people have felt let down as they seemed to think this was going to be just like the old films, it’s not. This is another stage in the development of the origination of the Alien franchise. Whereas I left Prometheus feeling a bit disappointed due to it feeling so detached from the Alien films I knew and loved (although it’s now one of my go to films on BluRay at home), I left Covenant feeling entertained and more settled in where I was going on the journey. I just hope I don’t die along the way just like most of the cast…
