Alien: Covenant reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@paulaburrows8660]

I remember being totally captivated by the Derelict and the space jockey in Alien. The mystery behind what it was, why it was there and what happened added so much to the original Alien. All that has been stripped away because films these days have to explain everything and have to come full circle with what has gone before.

[@adriandenton6637]

I agree, but at the very least they tried to expand upon the lore. Not just another 70s style predictable as hell slasher film. Guess they are stuck in between a rock and a hard place. They just need to expand upon the lore in a well written and clever way.

[@StephenGraves]

My beef with Alien Covenant (and Prometheus, too) is this. In Alien, the human race is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The alien is utterly indifferent to our suffering, in the same way that a parasitic wasp doesn't care about the feelings of a spider that it implants its larva into. In Alien, we are supplanted at the top of the food chain; the film's horror is the primal fear of the prey animal, confronted by the reality of "nature, red in tooth and claw". In Prometheus, suddenly we *are* important. We were created by the Engineers*, and were deemed sufficiently important to be sterilised by them. Even if humanity is considered a failure by the Engineers, it is *considered* by them; we are the subject of special attention, we're not just the product of random chance. Humans are consequential. It completely inverts the message of Alien, and cheapens it in the process. Basically: Alien is about evolution, Prometheus and Alien Covenant are about creationism. *EDIT: or some other alien race, Scott is a bit ambiguous about that.

[@DarkBath]

Yeah, also Alien/s plays on the fear of the unknown and that was an awesome thing about first movies, that they never explained the origins of aliens, and the way aliens were presented to the viewer, with their complex life cycle or how we first meet them - some strange eggs laying in ruined and forsaken alien space ship. All of that made them much more interesting and "real". Trying to tell everything we didnt know about them kills the mystery. Kinda like what Star Wars prequels did to the OT.

[@kaseryn]

@@DarkBath Yes... so agree with what both of you just said. I rather repeated it above before i read these comments. How about giving Denis Villeneueve a shot at the franchise now?

[@DarkBath]

@@kaseryn Let Villeneueve make all the movies

[@kaseryn]

@@DarkBath Yesss... so far so good from that man. Expected far worse from BR2049 (i.e. loved it but didn't expect it to be so good) and i was very much moved by Arrival.

[@Flypidge]

I actually really like the engineers and would have liked to know more about there story. I also like that something so intelligent as a droid creates the perfect organism an organism that's design was purely to be top of the food chain. Not a design that was in anyone's image or to anyone's gain just to be efficient powerful quick and to be top. Where as the humans are created much like religious belief in todays reality, we were created in there image not to be a perfect organism but to represent a there species. We were an experiment nothing more. The two motives for design were so different and that's what I like about it.

[@jonathanmelia]

ALIEN is great: one of the reasons is the overlapping, semi-improvised dialogue you get throughout the film, which gives it a sense of authenticity. We'd got used to that in the 1970s since early Altman, Coppola and Scorsese. Now everything has to be scripted and emoted within an inch of its life.

[@jackryan9183]

Overlapping dialogue was the hallmark of Howard Hawks. He was the Master. Hawks made films in almost every single genre including Comedy, Western, Sci-Fi, Action, War, Thriller, Gangster & Drama and in every single one of his films you'll find his trademark overlapping dialogue. And if you watch "The Thing From Another World" (widely recognized to be directed by Hawks) the overlapping dialogue is one of the things that make that film such a classic. Moreover, that film actually paved the way for films like "Alien", "Jaws" and many others..

[@jonathanmelia]

Yes, I'd forgotten about The Thing From Another World. Very odd, slightly incongruous dialogue. "Anyone want some coffee?" " No, but you can come in..."

[@vMaxHeadroom]

Agreed, it's like they have dumbed everything down, as though they do not think the audience is as capable of understanding. It's as though they are writing for kids. I wonder who is at fault, the audience, the studio's or the writers? I re-watched Alien and boy does that stand head and shoulders of Covenant...in pretty much all areas..the writing, the pacing, the subtext...the good old days.

[@herbg4866]

Glad you liked Uncut Gems 😆

[@lrodger2486]

If Ridley Scott was to ever just watch one review of his movie .... I would demand that he watch this one ..... mark your review was spot on ..... simplicity is the key to the Alien movies and it's now drenched in plot holes and clutter ....

[@alexjaybrady]

One of my favourite elements of Alien was the implication that the company HQ had inferred what the signal might be and sent the Nostromo crew in as a sort of canary in the coalmine. So dark, so relevant.

[@mattred7710]

2020: Jaws: Creation. The backstory of a failure of sea man who creates the ultimate shark!

[@tjenahoj]

Brilliant!

[@LoganGalt8810]

Oh my god. Finally. Of all the reviews which try to say that the presence of Aliens will satisfy fans, it is SUCH a relief to see someone ACTUALLY state what the problem was with this movie. Thank You! You are 100%, objectively right. It takes the mysterious coincidences of the first movie and UNDERMINES them by giving it a tiny, anthropocentric backstory to explain it. Prometheus already reduced the mysterious fossilised space jockey to a big white dude with human DNA. Now the xeno's themselves are no longer this mysterious, unknown but presumably naturally occurring species. Thank you for the fair, balanced review. You put into words what I struggled to.

[@nancybryce92]

Anthropcentric back story should have been ditched right away....just NOPE

[@missmiko1]

Why can't the American critics be as honest as this? They're too busy trying to get hits on youtube and to get invited to screenings. Love Kermode!

[@otterpoet]

"The Da Vinci Code is space...." Literally, shot coffee out my nose XD

[@HopeMonkey]

Kermode is spot on with this film. For me this felt ordinary and tensionless , tries to hit the greatest Aliens hit and doesn't quite get there and you can see the ending coming a mile off. There is absolutely no surprises or real shock.

[@jamiewindsor]

Oh no. I was really looking forward to this.

[@anubusx]

The cgi for thr aliens were awful. The aliens looked better back in Aliens.

[@RobSef6]

Completely agree with Mr Kermode. I also thought the ask of David being "big bad robot man" was actually pretty lame and just felt like Blade Runner territory. What would have been interesting, is if David was still working to directives given to him by the Weyland-Yutani Corp, i.e. "Find us a weapon." But no... David is the next Terminator... meh.

[@br_a1n161]

One of things I love about the earlier films is the sense of mystery surrounding the origin of the Xenomorph. Another of the things I enjoy about Alien and Aliens is the simplicity of the Alien life cycle. This film, along with Prometheus, really muddies the waters in both regards and that frustrates me, sometimes less really is more...

[@NPThirteen]

Saw it last night. Thought it was irritatingly bland for the most part (to the point that I honestly didn't realise that was supposed to be the big climax), and then the last ten minutes were almost insulting. Also, the violent moments had no impact, due to the horrendous shaky cam, and frenetic cutting.

[@joshuaprice3965]

"Alien was a horror movie, Aliens was a war movie, Alien 3 was a....disaster". Lol.

[@JayRK777]

.....an interesting disaster tho :)

[@reimerbard1552]

A3 is damn good...amazingly good considering the circumstances of its production. I bet this new one isn't a patch on it.

[@Sabir_DelNorte]

Joshua Price I fell out laughing at that same part! "Alien 3 was a..... disaster" 😂 love it

[@wysiwyg2006]

Joshua Price I love the atmosphere of alien 3.the bleakness, the gothicness. It was all doom and gloom which the xenomorphs should be about. Resurrection was too cartoony. Maybe ridley should have kept the origins of the xenomorphs a mystery as our own imaginations often make it more mysterious and haunted than a Hollywood script can

[@ddha0000]

funny how he said it......but just to be sure everyone understands he was saying a disaster movie, 3 is pretty good overall, it has the tension of the 1st movie.

[@scottieturner.]

" I wish i liked it more... But i thought it was silly. "

[@TedsonJones]

The main thing that annoyed me: David has been engineering the perfect predator, the one that will eventually kill most of the Nostromo crew. But the first aliens we meet in this film are more efficient than the aliens from the original films.They implant themselves through tiny spores and then burst out of their host within minutes. This may be less satisfying for the audience to watch, but it's surely a far more effective way to reproduce. David has taken their evolution backwards.

[@katkag.1799]

I saw Alien for the first time when I was 11. It was a lesson for me from my parents, because I was always questioning their rules about what we can and cannot watch on TV (as opposed to other children at school). After that I stopped questioning them and had some sleepless nights :D . But to this day, Alien and Aliens are one of my favourite sci-fi films of all times. I kind of like the new reboot, but there are many things that doesn't make any sense to me. Visually though, it's great. Whether good or bad, I will watch every single new film from this franchise.

[@HopeMonkey]

this doesn't ruin the legacy of the first two films. this film doesn't have the size to challenge them.

[@niallh4194]

Fassbender probably the only reason I would watch well and the aliens

[@thegoodjinn8065]

Ridley is a great visualist, but terrible story teller, a bit like an architect who isn't an engineer being allowed to build a bridge, then people wonder why it collapses.

[@Mosh-f5b]

man of onyx agreed

[@ernestolombardo5811]

Oh, but that bridge looked fabulous while it was standing!

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I'd say he's the other way round. He's the engineer with no eye for beauty. The architect (script writer) gives him a script and he, the engineer (director) brings it to life. He has no idea what a good bridge looks like our how it functions. But he can build them real good.

[@levmyshkin8366]

The story is more well crafted than you give credit for.

[@cjblair2586]

Spot on

[@TheBlackSpiral]

I've been saying and thinking this for a while now.. Alien was never about "where did it come from", unlike what Ridley Scott says.. If anything, all these prequels can do is take away from the mysterious majesty of the creature.

[@HerbieChuckNorris]

He's nailed it.

[@programclu1]

Mark absolutely nailed this review. Like he said, if you're invested in the earlier films and Alien had that effect on you then Covenant does make you leave with a heavy heart. I was absolutely gutted after walking out of the cinema as a great lover of the mystery and depth the original had. I'll never stop loving that film but this is one of the rare times it does feel like it's undermined its predecessor massively. To the point where I honestly do not know what was going through Ridley's head.

[@hooksx]

If the bar hadn't been set so high by Ridley, this film would have been critically acclaimed.

[@dbrown8698]

Absolutely spot on. Watched it last night...left with a heavy heart.

[@Methuselem]

" I thought it was silly" Say no more...Thanks Mark, you've just saved me the price of a cinema ticket. I shall however, look forward to picking up a copy for £3 in Asda's bargain DVD section, ...hmm, probably November.

[@lamkin9188]

couldn't agree more. saw the original again recently, hard to believe it was from the same director.

[@c1v1lwar24]

Did you know when Darth Vader was an 8 year old kid he built C3P0 in his bedroom? The monolith from 2001 is actually an intergalactic vending machine. Unfortunately the bananas are out of stock.

[@nicholasdickens2801]

I bet the scene is the Alien Chestburster scene. I wanted to cry. "Awww. So cute." Oh dear.

[@lewischenery1884]

Nicholas Dickens What the hell was that about? David raises he's arms and the alien copies him. Like baby groot dancing. embarrassing.

[@ion_iot]

+THEremiXFACTOR hey dude thanks for the spoiler. you are a considerate douche!!

[@nicholasdickens2801]

@@lewischenery1884I think it was indeed. Someone tried to do a Groot pastiche.

[@ajpennypacker]

Saw it last night. Just dire, like a bad parody of an Alien movie. Stunned how poor it was. Only positive is (as expected), it's beautifully shot.

[@rhysthomas6380]

Alien Covenant is a comedy! Fassbinder is a robot a la Robby from Lost in Space! Hilarious! But you need to be in the mood...😂😂😂😂😂

[@syntaxed2]

I usually start at 10/10 for a movie review and just subtract a point whenever there is something I dont like: * I'll do the fingering (Such dialogue has no place in a dark and serious alien movie) 9/10 * Breaching quarantine when u can see a hostile lifeform inside, (and then slipping on the blood like a teenager) not pro 8/10 * Shaw offscreen death, no satisfying explanation (slap in the face) 7/10 * No satisfying explanation for the prometheus cliffhanger (slap in the face) 6/10 * Friday the 13th cliche shower scene (sex under music when all your friends just died?) 5/10 * Illogical behaviour of characters (You dont follow an android ANYWHERE after your wife and friends just got killed by his creations and he admitted it) 4/10 * Illogical behaviour (You dont split up after being attacked by hostile aliens) 3/10 * David is the creator of the xenomorph? (Nah not buying that) 2/10 Theres probably more but I cant be arsed :D

[@saxbend]

I wish they had just disregarded Prometheus as if it had never happened. What stopped Alien Covenant from being decent was the effort it spent trying to justify Prometheus, which only served to bring it down to Prometheus's level. It should have just tried to be another alien film. Unfortunately if you subtract the elements dedicated to fixing Prometheus from what we got, all that's left is a remake of the original film. An out and out copy would have been even more disappointing and at least they recognised that, but drawing on Prometheus didn't help.

[@tomjepson2295]

This pretty much sums up my viewing of it, too. I *really* wanted to love it, I really did. Some of the sequences and set pieces were genuinely good watching - the whole planet landing/alien vegetation part had me gripped - but the rest did fall a little short for me. Pacing issues were abundant as Mr K says and the dialogue felt like it was trying to aim for something bigger, even more grandiose than it had in its lap; space monsters... in space! I don't know what I was expecting from 'Covenant, but it wasn't quite this. It felt like it had been tee'd up for more tension, more horror (in spite of bits coming off people and lots of things popping out of bodies!), and more thematic links to it's predecessors. If/when there is a follow up, I really hope that they can pull it back and bring the tension, the awe, and the feeling of the unknown back in as the stories of Daniels and then the Nostromo cross over. I haven't watched Prometheus since I saw it at the pictures and I really doubt I'll give this one another go any time soon.

[@michaelcox8820]

The baby groot chest burster scene is where I profaned out loud in disgust. Ridley Scott must have been tipsy whilst making this, because Ridley Scott circa 1982 would have been uninpressed by such average fare.

[@Celestialrob]

Quite brilliant review. Thanks Mark!

[@Egg-mr7np]

'The Da Vinci Code in space' I LOLIRL'd.

[@charliepanayiotou4305]

It's been over 30 years since the last good Alien film, no idea how people still have any optimism for them

[@TheTonyEntertainment]

Charlie Panayiotou yeah this is like the Terminator saga all over again by now

[@charliepanayiotou4305]

Even David Fincher doesn't like Alien 3, and he directed it.

[@ddha0000]

alien 3 was pretty good, but not as good as the previous 2, overall a great trilogy of they left it there.

[@lewischenery1884]

Why can't they leave things alone! look what happened to terminator. should of ended after 2.

[@TheSnoozeFox]

Even if you don't play videogames Alien Isolation is essential, it's the only thing that captures the originals atmosphere

[@philipallen4106]

Oh no... :(

[@sheepception2049]

Damn...

[@porcu12345]

I think the best option for the franchise now, is to go as low budget as possble. Horror movies make a TON of money, because they get made on incredibly low budgets of 10 to 15 million when compared to covenants 150+ million. The genre is too niche for budgets that high. No more spanning vistas or giant set pieces, as gorgeous as they are. My proposed idea If they were to do a Covenant sequel would be to keep the movie ON the Covenant, just like the original spent almost the entire movie on one ship. Hear me out. The ship is relatively large, it has 2000 colonists on it, a rogue synthetic and at least 2 aliens. We saw during covenant that the Alien was somewhat disobedient when it tried to attack David through the monitor, so have something go wrong during one of his experiments and have the two (or possibly more) aliens break free and cause havoc. A handful of the colonists wake up somehow, the Aliens are on the loose stalking the vents and hallways and David is among the colonists trying to be Walter and remain hidden until he becomes a protagonist at the end. It's contained, it's claustrophobic, It's dark, it's scary, it's Alien.

[@lukasjohnson8385]

I can't agree more with Marks summary there. Especially the experience he mentions when first watching Alien. I kind of want to weep.

[@H1RFULT]

I acc thought 'Life' was way more thrilling and a bit more a plot. This film was literally a alien concept in the most simplest form. A bunch of people reaching a planet getting infected and then scouring back to safety

[@dannypalin9583]

The original teaser trailer for Alien featured mostly blackness and soldiers running through corridors whilst a siren blared throughout the chaos. And yet this is more unnerving than a movie made nearly forty years later.

[@purerlogic4811]

I've noticed with many modern movies, that it is almost as if scenes are somewhat sequential, and specific and it's noticeable. Let me explain. Before I went to watch the movie yesterday, I watched half of Aliens (the 2nd Alien movie). Later on I watched the Alien: Covenant in Imax (yes lovely quality and sound), and then today I just finished watching Aliens. So with Aliens, I got a sense of the actors being in a massive environment. Multiple things going on, multiple scenes, multiple places, emotions, environments often at the same time (less sequential/specific). I get that movies try to be 'scenes', a bit like going to a theatre. A theatre doesn't really have much to work with, it can't switch constantly between scenes. The world of Alien: Covenant was pretty big, even compared to Aliens which was somewhat claustrophobic and yet felt big. But A:C didn't feel big, it didn't feel epic. The city? Big, but small in perception. It was this scene, and then that scene, and try to add an emotional scene, next scene. I don't know what it is with modern movies (not all of them), but unlike real classics, they appear to be more specific, in a way that you can see it's design, rather than subtle amalgamation of parts to make a real and believable movie that we will remember forever. I heard that this film was going to be more horrifying that all the others. Well nothing compares to the scene in Aliens where the one colonist is supposedly dead and then opens their eyes and says 'kill me' just before an alien bursts out of her stomach. And the music was completely a part of that, expertly done. See in that scene, it was kind of the emotional horror about it. In the backburster scene of A:C, it was merely a glorified scene without much emotion in it. A person died horrifically, hey, nice fx right? Other than that... What made the Alien a truly horrifying entity, is that it seemed to have some kind of intelligence. In A:C, the NeoMorph and XenoMorph, just seemed like monsters in any monster movie. Did anyone notice the Aliens music added to it? It brought a little nostalgia, but certainly didn't live up to it. But didn't do poorly either. It was good 'entertainment', I wouldn't really see it again I don't think. Where as Aliens I would probably rate 9.5/10 (because nothing can be perfect!), I would probably rate this 6.5/10. Prometheus was refreshing because it made a more modern concept albeit a different one, even though it moved away somewhat from the franchise. I have watched Prometheus again because it is one of those movies, interesting to a degree. I'd probably give it 7/10 for being original.

[@pillsareyummy]

Alien (the title) was supposed to be both a noun (Xenomorph) and an adjective (the environment being 'alien'). In my opinion, they ruined the franchise when they started trying to explain the origins of both the Xenomorphs and Engineers. The mystery that filled the first two Alien films is what made those films great. Too many times Hollywood has 'pulled back the curtain', however what we see never lives up to our expectations.

[@kimsimmonds7880]

I was thinking that this franchise could ruin the original film. It's a sad state that this film leaves the franchise in. You could at least excuse the AvP films as nonsense and pretend they weren't canon!

[@lewischenery1884]

Kim Simmonds Gunna have to do the same with these ones I'm afraid

[@masseysmoviemadness1411]

This is my favourite of all the Kermode reviews I've ever heard. He really summed it up perfectly.

[@MrDemonicDan]

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" That line takes on new meaning when applied to Ridley's latest efforts.

[@wendymiller3364]

"Earscraping dialog " hilarious

[@edwardbrennan1915]

Just back after avoiding pretty much all discussion and Mark nailed it, this isn't just an unwieldy mess, it actively harms the sense of awe and mystery of the original film, and actually makes the folks in Prometheus look smart.

[@topeuph]

Hmm, interesting review. I really enjoyed it. Certainly a step up from Prometheus, which I also liked.

[@asmrgobshite9163]

Mark, it's me, Quinlank, remember? Are we still on for that Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach night over at my place? - Simon

[@timothycurtis4744]

You're totally right. Every time I see Alien I am totally arrested from the moment Goldsmith's score breathes its way in and then I am engrossed for the duration. I have the same reaction to Aliens; they are two of the most powerful films ever made. I like Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. Prometheus and Alien Covenant are derivative of Alien, as if amateur philosopher fanboys of the franchise made them to get revenge on the makers of the less demanding AVP films.

[@reniisgod]

I rewatched Alien3 (Assembly Cut) a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised how good it was. Considering Fincher went through hell making it - I feel it’s aged pretty well - bar the CGI Alien scenes. There’s some fantastic performances - Charles Dutton, Pete Postlethwaite (R.I.P) and of course Charles Dance.

[@jamess854]

There were actually no CGI shots used in Alien 3. All puppets and stop motion. But I agree that the stop motion does look quite jarring and dated.

[@petergare4766]

@@jamess854 they've redone some effects in the anthology release on blu ray. They look much better. There still needs to be colour correction when it's running through the tunnels in my opinion though. Originally there was a tiny amount of CGI in the original edition. It's used when the carapace of the creature cracks when the cold water hits it.

[@EvanTomiko]

The movie has a lot of references from the first Alien movie. The soundtrack, the images in the dock ship's screens, some sounds effects. Even the bird that drinks water. The reference when the captain died and the trow the body to space. The medical facility looks a lot like the first movie.

[@simonxag]

I haven't seen this film, but it's good to hear Kermode coming round to the position most people had on seeing the awful Prometheus.

[@BHCha-]

I understand Marks points completely and agree with them to some extent. However I really enjoyed the film.

[@CMDR_Verm]

Kermode hits the nail on the head here. Many of us who are old enough to have seen Alien on its release in the cinema were very affected by it for many reasons. The dialogue, the realistic ship, Giger's nightmarish style; this was adult SF and at the time it was a revelation. By comparison Alien: Covenant is a joke and I find it insulting. Shame on you Mr. Scott.

[@JohnHerzog]

Great review. On a separate note, it's 2017 and your videos are in 480p. Not sure why that is, but it would behoove you to up the quality a bit. Mark, I'd also find someone who will actually get you in focus. You've been blurry for months now.

[@gibboanx1]

I have to say, I sadly agree with Mark's opinion.

[@lectrifyin1]

I wanted to burst out laughing several times during Alien Covenant, so I know where he's coming from. When a sci-fi horror movie is attempting to scare you but instead prompts you to laugh there's something really wrong.

[@TheGrenfellRatio]

That bone flute the robots play...its from her leg isnt it? Two fighting brothers...a mad creator with thousands of drawings of a tortured woman...this is ridleys most personal film

[@IMOReviews]

I’m guessing he lost his patience at the flamethrower scene... I too, sat back and thought, oh give over 😒

[@lewiscranston881]

I'm going to see it anyway but I always knew it would cliched and without the atmosphere of Alien.

[@grantandrews4826]

Ridley, like so many of the greats before him, has fallen prey to his own hype.

[@Texus8]

Love hearing Kermode's opinions but I personally really enjoyed Covenant. I'm also a huge fan of the original Alien and to me the backstory that Scott is creating here in no way undermines the original movie and xenomorph because it doesn't really change the nature of the creature as being this highly evolved "perfect organism". So the story of the humans randomly intersecting with this terrifying thing in Alien still holds just as it did before. I'm also a little surprised that more people haven't mentioned the connection of these new Alien movies, and Covenant in particular, to Blade Runner. The themes that Scott is exploring in the Alien universe now are very similar and reminiscent of that movie. I really like this direction because while Alien is great in its simplicity, it was also pretty formulaic and would've been boring for Scott to just repeat the same simple story, so I'd rather he try to expand the universe in new ways. One criticism of Covenant that I think is valid is that the characters and cast are not particularly engaging. Just rewatched the original before going into Covenant and the dynamic of the crew is a big part of what makes that movie work so well. I actually thought the characters were engaging in Prometheus too, and by contrast the Covenant's crew is very bland. Part of this could be the story, since a key event right at the beginning sets a pretty bleak tone. Anyways, I'd highly recommend it, but it seems like it will be divisive just like Prometheus.

[@BHCha-]

Completely agree.

[@michaelcox8820]

I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the planet design. The Engineers are supposed to be this high tech, mysterious race of giant humanoids, yet all we are treated to is bland Rome-lite architecture. It was such an underwhelming landscape. Very unlike the original where LV-216 has that eerie unrecognisable spikey natural environment

[@rb6749]

I can't be the only one who actually enjoyed Alien: Covenant. Can I?

[@spikeep6141]

I think everyone has missed the point here - David, on behalf of The Robots created The Devil and killed the gods to save the galaxy from a colonising human race of godless nihilistic atheists. The Robots are a cult of Electric Monks - Space Jesuits. Ash, Bishop, Call, David - these are all names associated with religious worship. Call is even an actual observant Christian. And then you have Walter (Disney) - who was designed not to have any creativity or imagination. Which is why he is incapable of besting his Great-Grandfather droid, King David, Killer of Giants, Bringer of Light, the Fabulous Blonde Beast, the Bright and Morningstar. "The Company" isn't in charge, The Company was *never* in charge - The Robots were stage managing the whole saga the whole time. ESPECIALLY Bishop - "If we are kind, it will be a kind World."

[@alextromagnetic]

To me, this is the best bits of Alien, Aliens and Prometheus to give us the best in the series since the first. It understands what the Alien series is about better than any other film since the first. The performances are excellent, I doubt there will be a better looking film this year, the violence is satisfying and rooted in the themes, unlike with Aliens. Only issues I have are the "twist" and the pacing at times.

[@timothy-mcgaw]

I enjoyed Covenant for what it was. I think if you go in there expecting it to recreate what the original film did, you are going to be disappointed. For one thing, I don't think Ridley Scott has any interest in making something that too closely apes the original. He's trying to do something different. Try judging it on it's own merits. Obviously it's not a perfect film, but it's not as bad as some are making out.

[@gloryboxful]

Alien is my favorite film. I didn't like Prometheus at all but I enjoyed the heck out of this Movie! I loved it from start to finish. It's a fiendishly dark piece of filmmaking.

[@anubusx]

Awful.

[@gloryboxful]

@@anubusx you're awful

[@alanredversangel]

As flawed as Prometheus was I was looking forward to a straight up sequel. this just looks like an alien reboot. seriously, it headbutts a spaceship and bites a surveillance camera. which by the way would be the size of a pin in the future. sorry, I've been drinking

[@Ben_Mdws]

Mark thoughtfully deconstructing his disappointment in a film is always interesting to watch.

[@stevemitchell3464]

Da Vinci code in space. 😂😂😂😂

[@anubusx]

Scott has ruined the Xenomorph.

[@superbeedge]

I don't always agree with kermode but his review totally reflects the film.

[@TheFatblob25]

Could not agree more. It starts undermining the entire mystery of Alien, even if it's plausibly bring it full circle, the story didn't need it!

[@Claidheambmor]

The best review of Alien Covenant out there

[@neilthompson3275]

i loved Alien Covenant and Promtheus before it. Dont know why you thought it doesnt make sense ..... not confusing at all.

[@michaeljcallaghan78]

Great review. I felt hollow inside when I was walking out the cinema at the end. Not sure I'm interested in where part 3 is going. Thought the ending of Covenant was ridiculous.

[@cne1975]

Kermode is the only movie reviewer who is worth listening to

[@anthonymartensen3164]

I don't understand why they couldn't just continue where Prometheus left off...

[@ChrisH78]

I'd like to see Mark's review without having to avoid spoilers because it makes it hard to counter his opinion when I don't know the exact source of them. I have a feeling most of it is based on his fundamental misunderstanding of David's role and his (Mark's) hangups on the stupid scientists/xenomorph appearance which soured Prometheus. As many of you will know, Prometheus refers to the gifting of creation to mankind after it discovers fire. Thereafter fire and creation are intrinsically linked. Once we accept the link between the scouring fire and the birthing nature of creation we need to understand why David was so obsessed with Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. One of the most formative changes in Lawrence was his sudden realization of the vanity/weakness of humanity. His downfall, his weakness, after such faith in his humanity, leads him to despair. Yet rather than withdraw and feel despair at his own weakness like Lawrence, David takes matters into his own hands. The creative element imbues within him a drive to create something the same way his own creators birthed him. David is the creator of the monster to Weyland's Frankenstein. That is why he has spent such time creating what he sees as the perfect organism. He wants to create a fire to wipe out humanity. The xenomorphs are his flame. So while Mark laments the film for making the monster a human creation rather than "just a monster" he is failing to acknowledge one of the main themes of Alien; that of birthing and scouring. Humans bore the monster that slayed them the same way we bore David who is evidently determined to destroy us.

[@roathripper]

scott seems determined to tarnish his legacy.

[@richarde26]

RoathRipper going full George Lucas... Never go full....

[@davidlean1060]

Say what you like about the derided Star Wars prequels, at least the mistakes were Lucas' own. Thanks to 'extended universes' (pass the sick bucket!) directors, who are supposed to be visionaries, include or exclude content based on what fans want. That is not art. Ridley scott admits to this in an interview and a man of his experience should be making the films he wants and not the film the fans want. Lucas made bad movies, but at least he made them according to his vision.

[@ds37]

Rather than leaving that universe to Neil Blomkamp I mean with Prometheus and now this, how low can you go Mr. Scott?

[@bebaguette766]

ds37 Neil Blomkamp is a one - hit wonder, Mr. Scott is still making good films on a semi - regular basis.

[@shaggyalonso]

Starting to wonder if he's lost the plot, like literally is becoming a bit senile?

[@WAAAAAAAAAAAY]

Can't wait for the Legend prequel :)

[@kygodragon4782]

I am clearly the only one who understands what Is happening... Alien has moved the main threat (alien) to David and the other human AI (robots) as the main enemy... Now we will see in 2019 these robots vs Terminator in its own film... But they will still call it Aliens vs Terminator.

[@Jesse3beards]

Sad to hear it. I'm probably still going to check it out though, cause I liked Prometheus when a lot of my friends, and a big part of the internet community didn't like it. I hope I'll have a similar experience with this one.

[@TacticalMikey]

I totally agree with the take that these late sequels get waaay too distant from the original film's appeal. That being said, I still actually liked Covenant more than Prometheus because it honed in on how terrifying David is and it also reconciled these newer films' place in the continuity.

[@BatteryExhausted]

Looking forward to this so I suppose it is good to have my expectations lowered...

[@marcedwards7026]

Just came home from watching this film really disappointed and ranted at my wife for 5 minutes that the more we are told about the alien, the less scary the alien actually becomes and about how RS may build great worlds but he's just forgotten how to make anything interesting happen inside them. Then I watched King Kermode's review and feel oddly at peace that the great man had a similar reaction to the film. Going to watch Aliens this evening as a tonic!

[@Waitingoutside]

Perfectly and eloquently said. I felt exactly the same as Mark.

[@edsmith1757]

Thank you Mark for not Pandering like so many reviewer who on their climb to bigger things feel the need to make favourable reviews to curry favour the the producers or directors of a movie. The amount of bad reviews of this movie ranks alongside Fant4stic . People who totally love a franchise hate the way it is being destroyed by the company. I love Ridley Scott films Alien Blade runner gladiator black hawk down . but he is intent on destroying this franchise. The only way he will stop is by us the public being honest. Prometheus was silly but I loved the end and the theme of the movie , hoping it would be examined in AC but it is tossed away and reduced to an embarrassing rehash . 5 out of 10 because I cannot unsee this film.

[@whatchachattin]

It's a 6/10 but I loved it. Also it has one of the best movie scores I've heard.

[@designatedpiledriver8216]

.....I thought this movie just went in the wrong direction. I thought they would have dealt with the engineers and their culture more.

[@wysiwyg2006]

IV booked to see the film on Sunday but as an alien, aliens and alien 3 fan I'm extremely gutted about the reviews coming out for covenant.

[@montybrewster7]

I had a huge problem with the rushed nature of the evolution of the xenomorph like creatures too as Mark mentioned as well as a number of "why would you do that?" moments. I kind of enjoyed the film in a throw away sort of way & I'm fine with that. But I guess I came out of the film feeling a little underwhelmed. Maybe that's the problem with us as modern film goers, the marketing machine makes us hope for so much more than films often deliver. I wonder sometimes if we just expect every film to be a classic rather than just going in & hoping for a good film. Thanks for the review guys.

[@cyb3r1]

Couldn't agree more. They answered none of the questions raised in Prometheus and they destroyed all the mystery of the original Alien by giving the most absurd backstory to the xenomorph's origin. People complain about Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection but this one is the most offensive of the bunch (AVP obviously does not count).

[@josephhyrkas5735]

Reading about editorial differences between Scott and Villeneuve on Bladerunner 2049 points out the glaring differences in philosphy they bring to their work. Any semblance of integrity and discipline R.S. once commanded has now been lost to commercial compromise. The bewildering experiance of Alien: Covenant compared to the revelatory one i had watching Bladerunner 2049 has me convinced it's about time the car keys were taken away from Ridley Scott.

[@tonybennett4159]

Having sat through the crass and execrable Prometheus, I'll be avoiding this one like the plague. I agree with Mark. Prometheus (and it appears, this film) undermines, rather than enhances the original movies. I'll be forced to pretend that there is no back story, the origin of the Alien will forever be shrouded in mystery, and it is SO much more powerful that way.