Film Review, Horror, Sci-fi

#FilmReview Alien: Covenant #SciFi #Horror

shelleywilson72

Alien Covenant

It was 1979 when Ridley Scott released his first Alien movie, introducing impressionable youngsters to the joy, horror, and excitement of deep space. As a child, it was Enid Blyton who encouraged my love of fantasy, and it was Ridley Scott and also George Lucas (Star Wars) who tempted me to explore the stars.

Actress, Sigourney Weaver became a firm favourite of mine from that moment, and I loved how her character evolved throughout the films. John Hurt will always be remembered as the poor man who suffered the most brutal of deaths thanks to the organism bursting from his chest. The aliens were so frightening and fierce that the audience was filled with dread at the slightest twitch of a tail or sniff of that acid blood.

As with all the Alien movies, we expect a certain level of blood and gore, Alien: Covenant offers its fair share of this, although the brutal alien attacks we’ve come to expect (and crave) are constrained into a couple of ten-minute bursts. Yes, we see aliens bursting from various body parts in a shower of blood. Yes, we are tempted to lean over the egg as it opens up revealing the spidery bug inside. Yes, we’ve seen it all before!

After seeing the trailer for this movie, I waited eagerly for the release date. As an avid Alien fan, I wanted to see how Ridley Scott was going to shape his creation and terrify us beyond belief. I was sorely disappointed!

The trailer shows an abundance of action shots, unfortunately, the trailer shows nearly all of the action shots. There was nothing original about this film, nothing exciting or enticing. The storyline was dull, slow, and predictable and apart from the last ten minutes, the aliens looked more like melted waxworks than the terrifying beasts we know and love to hate.

If you enjoy films that explore relationships, and the dynamics of people living and working in close proximity then you may enjoy Alien: Covenant. If you are looking for an action packed film with fun and quirky characters, plenty of explosions and moments that take your breath away then this isn’t that film.

A couple of people walked out of the cinema before the end, and I really wanted to join them, however, in the interests of my review I stuck it out to the bitter end!

I had high hopes for this film, but it didn’t deliver.

Film Blurb:

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, members (Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup) of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. While there, they meet David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The mysterious world soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

Published by shelleywilson72

Hello, I'm Shelley, an English multi-genre author. I write young adult/middle-grade supernatural and fantasy fiction and motivational adult self-help. I'm a proud mum of three and live in the West Midlands, UK. I love travelling in my VW camper, reading about Tudor and Viking history, and obsessing over to-do lists!

51 thoughts on “#FilmReview Alien: Covenant #SciFi #Horror”

  1. Like every series. After several episodes (three in general) the story is told. And then the sequels are only made for money. Star Wars is NO exception, ep 4-6 epic 1-3 less so and the rest forget it. This is my opinion and if you don’t like it I have others (G.Marx)

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    1. Oh, I totally agree with you!! I was hoping that the writers would pull something new out of the well worn bag to make us die-hard Alien fans gasp, but no, it didn’t happen. I should have booked to see Boss Baby! 😉

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  3. Your line ‘After seeing the trailer for this movie, I waited eagerly for the release date’ made me smile as nothing would entice me to see this and now I’ve read the rest of your review I’m not sorry!

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      2. Hmmm, the answer to that is a blog post in itself!! Tough few months but trying to climb out the other end! Hence all the film reviews – I seem to enjoy sitting in the dark for a few hours these days 😉

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  4. Sequels very rarely live up to the original. I was hoping you were going to give this movie a 5-star review, Shelley. What you have done is saved me some money on cinema tickets and popcorn. I’ll wait for it to come out on Apple TV and may rent it then, otherwise, it will wait until it comes on mainstream TV (which isn’t as long as it once used to be).
    Thanks for a very honest review, which I shared over on Flipboard.

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    1. Thanks, Hugh. I was really looking forward to this film, and every time I saw the trailer I would do that stupid excited squeal only a sci-fi mum can do! My son just laughed at my venting as we left the cinema. He didn’t enjoy it either and said my mutterings were more entertaining than the feature film! 😉

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      1. They should make a movie of your mutterings, Shelley. 😀 I never had you down as a sci-fi and horror fan. Just goes to show how much I know. I never ate spaghetti for months after watching the first Alien movie.

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  7. Such a shame! The first film is the same age as me and I think I was about 8 the first time I snuck a look at it and left a lasting impression on me! I still watch it now with baited breath.

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  9. I listened to Mark Kermode review it today and he was just sad; he did a documentary on the previous Alien movies, even the wretched Prometheus, and hoped, like you for more of Scott’s genius. But like you because he fell in love with the original he needed something new not a rehash of that greatness. Too much telling too he said. He’s on the same page as you so I think it’s fair to say a combo of Kermode M and Wilson S giving it a few rotten tomatoes is enough for me!! Grand review!!

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    1. I must admit, I wondered if it was just me and I was missing something but when other people started leaving I realised I wasn’t alone in my thoughts. Totally agree with MK’s ‘too much telling’, that’s a perfect observation.

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  11. Disappointing – oh well. I remember the first Alien movie and thinking it was great. I didn’t follow along, however. You are right, I think with this genre, you definitely need more action than character relationships.

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  12. I like science fiction, but not horror, so I watched the first one until the alien burst out of John Hurt’s chest and didn’t watch any more. If this one is more about relationships between people stuck together on a space ship it sounds more my kind of thing.

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  14. While this is not a film I would see – I saw the first one and it frightened me out of my gourd – I’m always interested in how series work out (we going to see Guardians of the Galaxy II tomorrow). Thanks for the review. I’ll pass it on to someone who MIGHT want to see it.

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  15. I have to say, I lost interest in the Alien franchise years ago. Did make the mistake of being tempted by Prometheus, and was sorely disappointed. Your point about trailers is very important, though. They do pack too much into trailers these days, and usually the best bits. I want to watch the movie and be surprised/shocked/awed by some major twist/stunt/action piece that I just wasn’t expecting.
    I haven’t noticed your film reviews before, but maybe, like me, you only write them when you’re really pissed off with what you’ve been subjected to!

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    1. I’m with you all the way on overstuffed trailers! I understand the need to hook in the audience but half the time we get the entire plot handed to us in three minutes! I’ve only just started sharing my film reviews so you haven’t missed much haha, I did review Their Finest recently – now that’s a great film!

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  17. I agree, Covenant was very disappointing. It didn’t have that scare factor like the original and its sequel Aliens. It was actually a very predictable film and failed to reinvent something new. Mythology held up, just.

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  18. Pingback: #FilmReview Alien: Covenant #SciFi #Horror — Shelley Wilson – Cabal of Horror

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