Alien: Covenant

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. 

In the past week I've seen Alien: Covenant, Prometheus and Logan. The experience has left me feeling weary, overstuffed and over-stimulated, like a little kid who eats all his candy on the day after Halloween. I don't want to see any more sci-fi or films about comic book characters for a while. 

Browsing through the user reviews on imdb.com, I 'm surprised to see how many negative comments Alien: Covenant has attracted. But when you're Ridley Scott, it's possible to be a victim of your own success: if you make a film that is not absolutely wonderful and doesn't measure up to  Blade Runner  or Gladiator, a certain segment of the audience (fanboys, you might say) are disappointed. And a certain subset of that segment will go out of their way to write negative reviews. That's showbiz. 

I will leave it to others to pass judgment on whether this is a "good" movie. I don't pretend to the role of critic, nor do I require my sci-fi/horror films to meet Ingmar Bergman standards. I wiill say that I enjoyed all 122 minutes of Alien: Covenant.  Why? I suppose it's because it has a credible story, satisfying tie-ins to the previous films, great action sequences and beautiful visuals. But now I sound like a critic, so it's time to stop agonizing over why I liked it. I just liked it, and that's enough for me.  As for themes, deeper meanings and big thoughts in general: yes, there are some here. But somebody smarter than I will have to instruct me on that.

I'm a big fan of the first two Alien films, and Prometheus as well. This compares well to those entries in the canon. And it's brilliant compared to those awful sequels like Alien vs. Predator and so much else I see on DirecTV. So I guess the negative reaction from the fan audience just boils down to deflated expectations. As for me, I'm sure I'll watch it again on home video.  

Whatever format you choose, here's a word of caution: you might want to watch Prometheus before Alien: Covenant. This story arc is getting pretty complex.