Directed by Ridley Scott

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Billy Crudup 

And here we are. Back in 2012 Ridley Scott returned to the Alien franchise with Prometheus, a film which would look at the origins of the Xenomorph's and why they were created in the first place. Whilst being a big fan of the film myself, I was surprised with how many people hated it. I kind of get why some people didn't like it, and Scott must have as well. Either way, he learnt what people wanted. The Alien. So, Scott returns back to his roots with the highly anticipated Alien Covenant. 

The crew of the colony ship the Covenant happen to pass by a strange signal from a planet much like the one they are on the way to colonise. Captain Oram (Crudup) decides to head to the planet to find the source, much to the disagreement of second in command, Daniels (Waterston). Upon arriving they discover David (Fassbender) the synthetic who survived the Prometheus affair and of course, the dreaded Xenomorph.

Now if you were expecting a Prometheus sequel, your expectations will be met. The narrative and origins of the Xenomorph are finally told here, and lots of questions are answered very satisfyingly. The cast and acting are very well done and appreciated, and due to most of them being married to other members of the ship (they are colonists after all) you know there are stakes when one of them dies - the other half's reactions and acting to these deaths are fantastic. And of course, Fassbender's return as not just one synthetic, but his role as Walter just as well as David is incredible. His performances as both synth's are well layered and mesmerising to watch. He owns the screen from start to finish, there's a lot to love from one of the best performances in this franchise. 

The cinematography and visuals are stunning aswell. The best part of Scott's work is crafting beautiful aesthetics in his films and with Alien Covenant it is no exception. The sound design and music is a stand out feature as well. With returning themes from both Prometheus and Scott's original Alien, you'll fall in love with how charming yet creepy the music is at times. And as I said, the sound is great too, enough to almost scare you to death on its own, as it did me.

Yet, whilst it may be better than Prometheus, it no way tops Alien and Aliens. What this film majorly flaws with is the horror aspect that was promised all the way throughout the marketing and trailers. We thought Scott was going back to his horror routes and whilst there are scenes that do this, the third act tries to shoehorn in the best parts of the original Alien into about ten minutes or less - and it doesn't work. The CGI is actually quite terrible, and makes the Xenomorph looks silly rather than scary, and that's a big problem. It's great to see the creature return but it just looks awful. Practical effects would have at least added some physical horror to this, but in the end its a little silly. The pacing and quickly reversed tone in the final act that whilst quite fun to watch, really seems quite lazy and off-putting.

Yet, I admire what Scott has done at least. He's told the story he wants to tell, which I really enjoyed. It opens up lots of new possibilities and poses new questions for later sequels. I wish it could have been more scary and I hope in the future Scott will incorporate practical effects and concentrate on making a horror film now most of the questions have been answered. However, I'd recommend this film all in all, and I'm looking forward to see where the franchise goes next.

The Good

- Fassbender!

- Solid cast and performances

- Well told narrative

- Visually stunning cinematography 

- Sound and music

The Bad

- Horrible CGI

- Lazy, shoehorned in third act

- Shift in tone

7/10