MAY 30, 2017
I had been in New York for a few years when the company I worked for closed early for the day, and I rushed over to the Criterion Theater in Times Square to catch a midday matinee of Ridley Scott’s new film “Alien.”
The year was 1979, and as I sat in this half-empty theater, I was scared out of my wits as this hideous creature prowled the inner workings of the spaceship Nostromo, ready to strike at any time. When I cautiously walked up that aisle as the credits rolled, I knew that I had had seen something special.
Seven years later, though skeptical of sequels, I returned to see 1986’s “Aliens,” now directed by James Cameron, and to my delighted surprise, this was a sequel that was equal to (if not surpassing) its original source. And that feeling that “Aliens” was a groundbreaker was only later confirmed by the rare Best Actress Oscar nomination for a sci-fi film bestowed on “Aliens” star Sigourney Weaver.
But ever since that landmark Cameron film, the “Alien” franchise has gone downhill…fast. (Sorry, fans of director David Fincher, but “Aliens 3” really stinks.) The series reached its nadir with Scott’s 2012 “Prometheus,” with lots of yack-yack-yacking about philosophy that would be better suited to an 8am college class than a horror movie.
But Scott may have begun to turn this huge franchise ship around with the sixth film in the series, “Alien: Covenant,” which takes some of the philosophizing elements of “Prometheus” but balances it better with the chomp-chomp that we all came to see. “Covenant” is not a great film by any stretch, but it’s the first “Alien” film in a while to realize what its job is, and it fulfills it well.
“Covenant” begins with what looks like a scene left over from “Prometheus” in which the human creator of lifelike synthetic androids, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), chats with his newest creation, who gazes at the giant Michelangelo statue in Weyland’s space and decides to name himself David (Michael Fassbender).
Cut to several years later on board the Covenant, a ship headed to Origae-6, a distant planet with an atmosphere similar to that of Earth. On board are over 2000 colonists in sleep pods and 1000 embryos all to repopulate this planet away from earth, as well as a crew that consists exclusively of married couples, including a male couple (Demián Bichir and Nathaniel Dean).
A freak neutrino burst suddenly hits the ship and causes the ship’s captain Jacob Branson (James Franco) to die in his sleep pod, so the ship must now be helmed by first mate Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup), who’s in way over his head and is convinced that he previously didn’t get the captain’s post because of prejudice against people of faith. (Faith is a big deal in “Alien: Covenant.”) Branson’s widow Dany (Katherine Waterston) takes over as Oram’s second-in-command, in what is essentially the Sigourney Weaver part.
This time, Scott wisely takes at least 45 minutes for us to get to know the crew and those others who will soon be on the menu, including Walter (Fassbender again), a newer, more refined version of David, who is the voice of reason as Capt. Oram makes one bad decision after another. The worst choice is his decision to veer off course to follow a radio signal that appears to indicate that an unknown planet with a climate similar to Earth lies just ahead. Big mistake.
When they touch down on the planet, who should they find ruling the roost but David, who has a few stern words for his newer-model “brother” Walter. David, meanwhile, has his own ghastly master plan, which involves letting loose the alien creatures on the helpless crew members. Let the stomach-bursting begin!
Yes, there is some philosophizing here and there, mostly between the Fassbender “brothers,” but this time Scott keeps it to a minimum and gives the audience what they came there to see. Cannily, he has put together a first-rate cast, some of whom he actually gives something to do. Such talented actors as Bechir and Carmen Ejego as the new captain’s wife are criminally wasted, but Waterston brings a gravitas to Dany that suggests a big career ahead, and comic Danny McBride as the ship’s chief pilot Tennessee is impressive in a rare dramatic role.
Still, “Alien: Covenant” is Fassbender’s show from beginning to end, and the confrontations between the world views of the “brothers” is at times as scary as any of the face-munching going on elsewhere in the film. Screenwriters John Logan (“Skyfall”) and Dante Harper write to Fassbender’s strengths, and the Irish actor makes the most of it.
There’s not much to “Alien: Covenant,” but in a summer when a few of the season’s blockbusters have come flying off the rails, telling a story that the audience wants to see is, at least, something.
GRADE: B-
