'Alien: Covenant' is more interesting than 'Prometheus' but still a retread
Why do directors who kicked off famous franchises feel the need to keep returning to the scene of the crime? There is, of course, the dubious example of Steven Spielberg and the 鈥淚ndiana Jones鈥� movies. And then there is Ridley Scott, who has followed his lackluster 鈥淎lien鈥� prequel, 鈥淧rometheus,鈥� with the only marginally more interesting 鈥淎lien: Covenant.鈥� But we鈥檙e still essentially in the Land of Retread: An outer space voyage turns grisly-ghastly as gloppy, befanged creatures invade the crew鈥檚 innards and pop out 鈥� gotcha! 鈥� right on cue.
Along for the ride on the spaceship Covenant, supposedly bound for an idyllic new planet where its happy inhabitants can freely propagate, are commander Oram (Billy Crudup), who makes a point of stating he is a man of faith, thus reinforcing the certainty that he will get his comeuppance in the godless intergalactic void, and his mate, Daniels (Katherine Waterston), who doesn鈥檛 invite favorable comparison with Sigourney Weaver鈥檚 Ripley. (In Waterston鈥檚 defense, who could?) If this is your idea of a good time, you can tick away the film鈥檚 two-plus hours guessing which crew members will get offed, and in what order (the actors include Danny McBride and Amy Seimetz), but the only protagonist of any interest is Michael Fassbender鈥檚 humanoid, a kind of ambulatory HAL, but much kinder 鈥� at least until his double, who appeared in 鈥淧rometheus,鈥� turns up. This development ultimately leads to a switcheroo ending that only the dimmest in the audience will fail to foresee. Grade:聽C (Rated R for sci-fi violence, bloody images, language, and some sexuality/nudity.)聽
