(Audiences metaspace jockey, but notthespace jockey.)
The voyage hits its first snag when the ships computer, MUTHUR (the crowd roars!
Its a human voice, originating from a nearby planet with specifications that make iteven betterfor colonizing.
Sounds too good to be true, right?
So good that the crew would never jeopardize their human cargo to check it out?
From there, everything begins to go badly.
It grosses you out and then laughs at you while you puke (not literally).
Gross-outs andgotchas are fun, but they wouldnt amount to much ifCovenantwasnt so thoroughly well-crafted.
Waterstons Daniels grounds the story.
McBride proves he isnt just the funniest guy in any room.
You almost feel spoiled watching this guy work.
And part of that confidence must come from knowing hes made this movie before.
Much likeThe Force Awakensdid with the firstStar Wars,Covenantsucceeds by recreating what it feels like to watchAlien.
The tropes it plays with are the ones the original created.
Here, theyre reproduced so slickly that you remember why you fell in love in the first place.
But a well-done retread is still a retread.
Covenantis anAlienmovie made for 2017.
It doesnt have the originals restraint or eerie quietness.
Theres probably more footage of the xenomorph in the trailer forCovenantthan in entire 79Alien.
But the update also speeds things up.
The movie understands that the audience knows exactly where the story is going, so it gets there quickly.
Its not going to slow down to give Crewmember #4s demise some (or any) dramatic weight.
One leg up thatCovenanthas is Scotts refusal to entirely jettison the biblical weirdness ofPrometheus.
