This is basically a paint-by-numbers Alien movie with above average production value. The movie could have been and wants to be so much more, but like Prometheus it is held back by it's below average/mediocre screenplay. As a result, we are treated to a bland and faceless cast  thoughtlessly thrown to the wolves. The exception is Michael Fassbender who could read the phone book for 2 hours and captivate an audience.

There are a few in the mix here like Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Amy Seimetz in particular who under the guise of a real screenplay could have been standout characters with the likes of Parker, Lambert, Hudson, Frost etc....    but instead are reduced to bland dialogue and silly/stupid Horror Movie 101 mistakes.

The movie is not without some quality sequences. The onset of the Spore Outbreak, despite being mostly spoiled by the previews (and characters being stupid) is still fairly intense.

Overall I wasn't overwhelmed, I wasn't underwhelmed, I was just... whelmed.

I just expect so much more from Ridley Scott.

Agree completely... the stupidity of the characters and the plot holes became too much by the end, thank god or Fassbender!

I wasn't really happy with this movie either. I will admit the aliens were cool... they always were, right! And it almost felt like I was watching Prometheus.... the concept was old... the characters were not that great. All these married couples and of course they all lose each other. The robot vs robot fight was lame IMO. And I KNEW all the time that David was going to pretend to be Walter! That last scene where the pod is closed and she realizes was like a gut punch but overall ...this movie was just ok to me.

Quoted from Pale Yellow I wasn't really happy with this movie either. I will admit the aliens were cool... they always were, right! And it almost felt like I was watching Prometheus.... the concept was old... the characters were not that great. All these married couples and of course they all lose each other. The robot vs robot fight was lame IMO. And I KNEW all the time that David was going to pretend to be Walter! That last scene where the pod is closed and she realizes was like a gut punch but overall ...this movie was just ok to me.

Exactly... the whole ship is full of couples which could have lent itself to some good drama, but the characters are never developed and are rarely seen together. Farris/Tennessee could have been the heart of the movie... but they never have a scene together...  

I think this is where the screenwriter of the original Alien movie, Dan O 'Bannon, rarely gets his credit and perhaps it's due now.

HR Giger's hellish designs too, which many ignored. I would love to have seen an Alien film based on his designs alone.

I was looking forward to the Blomkamp Alien film with Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4462546/

Just read this however:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/02/ridley-scott-alien-5-covenant-neill-blomkamp

Who knows...

Scott can't make movies anymore. He ain't getting my $

Totally agree. There was one stand out performance IMO, Amy Seimetz (Faris), the shuttle pilot. I thought she was outstanding for the short time we got to see her. I was also pleasantly surprised with Danny McBride (Tenn.)! I was expecting him to ham it up but he was pretty damn good!

Acting and direction was fine. Hated just about everything else. Couldn't wait to get out of the theater, to be honest. Worst of all, there's barely any Alien in the movie. More Prometheus drippings than anything. Might be the worst in the series, including the Alien vs. Predator movies.

This movie frustrated me. Visually, I enjoyed it, and I could find very little wrong with the directing, editing, effects, etc. But I was utterly baffled at the amateurish incompetence of the screenplay and the stupidity of the characters.  I did not for a second believe that any one of those morons would ever be selected as caretakers for thousands of sleeping colonists. They were all paper-thin and acted like Friday 13th stock characters with the exception of Daniels and Tennessee, and even they had their derp-moments.

It was all just too dumb. I don't think it's even the actors' fault, either. The script seems to have been deliberately written that way for some godforsaken reason. The constant stupidity on display by the heroes completely killed the movie for me. Ridley needs to hire better screenwriters. And if he mandated that the characters be this dumb, well, shame on him.

I also feel bad for whoever watched and loved Promethetus. I enjoyed that one myself, but not enough to care how much Covenant completely tarnished it Alien 3-style.

Last but far from least, I doubt anybody didn't see the ending "twist" coming literally as soon as the two you-know-whats are fighting each other. I telegraphed that shit a mile away, and I consider myself fairly dense when it comes to predicting where a movie will go.

-Julio

Shouldn't this thread be in the review section?

I personally loved this movie. Better than both the AVP shit-fests, Resurrection, and the theatrical cut of Alien 3(the assembly cut might just be my favorite it the entire franchise ). Really stunned at all the hate this one seems to be getting from horror fans.

~Zack~

I didn't dislike it's horror scenes. I thought those were well-done. All the gore was well-done. It's the character stuff that disappointed me.

-Julio

Quoted from Zack Shouldn't this thread be in the review section?

That's where I thought i made this thread from... not sure what happened.  

Now I need to wait until December for my next big disappointment