When there’s a franchise as large as Alien, you’re bound to have all types of opinions. Most people agree on who’s the best character, the best scenes, the best soundtrack, and the worst film in a series. When asked what the worst Alien film is, most people will point to one film, Alien: Covenant. However, I would not be one of those people, as I rather enjoy Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sequel.
Granted, it was the first Alien film I saw, but I still think it’s a fun time, and I’m tired of seeing the constant slander. So, I asked Alien fan and host of the Watching Now: Alien: Earth podcast, Iain McParland, to give me some reasons why he dislikes Alien: Covenant, and let’s see if I can’t change some minds.
This is what most people point to as evidence that Covenant destroyed the franchise. Having David (Michael Fassbender) create a version of the Xenomorph is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for some people. But what if there’s more to this story than what is seen at face value? Yes, David does create a version of the Xenomorph that looks a lot closer to the OG film's version than the Deacon from the end of Prometheus, but that’s the point. Throughout the marketing for Covenant and the various murals and carvings in the film, we see depictions of the Xenomorph. This shows they already existed before David came along, even if they did look slightly different. What if David didn’t create the Xenomorph, but instead merely modified it to target humans?
David’s whole schtick is that humans suck, and I wouldn’t put it past him to utilise the Engineer's black goo to create a version of the Xenomorph tailor-made to kill humans. This would also work in the grander narrative, as the Alien series is all about creators and their creations causing more than a little death. It just so happens that David’s creation kills a few more than others.
But this is all a theory, because we don’t actually know the full story surrounding David’s experiments. There’s every chance that through his experiments with the black goo, he just recreated the Xenomorphs and believes he made them from scratch. I think this ambiguity helps make the Xenomorphs all the more mysterious, regardless of how they were truly made.
A big issue from fellow contributor Iain is that Covenant ignores all the setup from Prometheus, and I disagree with that for the most part. I think that Covenant is the natural next step this story should’ve taken, even if it was at the cost of some off-screen character deaths. Regarding the Engineers, yes, David does kill a fuck ton of them in the beginning of the film, but we don’t know if he killed all of them. There could be other planets or other ships out there with surviving Engineers that now want revenge on David for what he’s done.
Then there’s Shaw (Noomi Rapace), who suffered the “killed off-screen” fate, but it kinda works. Yes, it’s sad that the protagonist of the previous film is unceremoniously killed off between films, but it makes David all the more sinister, and honestly, what did you expect to happen? David was already going off the deep end, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that, given the opportunity, he’d go all mad scientist. Sad? Yes, but expected and serves the narrative and David’s character in a meaningful way (even if it still sucks).
I will concede that the Deacon (the alien that comes from the Engineer at the end of Prometheus) not being in the film is kinda dumb. And the fact that the story was wrapped up in a comic that not many people will read is also dumb.
Another common criticism is that all the characters in Covenant are dumb, but I’d argue there’s a reason for that. The crew of the Covenant (the ship is called the Covenant) have only just woken up from cryo sleep, see one of their crewmates die, and then land on an unknown planet before being attacked by freaky-looking alien dudes. And to top it off, run into a synthetic that looks like their synthetic (double Fassbender), and that’s just the start of the film. I’m not surprised that the crew made hasty/dumb decisions, because in the context of the story, none of them know what the fuck is going on. They’re all flying by the seat of their pants, and if anything, it makes their reactions a bit more real.
Sure, as the audience, we can point out the stupid decision-making and say we would’ve handled it better, but the same can be said for nearly every horror film in existence. I’m not trying to excuse poor writing or characters, but people may be a little too critical of these characters specifically, even though their actions make sense in the context of the film.
While not part of Iain’s list, a major criticism of this film that I’ve come across is that the themes are half-baked/not very good, but it has the same themes as the rest of the franchise and has just taken the next step. I mentioned this earlier, but a big part of Alien is the relationship between the creator and their creation (whether intentional creation or not).
We can see this in the first Alien film, where the Xenomorph is born (i.e., created) from a human and then proceeds to kill nearly everyone. We see this with synths throughout the series, turning on humans, such as David here or with Wendy in Alien: Earth. You can even tie it back to the start of the film, with David killing the Engineers (the human creators) and tie it all together with David’s arc in the film. If a sequel to Covenant was made, maybe we would’ve seen David’s creations turn on him in an ironic twist or something, further hammering home the main theme of this film.
This last criticism comes from Alien superfan Lily K and has more to do with what we didn’t get instead of the film we got. Apparently, the creation of Alien: Covenant meant that a different Alien film with Sigourney Weaver attached never got made, which, according to Lily, is blasphemous. This is where I think it gets a bit out of control and detrimental to one's mental health, especially if it’s about a series you care about. At the end of the day, who knows if the Sigourney Weaver-led Alien film was actually real or not? And even if it was, who's to say it was going to be good?
It could’ve been a dumpster fire or just mediocre. We’ll never know because it wasn’t made, but does that mean you should just hate what was released instead? I don’t think so, and bogging yourself down in what would’ve been will distract you from other things in the series you might enjoy. At the end of the day, to each their own, but while it is fun to speculate on what could’ve been, I don’t think it’s fair to judge a film solely because it isn’t exactly what you wanted.
We’re simply just talking about films, and everyone is entitled to their opinions. But I hope that I’ve been able to give you a different perspective on the most hated film in the Alien franchise. Perhaps you’ll rewatch it with a different mindset, or maybe you’ll simply tell me I’m wrong and that I had no business writing this in the first place (fair). Either way, if you want more film discussions that are only partially rage bait, keep it locked right here on Couch Soup.
Also, if you want to hear bigger Alien fans than me break down every episode of Alien: Earth, check out the Watching Now Podcast, where Iain, Katie, and Lily have done just that!
