Critic Reviews

Scott’s Alien: Covenant is a mad scientist film – arguably, one of the maddest. It’s grandiose, exhilarating, vertiginously cynical and symphonically perverse.

This is one of Scott’s best-directed movies and one of his most entertaining overall, partly because he’s working in a genre, the science fiction spectacle, that he does better than anyone since Stanley Kubrick, but also because he seems to be approaching it almost entirely in terms of visceral impact and emotion—as symphony of fire and blood, poetry and schlock.

The drama flows gorgeously and, unlike in many other franchises in which entries keep getting longer every time out, this one is served up without an ounce of fat. It provides all the tension and action the mainstream audience could want, along with a good deal more.

Reportedly, at least two more “Alien” prequels are planned. If they’re half as good as this one, prepare to tremble.

Gross-outs and gotchas are fun, but they wouldn’t amount to much if Covenant wasn’t so thoroughly well-crafted.

This is Alien gone gothic.

Alien: Covenant is smarter than the average horror flick with a healthy dose of gross.

Further proving his mastery of creating tension and thrills, Scott has effectively created a satisfying hybrid of "Alien," "Prometheus" and even James Cameron's "Aliens."

As a return to the dark, primal and transgressive terrors of the original movie, Alien: Covenant is a success.

Somehow, Scott manages to balance it all: meditations on being made in god’s own image, the fan service of “Alien Origins: Xenomorphs,” and feminist agency. Balance doesn’t necessarily mean execution though. There’s friction with all these ideas fighting for airtime.