By Mark Meszorosmmeszoros@news-herald.com @MarkMeszoros on Twitter
If you ever find yourself aboard a spacecraft and pick up a distress signal that sure sounds a heck of a lot like a John Denver tune, just keep on truckin’.
That’s one lesson from “Alien: Covenant,” the latest entry in a horror-sci-fi franchise dating to 1979.
Another lesson is that it’s hard to do something new with the enduring series, with”Alien: Covenant” echoing director Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” in several ways, and a little too much so.
Nevertheless, “Covenant” – the third film in the series to be directed by Scott – comes with the requisite bleak setting, creepy mood, scary creatures and human massacres that “Alien” devotees desire and demand.
In space, no one can hear you retread old ground.
“Alien: Covenant” is both a prequel to the first batch of “Alien” movies and a sequel to Scott’s more interesting and ambitious if also flawed “Prometheus” (2012), the ending of which – spoiler alert – would seem to have given rise to the series’ familiar extraterrestrial killing machine.
Set in 2104, “Covenant” has the crew of its titular colonial space ship in stasis, along with many more colonists. As the ship weaves its way toward a remote planet, Origae-6 – where an outpost will be established – matters are overseen by two entities of artificial intelligence.
First, there’s the ship’s computer, Mother (voiced by Lorelei King), which should sound familiar.
More important to the story, though, is android Walter (Michael Fassbender), a seemingly exact copy of David from “Prometheus,” the events of which having taken place a decade or so earlier. (“Covenant” actually begins with a prologue in which we see the early moments of David interacting with his creator, Guy Pearce’s Peter Weyland, which offers a hint about what is to come.)
When a naturally occurring event in space wreaks havoc with the ship, the crew is awakened to help Walter and Mother save the day. In the process, the ship’s captain, Jacob (a little-seen James Franco) is killed, which puts his second-in-command, Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup), in charge.
While conducting repairs, the pilot, Tennessee (Danny McBride), picks up the mysterious transmission that, he realizes, sounds like Denver’s “Country Roads, Take Me Home.” Determining the signal is coming from a closeby planet that appears to be able to support human life and being in no hurry to get back in their stasis pods, Oram and the crew decide to at least have a look instead of continuing the longer journey to Origae-6.
The dissenting voice is that of Daniels (Katherine Waterston), who was married to Jacob and is now the second in command. She argues that Origae-6 has been carefully vetted and this newly discovered option seems too good to be true.
Should have listened to her, Oram.
A landing party, which includes Oram, Daniels and Walter, travels to the surface, while Tennessee and others stay in orbit above the storm-covered planet. The severe weather makes it difficult for the two groups to communicate, which is unfortunate considering the ground crew almost immediately encounters a series of extremely unfortunate events.
They also encounter a familiar face, which complicates matters.
“Alien: Covenant,” attributed to four writers (two with screenwriting and two with story-by credits), continues the exploration started in “Prometheus” of how the series’ ferocious and nightmarish Xenomorphs came to be. Really, though, it’s mostly another excuse to have humans implanted with the alien creatures and then killed in the process of giving birth to them or mowed down by them once they’ve escaped their hosts.
If you have been hoping that Waterston (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) could do for this movie what Sigourney Weaver did for “Alien,” know that she really doesn’t have that kind of presence on screen. She’s fine, however.
The surprise of “Alien: Covenant” is McBride, known for comedies including “This Is the End” and the HBO series “Eastbound and Down.” While very funny, McBride has been a bit of a one-trick pony. While his Tennessee borrows some qualities from McBride’s other characters, the performer is asked to do a bit of actual acting here – if just a bit – and does it surprisingly well.
At the risk of giving a bit too much away, though, much of the heavy lifting is done by Fassbender (“Assassin’s Creed”), who, as usual, is more than up for the task.
And, of course, “Covenant” is capably directed by Scott (“The Martian”), who knows how to deliver both furious action and scares that lie around corner in a darkened spaceship. (One bit of memorably terrifying action takes place in a shower aboard the Covenant, populated by more, it turns out, than the two lovers who think they are alone.)
But where is the need for “Alien: Covenant”? Sure, at the end of the day, Hollywood studios want to make money, and this movie surely will. Scott, though, seems to be more personally invested in the “Alien” franchise than ever, making noises about creating a handful of films that would continue the story. Given that, you had to expect a bit more from this movie.
Instead, Scott simply let a galactic road take him home.
‘Alien: Covenant’In theaters: May 19.
Rated: R for sci-fi violence, bloody images, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Runtime: 2 hours, 2 minutes.Stars (of four): 2.5.
