Alien Covenant: Flies But Doesn’t Soar

Grab the popcorn and get ready for the toothy, acid-bleeding xenomorphs! Ridley Scott’s latest prequel to his wildly-popular Alien sci-fi horror franchise harnesses spectacular visuals and gut-popping scares to eventually reveal the mystery of what happened to the survivors of the Prometheus. The fun begins when the colony ship Covenant is lured off-course by a signal from an uncharted but inhabitable planet. Although the action is intense when it happens, it just doesn’t happen often enough. Other than Michael Fassbender, who is excellent, the cast is forgettable and the pacing is bogged down by a predictable story more focused on Alien saga minutiae than pulse-pounding action. Still, it is an entertaining good time that dutifully moves the franchise forward. B+