alien: covenant pulled off something miraculous. it made prometheus better in comparison. alien: covenant tries to be thought provoking sci-fi akin to the flawed prometheus while trying to be a basic alien slasher flick. it ultimately fails to do both. first off, the characters in this film were pretty forgettable and pointless with the surprise exception of danny mcbride. katherine waterston who plays the ripley rip-off never stands apart and the rest of the crew should have been eaten by the aliens willingly for all the good they are. the dumbest character award though goes to billy crudup who plays a very "religious" captain who never shows his faith once and makes every stupid mistake possible in his situation. the only interesting character in this movie is again the most interesting one from prometheus which was the android david played by fassbender. second, the plot which can't decide if this is a sequel to prometheus or a prequel/homage to the original alien. as you watch the plot of this alien prequel unfold, they insert elements from the prometheus plot which would not make sense to the casual viewer. should this have been a sequel to prometheus rather than an alien rip-off? unfortunately so, because david and his story happened to be the only interesting part. the interactions between the crew were another weak element. the crew in the original alien talked, argued, and bickered over what actions to take or just complaining about the situation. they acted like real people, and this crew from this new alien film does not. with the exception of a scene involving danny mcbride, the crew just follows orders from a captain they do not trust and act like idiots when confronted with a crisis. i know these characters have never dealt with an alien before, but they seem to not be trained to quarantine or defend themselves. though there were a few good action sequences, there were some moments, especially towards the ending, that were very predictable and boring. all in all, i wish i could give this movie a pass with its beautiful visuals, some good action, and some plot elements that could have been intriguing. if only the characters had been interesting and the plot been more effective, then i could have overlooked any flaws and enjoy this installment of the alien franchise.