“It’s Christmas, captain, and I want to open my presents.” says Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), upon the Prometheus setting down on LV-223 in 2012’s divisive semi-Alien prequel. The guy’s a bit of an asshat, but you know what? I expressed the same grimace and thoughts when I saw the trailer for Alien: Covenant had dropped yesterday. Morning festivities were postponed. And I think the marketing hotshots at 20th Century Fox would have been pulling a few celebratory Christmas crackers yesterday, as the trailer reached the stratosphere of over 5 million views. I may be responsible for most of them but at least I’m not alone in my lust for a bit of bloody extra-terrestrial carnage. However, is it any good?
It is. The Alien franchise has had some killer trailers. I’d say the original Alien and Prometheus trailers rank as two of the most iconic ever. Obviously they share the same foreboding siren sound that incites such chills. Covenant opts for a different approach, utilising an eerie cover version of Nature Boy as performed by AURORA. Before that even sets in though, we’re treated to a genuinely intense sequence which tells us exactly what genre Alien: Covenant is dabbling in; Horror. Carmen Ejogo (as seen in the above pic) and a worse for wear Benjamin Rigby are enclosed in a med lab, Amy Seimetz is standing the other side of the door nervously abiding to quarantine regulations. The two ladies are absolutely panic stricken as the character played by Rigby starts convulsing violently, suddenly his back cracks open and blood spurts. It’s quite clear this scene is going to be the introduction for a new type of Alien who likes to exit from the back.
In the next shot, we’re given our first connective tissue to Prometheus in the shape of Michael Fassbender. We know he’s reprising his role as not only David but also a newer model, Walter. We get some lavish exterior shots of the film’s new playground, including the Juggernaut spacecraft from the previous movie nestled amongst huge, broken tree stumps on a mountain face. Raises the intrigue of where is Doctor Elizabeth Shaw? Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudrup share a scene; the trailer also hints at those characters fates, which is frustrating, cause as fucking cool as it is to see the nightmarish facehugger back, did we really want to know one latches on to one of our main character’s face? I guess that’s the curse of modern day movie trailers though, isn’t it?
I’m not sold on the trailer’s climatic money shot, either. Ridley Scott is a master (See our Top 10 here) but there’s something almost Alien rip-off about the shower scene. Don’t get me wrong, in context, as part of a larger, longer scene, it may be pretty cool. I love that the tail is that of the 1979 H.R Giger original Alien. The paddle tail of the silly Alien vs Predator creature designs wouldn’t have fit under the shower for a start. But I don’t know, something is kind of off. That’s not to say it blunts the effect of what was shown before. Michael Fassbender said earlier in the year “it’s got the same sort of scope of Prometheus. It’s kind of got more of the sort of thriller, imminent disaster feel that Alien had, so it’s kind of a beautiful meeting of both of those films.” and it’s hard to disagree with that on the assessment of the trailer.
So it may not join the echelon that Alien and Prometheus sit in for movie trailer glory, but this tease for Alien: Covenant has shown us what it’s all about and it has got potential in abundances. Besides, I get the distinct impression Fox have still got every single card pressed to their chest with this one. And how much does a world-class trailer even mean? (Thanks Prometheus and Suicide Squad). Keep checkin’ in here at So Is It Any Good? as we continuously track Alien: Covenant up until its release in May 2017.