Got back from the theater but I have to say, in spite of it all, I had a lot of fucking fun watching this thing. Seriously, it was a total blast once they landed. It's not without its enormous issues, but I need to see David get his ass kicked around. Dude had no issue referring to himself as the Devil in response to Oram's original statement, and I'm super bitter about Shaw, despite the Prometheus theme kicking in each time (once at the plaque and the other David plays on the flute). The Albinomorphs were pretty cool, and the corn field standoff was excellent. Once the dude gets infected with the black shit in his ear that's when the movie really took off for me.
There are moments where this shit got fuckin weird, though, fast. I'm not talking about the fingering, either (but that got a nice chuckle across the audience). David is a full on (robo)rapist with daddy issues, resentment and a full-on god complex (though he's only a lord of flies). The movie is straight up Paradise Lost (IN SPACE) and it makes it a little bit more interesting for it, especially since David is the guy spouting all his resentment and opinions about creation and who he thinks is worthy of it (lol who the fuck does he think he is?) Each scene between Walter and David is great and are pretty much the only parts that hold up the themes of the movie.
I'm thinking the audience got to witness Scott's personal fantasy come to life with two Michael Fassbenders kissing each other. The dude can just watch Shame (it's a better movie to boot). People laughed at that part, but there was audible disgust when he tried that stunt on Daniels.
I really loved Kruzel's motiff for the monsters in this, each time it played you knew something was about to go down relating to the antagonists and I really dug the sound of it.
My only question is why the hell is this movie called "Covenant"? Who makes a covenant with who? Where's the thematic relevance of it? Eh?
And I'm a bit disappointed in the characters, too. Daniels and Oram could've been a lot more. Daniels goes to 0 to 100 and while it's awesome to see her taking on the Xeno in each action sequence, it doesn't feel the same as to when Ripley takes on the Queen or even in the first movie. Hell, even Shaw against the Engineer had some weight, considering she was face-to-face with the people who made her species and became conflicted about them. It felt like she mourned James Franco, then once she landed she became the wounded warrior with no growth in-between.
Like I said, I had a real good time. I got to see people squirm (like my sister, that was entertaining in of itself) and it was cool to see a Xeno on screen for the first time for me (I didn't see AvP films in theaters). For what it's worth, I remember coming out of Prometheus with my friends pretty high on it as well. So we'll see how long this lasts on a re-watch. That said, I hope Ridley doesn't go do a prequel to this. Move forward and let me see David eat shit.