Black goo: chaos or simple deus ex machina?

First of all, let me preface this by saying I am a huge fan of this franchise. No need to justify Ridley’s choices to me. I’ve read the comics. The books. I’ll keep throwing money at him as long as he’s making movies.

***covenant spoilers inbound***

That said, I just saw covenant last night and FINALLY got to see something I’ve been dying for: the intended use of the ampules!!

I thought it was so cool how they….what…disintegrated…blew up? Whatever they did, they did it mid-air, leaving behind a deadly kind of black goo mist that killed the engineer race below.

Which got me to wondering. We’ve now been introduced to so many different effects of the black goo, is it at risk of being little more than a deus ex machina tool?

I’ve read the Fire and Stone comics, which more or less confirms what David says in the movie: the black goo is basically chaos. It acts different under different circumstances. If it’s ingested. Passed via sexual intercourse. Inhaled. Splashed on your skin as a liquid. splashed on your skin as a vapor.

Covenant was a great film. I loved it. But it’s treatment of the ampules is leading me to believe that the black goo will do whatever it needs to do to get the job done plot-wise. Which I have a hard time swallowing. While I love the idea that it’s chaotic, it seems like real, tangible properties should be introduced at some point, right? Otherwise, we’ll continue to be left with the ever-unsatisfying answer: “The black goo did it...because it can do anything.”

Would love to hear more thoughts on this. I’m very open to discussion, and I don’t have my heels dug in on this, so let me know what you think!