So many critics bashing this movie its mind blowing.

the movie had so much potential but was a huge let down imo. it was like watching highlights of a 2 parter. it jumped a lot and there was little character building. id like to think theres more to the engineers than a total of what, 15 minutes worth of screen time of them in 2 movies.

Try the book. You get way more backstory in it. Remember the movie has to put everything in for the running time and you miss key points that are in the book.

to me the way to have down it properly was to make covenant into 2 movies. that way nothing is missed in the movie. plenty of character building in the first movie, battles on the planet with the neomorphs ending with the audience becoming aware david has killed walter and taken his place and has snuck a xeno onboard then the second part being much like the original movie but id have david and the xeno win and then wer left with much the same scenario as we have been left with from covenant. books do usually have more in them but the vast majority watch the movie and don't bother with the book so there shouldn't be as much left out of the movie that ridley has left out.

Regardless of whats in the book, the primary audience is film.

Its their own fault.

give us a few more reveals and a little of The Engineers

(it was a "sequel" to Prometheus dont forget)

AND Promoted as such.

If they had of done this it would of been totally different.

Fine margins.

The 2.5/3 / 5 Movie could of been 4/5 cos RS does make beautiful films.  They look great. No question.

sherries, totally agree. why should we have to go watch a film, any film, and still have to purchase a book to fill in the gaps. covenant had huge gaps in it. visually it is stunning but then ridley has always mad stunning movies. so much potential here yet so little of that potential realised imo

100% BULL ALIEN people just need to step back and look closer, or read the book. The film is not perfect but beyond the flaws is a rich, thoughtful and insightful story.   

I don't think it's mind blowing at all.  This isn't a movie based off of some amazingly popular literary work.  This isn't a Stephen King adaptation.

The book is simply a movie novelization.  As such, a book based on a movie or written as a companion piece to it.

As someone who read the book - I can tell you that I enjoyed it, but it actually made the film worse in comparison.  The film left gaps and confusion in spots that were well thought out and delivered in the book.

The film is being shot to pieces due to it being a badly cut film with holes. 

Making audiences read a book that was written around a film in order to get key information, is in fact, bad film making and nothing more than a petty cash grab.

It's no different to when A L I E N was released. Skip down to Release and then Critical Reception here to see for yourself how nothing has changed and never will. 

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."

There have been times that I have disagreed with a consensus on critic reviews.  This time I agree with them.  Poor execution of this movie.  Actually, the high percentage on RT is very generous.

I too was a little let down...in fact, i haven't posted on here in nearly a month because I felt this movie had potential to be an epic movie that future Sci-Fi could be compared against...

I guess it was just not to be...so many plot holes that continued from Prometheus and the way they glossed over other things like Shaw and the Engineers really left me feeling empty. I really see this heading to David being the Space Jockey.

...I will just have to continue finding solace on the bottom shelf of the friendly neighborhood package store..

yea the david route is a huge spoiler for me

Take a look at Rotten Tomatoes, but ignore the critics score.  Look at the audience score.  61% for 'Alien: Covenant' and 68% for 'Prometheus', and 'Prometheus' had many problems (this coming from someone who still enjoyed it as I liked the direction and questions posed).

I don't love A:C nor do I hate it. It left me with the same indifferent feeling like Prometheus. Kinda like "That's it?".

The backlash isn't surprising. They promised answers and didn't deliver. Viral-campaign with scenes that weren't in the movie. The situation reminds me of the saying "Live by the sword and you'll die by sword".

Not to mention that you need the novel to understand certain things in the movie. For me that's a no go, even though I enjoyed the read.

I said this before and will say it again. Tell the story in a way that even Donald Duck understands. Nudges and hints for a "deeper" meaning are ok but shouldn't be the main element of storytelling. People don't like movies they don't understand.

Tiwaz: "said this before and will say it again. Tell the story in a way that even Donald Duck understands. Nudges and hints for a "deeper" meaning are ok but shouldn't be the main element of storytelling. People don't like movies they don't understand."

'Enuff said...

If we mere forum junkies can figure this out, then why can't a multi-billion dollar enterprise...?

According to RT most 
Reviews were positive.

What makes you think
 Most reviews were 
Negative?

@Tiwaz - You are 100% correct!!! 

Fucking awful movie other than the David and Walter scenes. That's just my opinion. 

Nowadays, people expect more than they are willing to contamplate - and the chances are that they will feel frustrated in the end.

Let me put it this way: I loved "Alien", the first and only. Enjoyed "Aliens", but felt something had been lost - the atmosphere, James Cameron is not a master when it comes to it. I didn't feel the deaths of Hicks and Newt in "Alien 3" as some might have felt. And I don't actually care about "Resurrection".

With "Prometheus", I felt such a thrill, although it could have been better, and I was looking forward to "Prometheus 2". When it became "Alien: Covenant", I got a little anxious, thinking that we might have just an overdose of bugs and that was it. So, when I finally watched it, I felt relief and liked it, for I was expecting far less.

Audiences decide where a movie is good or not and they are staying away from this. It's a poor movie I cant believe Scott will accept such poor scripts and no real character development. The lead role was a damp squid. Who is she? The franchise is dead. Only on thing to do now. Alien5 and Ripley please

The studios are willing to sacrifice the carreers of some fine actors by greenlighting these horrible scripts. I honestly think Ridley Scott almost ruined Noomi Rapace's image by giving her specific instructions to portrait her character as a clueless, naive scientist in Prometheus. And now it was Waterston's turn, made to play her part as a weeping straight Mary Sue.