When Ridley Scott first returned to the long-decaying Alien franchise with Prometheus, the results were controversial, and the film itself suffered from numerous script deficiencies in spite of its ambition and intriguing thematic questions. As a prequel to Alien, Prometheus wasn't especially serviceable, containing very few references to the film it was allegedly attempting to add context to. However, despite eventually devolving into dumb thriller territory, it was a film with a clear vision, even if it failed to resolve any of its philosophical questions, and a sequel ought to have refined the film's rough edges and added more clarity to Scott's vision.
Instead, Alien: Covenant sees the director halfheartedly rehashing his 1979 original while forgetting what made that movie special, and even his attempts to continue the philosophical musings of Prometheus come across as half-formed doodles above all else. Covenant doubles down on its predecessor's script issues while refusing to answer any of its questions, and while Scott retains some of his astonishing visual sensibility, it's embellished by bad CGI and pandering visual references to the original. The result is an asinine slasher film with a shaky thematic core, and it's yet another nail in the franchise's coffin.
