Alien: Romulus

I'm going to assume the intention here was to make a film bordering on "fan service" (but really isn't in my view; referencing something does not equate "service" nearly as much as some think), because that would mean this is a successful film, in that it does a lot to satisfy fan desires for their beloved Alien franchise. It's risky, as I think the success rate on those sort of attempts is rather low, but thankfully it works here in good measure, and it's one of the film's plusses. Point being, while I am more lukewarm overall to this, the 9th film in the franchise, there's a lot to recognize as really enjoyable, and some of it is even quite impressive.

Alien: Romulus is a good film. It's entertaining, it's clever and takes risks while remaining comfortable and familiar simultaneously, and the special effects are SOLID across the board. Apparently some of the CGI is rather bad, but I didn't notice as I was too busy admiring the practical effects, another major plus.

It's all rather serviceable, with a passionate director who is an obvious fan of the franchise. He does well by the original films, the fans, and I would even think the original creators. The acting is also good. I really enjoyed the synthetic this time around, a character named Andy, portrayed by David Jonsson who gets second billing here. A stellar job "filling" the role of a similar character from the previous entries, portrayed superbly then by Lance Henriksen. I was also thrilled to see Cailee Spaeny was the lead here. Strong performances in recent films Civil War and Priscilla led me to believe this might be built for her to knock it out of the park. But no, she was just fine. I can't really think of where to pinpoint what didn't work for me this go-around, but she was still good and was an interesting and effective choice to lead the young crew. I've noticed a fair amount of people feeling similar about this new Alien entry, yet also struggling to fully articulate why it doesn't completely work. Maybe because this was originally intended to go straight-to-streaming on Hulu, there's somehow some elements you just feel in your core saying "this isn't completely theater-worthy," even though so much of it IS, and then some! I don't know. Maybe it will come to me one day. But if you were like me - loved the first two, then thought Fincher blew it on Part 3 and then things just got weird after that with all the various incarnations, then you'll feel right at home here. Not perfect, but a fun ride all the same.