Fede Álvarez delivers a film in Alien: Romulus that tries to revitalize the franchise but stumbles on several key aspects. While visually appealing and faithful to the oppressive atmosphere characteristic of the saga, the movie lacks a solid narrative and memorable characters. The script relies too heavily on genre clichés, with bland dialogue and unconvincing decisions from its protagonists. Attempts to explore philosophical themes about survival and human nature remain superficial, leaving the impression that the film tries to tackle more than it can handle. Álvarez’s direction, which has shone in the past with more intimate horror projects, feels overwhelmed in such an established universe. The moments of tension and terror fail to achieve the desired impact, falling into an uneven rhythm that alternates between dull and predictable. For the most devoted fans of Alien, this installment is particularly disappointing. In an unfortunate parallel to Disney's mishandling of the Star Wars saga, Romulus feels like a production that prioritizes franchise formulas over true innovation or respect for the original spirit. Rather than expanding the Alien legacy, the film dilutes it, leaving a bitter aftertaste for fans who had expected much more. Ultimately, Alien: Romulus fails to live up to its heritage, becoming a missed opportunity and a reminder that not all cinematic revivals are necessary.

The Alien franchise has had its ups and downs with mostly the latter in recent years. This latest one, which takes place in between Alien: Covenant and Alien in the timeline, is a solid entry from Fede Alvarez and is more in the vein of the first film in terms of look and tone. The story is pretty basic and no real twists that we haven't seen before in the franchise, but I did like the lead actress Cailee Spaeny. The classic line, "Getaway from her you bitch" was delivered as great as Bale's "I'll be back" from Terminator Salvation (meaning not very well). Still, an all around entertaining sci-fi horror film that has great effects, both practical and CGI. **3.5/5**

"Alien: Romulus" is a visually admirable film, but it really has nothing new to show us and even worse than that it has nothing fresh to say. It is merely content to plunder inspiration from the preceding films and the only entry in the series which appears to be left unplundered is "Alien 3" (1992), but then this omission can hardly be described as surprising. After all, it isn't held in particularly high regard by the legions of loyal fans who absolutely adore these films for their often groundbreaking achievements and idolise the inexhaustible resourcefulness of Ellen Ripley. Unfortunately, these same loyal fans aren't going to find anything worth adoring or idolising in this latest effort. It is still a reasonably entertaining motion picture, but only because you can spend most of the running time attempting to guess which scene comes from which film in order to appease your overwhelming sense of disappointment with it all.