In the Alien films, a xenomorph is a monstrous, all-consuming life form that exists only to make more and more copies of itself. Once the first xenomorph appears, it’s only a matter of time until all those gleaming chrome walls will be covered in creepy black goo and the humans suspended lifeless from the ceiling

Anyway, Alien: Romulus is the seventh film about these particular monsters. According to the producers, the film takes the franchise ‘back to its roots’. So we get a group of grimy crew-mates piloting a big rust-bucket of a spaceship who pick up an extraterrestrial stowaway and end up having to use their wits and courage to survive as it gobbles them up, one by one.

And it’s not a bad film. It’s nicely creepy, the special effects are good, the acting is perfectly serviceable. In fact, I could give you a normal review of Alien: Romulus, but just writing this is making me feel a little crazy. It’s not a bad film, but it’s also a direct copy of a much better film that already exists. That film is called Alien, and it came out in 1979. It had Sigourney Weaver in it. It hasn’t vanished. If you have a Disney+ subscription or a torrent client, you can watch it tonight. Why have we made it again? What’s the point? Why have we spent the past 45 years – which is longer than I’ve been alive – making seven different versions of the same film? What on Earth is going on?

  • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    132·
    4 months ago

    I’m so surprised at how much people liked this movie. I thought it sucked out loud. Alien and Aliens FTW!

    • sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.worldEnglish
      81·
      4 months ago

      This movie was overall damn good, brother those first two are such a high bar that is impossible to clear let’s be real

      • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        I don’t like it when there is not an internal consistency. In the first movie they established how long a face hugger is attached to someone before an alien hatches. This was ridiculously fast. And it grew from the size of a large baby to an 8 foot tall monster in less than 17 minutes. At one point they said that the blood neutralizes shortly after the creatures death. Will not in this movie.

        It just felt to me like they essentially told the same story over again, in but not as well.

        But I’m glad you liked it.

        • sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          4 months ago

          Now that I’m significantly less drunk and combative than last night (YEESH), I can react a littl better. I actually agree! 100 percent, I thought the inconsistencies involving the severely expedited gestation period and rapid growth was a bit of an ask from the audience. The callbacks got to the point where I was starting to wince over their abundance. Not the perfect Alien movie, (the first two already exist) but I thought it was fine and feel that it course corrected the trajectory of the franchise. People are actually excited for Alien movies again, that’s wild to me

          • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            4 months ago

            I can agree to that. As bad as I think it was (heightened expectations) it was miles better than the absolute garbage fire that was alien 3+.

    • QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      4 months ago

      Alien and Aliens FTW but also I loved this movie! I love all three. First is the best one, but this is the first sequel that actually felt like a direct sequel in tone and style and worthy follow up to the original. Aliens is an amazing movie and I love it, but it is a totally different feel from the original.