Alien Romulus does a lot of things right – it nails the vibes of the original Alien with its dark, dirty, industrial ships and planets. It makes great use of the setting, with certain set pieces that are only possible in this specific movie (Zero gravity sequences, flooded spaceship rooms, acidic blood, and evil robots, just to name a few). It shines in its use of practical effects, which help return the audience to the aesthetic and feel of the original movies.

Unfortunately, however, it struggles narratively. Too many ideas, antagonistic forces, and distractions end up watering each other down. Each problem or threat feels less important because there are just so many. Lots of these ideas are cool, but they’re just not all that imposing, especially in a movie with a much more predictable plot than the original alien. (In the original, the audience doesn’t realize Ripley is the main character until like an hour in, but here, the characters are much more clearly set up to live/die by the end of the film.)

Overall it’s an entertaining watch that manages to capture the original feeling of the movies (Alien : Romulus is actually a very direct sequel to the original Alien)— but when you’re directly competing with all time greats —  it’s a losing battle, and I couldn’t help but wish I was instead watching the original Alien or Aliens.