Someone said that the greatness of the Alien franchise lies in continuous re-invention. Alien Romulus is an installment after some gap - in 2142 a space probe investigates what looks like the abandoned USCSS Nostromo. As expected they run into the xenomorphs at some point - what you perhaps do not expect are a young protagonist (Rain - Cailee Spaeny) who is trying to escape the servitude of her current assignment and escape to the planet Yvaga, a synth (Andy - David Jonsson) with the calmest of demeanors that belies its cold calculating self, and Rook - a synth aboard the spacecraft with an exceedingly conflicted primary directive. I do not recall the Alien franchise - not Gravity - demonstrating the law of conservation of linear momentum to dodge xenomorph acid in zero gravity stasis. Also the last fifteen or so minutes traverse an entirely different genre - perhaps a new strain of sci fi mutant horror in the series. This is no Doom or Quake style FPS through the corridors of a spacecraft. It is less frenetic, more deliberative, no less ruthless and amoral, and in the end also a survival story with a fresh cast, fresh science and a fresh outlook
16.5/20
