Desperate to leave their Weyland Yutani colony world, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted ‘brother’, obsolete android Andy (David Jonsson), are informed of a plan to escape, by a group of their friends. A Weyland Yutani vessel has entered orbit above their planet, and could hold the resources and equipment they need to get away once and for all. The problem is, it holds a lot more than just the supplies and cryo pods they need…

Right off the bat, Alien Romulus establishes a tone and aesthetic that strongly recalls the original Alien. The cinematography and overall visual design is absolutely jaw dropping, and it really feels as if we’re in exactly the same universe as Ridley Scott’s 1979 original (timeline wise, Romulus is set several decades before James Cameron’s 1986 sequel, the equally beloved Aliens). It’s an absolute triumph, at least from a visual point of view.

The sound design is stunning too, though there’s a few too many obvious callbacks to the score of Alien, when it comes to the soundtrack.

Now where it falls down a little is in its little homages of previous scenes and dialogue (as well as what can be, at times, a rather distracting recreation of a classic character). The structure of several sequences just makes Alien Romulus feel like a soft reboot a la The Force Awakens at times, which does it no favours at all. Sometimes, it’s less a ‘greatest hits’ of the franchise, and more ‘here’s another moment that’ll remind you of something else’; not always a reminder of a good element of the series, either.

There’s one specific line of dialogue that’s delivered painfully awkwardly, doesn’t really fit, and just shouldn’t be there; you’ll absolutely know exactly what I mean if you’ve seen the film, or when you do.

Both Spaeny and Jonsson are excellent in their roles as the main protagonists; it’s also worth noting that Jonsson’s role in particular really allows him to flex his muscles, from a dramatic point of view. The rest of the cast are fine, but don’t have a massive amount to actually do, when it comes down to it. It is, however, a very wise decision to move away from Ripley or anything to do with her (barring one glaring, questionable element that mostly makes sense within the movie’s universe, but falls down in its execution).

As mentioned, when director Fede Alvarez resists the urge to homage what’s come before, there’s some genuinely brilliant moments; including stuff you really have never seen before in an Alien film. Of course, it touches upon elements from most of the prior films (yes, that includes Prometheus), when it’s more subtle about it, it’s far more effective.

A couple of zero gravity sequences, and one which relies upon absolute silence, really do set Alien Romulus apart from the previous films too.

Creature design and implementation is absolutely stunning; the lack of overtly used CGI is so refreshing, giving everything a very physical, tangible feel.

Which again hearkens back to Ridley Scott’s Alien, albeit in a positive way; one of Scott’s most underrated qualities, in films such as Alien and Blade Runner, is making their worlds feel absolutely real, down to the tiniest of details; Romulus pulls off the same trick.

Add in a smattering of social commentary and a surprisingly restrained level of gore (though it definitely delivers on that count in some scenes), and you’d swear at times that you were watching a direct, classic sequel to the first Alien.

Though it’s a very good film for us Alien fans, and definitely the best sequel there’s been for a very long time, I liked it rather than loved it. Which is fine; for at least the last two-and-a-bit decades, I’ve hated every film featuring the Xenomorph.

Oh and just so you know: the final act is wild, gross and actually pretty effective, until it once more goes back to the well to homage a famous sequence from the climax of Alien, far too obviously.

Definitely progress, then, but far from a perfect organism.