As the Terminator, Foreigner is a franchise where no new installment has a chance of being the best. This one is about third place, behind Ridley Scott’s scary original and James Cameron’s action-packed sequel. Most of the subsequent efforts have catered to different tastes and tend more towards intellectual science fiction (Prometheus), dark character drama (Alien 3 – The Wonderful World of Aliens) or silly action schlock (Alien vs Predator). With his first attempt at the franchise, Alien: RomulusDirector Fede Álvarez makes the bold decision to aim for the dead middle ground between Scott’s and Cameron’s two masterpieces. The result is an adrenaline-fueled space slasher film that sacrifices the subtlety and creeping fear of the original for more shock, gore and thrilling, fist-pumping violence. It’s a more superficial product than its predecessors, but it also has its own distinctive energy. It doesn’t completely jettison the franchise’s 45-year baggage, but when it does, it’s left with a damn good monster movie.

The setup for Romulus reminiscent of Álvarez’s own film “The Last Chance” from 2016. Don’t breathe. A group of twenty-somethings, born into poverty on a corporate-owned mining planet, seize the opportunity to escape their miserable fate. It was supposed to be a simple heist – slip aboard an abandoned spaceship, steal the equipment they need to travel to a nicer planet, and get out before it crashes. But the ship isn’t as empty as they thought. On board are terrifying monsters that want to either rip them off or impregnate them. Will any of these young, tough guys live to see a better tomorrow?

Leading this ensemble is Cailee Spaeny as Rain Carradine, the heist’s most reluctant participant and our obvious final girl. Spaeny delivers a reliably solid performance, but the real star of the show is David Jonsson as Andy, a flawed android she considers a brother. Andy was programmed to protect her growing up, but now she has become his caregiver. Their relationship is both charming and unsettling. Andy loves Rain, but he is programmed He will always do the best for her, with a smile on his face, but is he also being taken advantage of? This is an interesting new twist in the Foreigner The franchise’s meditation on artificial intelligence, which has been portrayed as either sinister or benign. As Andy, David Jonsson gets to play a bit of both. The emotional core of Romulus is the way Rain and Andy are changed by their nightmare in space and how it forces them to reevaluate each other.

This does not mean that Alien: Romulus is a predominantly intellectual or even emotional experience. Far from it. After about 40 minutes of introducing the characters and setting up possible future disasters, Romulus becomes a relentless rollercoaster ride that fulfills every one of its evil promises.

Romulus is more focused on monster movies than any of its predecessors, and Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues seem determined to the whole monster. Too many Foreigner The sequels race through the most terrifying part of the Xenomorph’s bizarre life cycle: the “facehugger” stage, represented by a scurrying arachnid that latches onto a victim’s head, forces its ovipositor down its throat, and implants its ultra-brutal offspring. Romulusdedicates almost half of the film to these little bastards and allows them their own chase and stalking scenes. As in Don’t breathe, Romulus only moves on to the next threat or premise when the last one has been completely exhausted.

Álvarez shows admirable restraint in introducing the more famous, 2.5-meter-tall adult Xenomorph, treating it as an obscure new threat rather than a cult character whose action figure was on your cousin’s windowsill. There is a (hopefully justified) assumption that for many viewers this will be the first Foreigner film, and the effort to squeeze maximum tension out of the premise is valuable even to longtime fans. The film does indeed make the typical switch from horror to action in the third act, but until then, “scary” takes precedence over “cool.”

Despite it. Romulus still indulges in some of the worst impulses of the “requel” or “legacy sequel.” An original Foreigner Actors are digitally reanimated for a small role and look absolutely terrible. This is the first new Alien film under Disney’s ownership of the franchise and it seems like they just can’t resist using this technology at every opportunity, regardless of whether it adds value to the story or not. There are a few other awkward, inappropriate nods to the franchise’s legacy that detract from what is otherwise a completely satisfying and self-contained space slasher.

Over the past decade, it has become apparent that audiences expect less from Hollywood blockbusters, not only in terms of quality but also in terms of how much of the story is told in each film. At several points Alien: Romulus hints at a development that seems like a hook for a sequel or spin-off, but Álvarez doesn’t wait until the inevitable next alien to play all his cards. Romulus leaves nothing on the table. It’s a whole damn movie for a change.

Could this be a sign of things to come for the franchise? Could the Xenomorph – the perfect movie monster – become less like Michael Myers and more like a zombie or vampire, a terror that can be used to tell a variety of horror stories rather than as a contrast to a handful of protagonists or as part of a dense mythology? This possibility is as exciting as the film itself.