Streaming Recommendation - ALIEN: ROMULUS

The Alien franchise has taken some hits lately as the Ridley Scott prequels to his famed 1979 film - PROMETHEUS and ALIEN: COVENANT - were dense on mythology but scarce on scares while the ALIEN vs. PREDATOR films were less than stellar efforts of the Silver Screen.

Enter Director/Writer Fed Alvarez (DON’T BREATHE) who…ahem…BREATHES new life into the franchise with a taunt, tense thriller filled with dread (and the occasional chest-burster).

Taking place between the 2 best films of the series, the original ALIEN (1979) and the action-packed James Cameron-led ALIENS (1986). This time, a group of young 20-somethings happen upon a derelict Space Station that harbors a secret - and perhaps a face-hugger or 2.

Leading the group of youngsters exploring the Space Station is Cailee Spaeny (so good in CIVIL WAR earlier this year) in the “Sigourney Weaver” role. She is the only one at the beginning of the adventure to truly grasp what’s happening and takes action to keep her (and her compatriots) alive. It is a strong performance by Spaeny who is an actress (and character) that is easy to root for.

She is ably supported by Archie Renaux (Tyler), Isabela Merced (Kay) and Aileen Wu (Navarro) all “almost” 3 dimensional characters that are just a little more than “Alien-bait” in this film. Only Spike Fearn falls short as his character Bjorn, is written pretty two-dimensionally and Fearn leans into the leanness of the character…to the detriment of the film.

Special notice needs to be made of David Jonsson as the “brother” of our heroine - who holds a secret, and when that secret is revealed, Jonsson’s performance changes very appropriately to the situation at hand.

Oh…and there’s an appearance by a familiar face that will surely delight fans of the franchise (to say more would be to spoil).

Director Alvarez sure-handedly moves the pieces around in smart movements, drawing out the tension and horror as circumstances escalate. He writes (and directs) a strong film that brings the terror, but falls short of going over-the-top (with a possible exception of the end). And it is in the end where one will like (or not) this film. I “rolled with” where Alvarez went this, but one can certainly see the point of the folks that didn’t.

All-in-all the 3rd best Alien film (after the first 2), with just enough gore and fear to satisfy fans and non-fans alike.

Letter Grade: B+

7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)