Cailee Spaeny (left) as Rain and David Jonsson as Andy in “Alien: Romulus.” Photo credit: Murray Close/20th Century Studios via TNS

In 1979, the world was introduced to Ridley Scott’s thrilling film series “Alien”.

The original film became a horror classic and its sequel – aptly titled “Aliens” and directed by James Cameron – became a sci-fi action classic.

Each new installment in the series tries to live up to these two beloved films. Some come close, others fall flat.

Luckily for longtime fans, Alien: Romulus features some of the best shock and action sequences the franchise has seen in years.

The film follows space colonist Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic humanoid brother Andy (David Jonsson) as they join a crew of colonists raiding an abandoned space station, where they discover much more than first expected.

The Alien films are known for their strong female leads, most notably actress Sigourney Weaver’s iconic performance(s) as Ellen Louise Ripley, and Spaeny does an exceptional job of capturing Weaver’s fearless energy from the original films.

Jonsson also delivers a stellar performance. In previous films, synthetic characters – artificially intelligent beings that speak and act similarly to humans – were cold individuals who followed the orders of the mysterious Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a company that oversees all synthetic technology.

Synthetic characters have taken on antagonistic roles in the past, but Jonsson is a protagonist who was fired from the company due to malfunctions, which is quite refreshing to see.

Although the acting is commendable, the film’s production design and music really stand out.

The film’s director, Fede Álvarez, made it very clear in the film’s marketing campaign that he didn’t want to overload the screen with CGI aliens. Instead, he created animatronics, resulting in some of the scariest creatures that creative output had produced to date.

Álvarez also set out to combine the horror of Alien with the action of Aliens, and he definitely succeeded. The slow opening is reminiscent of the original film, and the powerful third act recalls the action-packed shootouts of the Colonial Marines first seen in Aliens.

The claustrophobic space station and the smog-filled Jackson’s Star colony on the planet Jackson both add to the film’s eeriness. The atmosphere is so dark and oppressive that the audience barely has a chance to breathe.

The film music composed by Benjamin Wallfisch also contributes to the haunting atmosphere of the film. The combination of original pieces and homages to previous film music from “Alien” films will delight fans while also offering new, bloodcurdling pieces.

In fact, the score isn’t the only work that pays tribute to previous Alien projects. Álvarez makes sure to reference each film in the series in some way, with numerous nods throughout the film.

However, this reveals many of the film’s weaknesses. At a certain point, the references turn from fun little Easter eggs to quotes of iconic lines from the franchise in cheesy, over-the-top moments.

There is also what seems like a major plot hole at the beginning of the film. In the first few minutes, it is explained that most space colonists must work long hours in the planet’s mines in order to be allowed to leave.

Although it is not stated directly whether the main characters of the film can afford a spacecraft or not, the assumption that they would have access to one seems unrealistic.

Furthermore, the space station is hovering directly above the planet, and yet no one seems to care about it other than the main characters of the film. Whether this is intentional or not is unclear, but it seems like it is a major concern for the other inhabitants of the planet.

Despite these issues, the film is still an outstanding movie that will satisfy fans who want to take a nostalgic trip to the old Alien films.

Rating: 3.5/5