It’s the new old, re-boot-make-tread Alien movie. That sounds like it was garbage, but it actually had a lot going for it and managed to succeed more than it failed.

The plot follows Rain (Caelee Spaeny) and her android “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) living on a mining colony on LV-410. When her indentured work contract is extended without her consent, she takes a risky salvage mission with some friends to acquire cryo-pods needed to get to a utopian planet called Yvaga. Little do they know that the ship they are going to has some nasty critters that want to do them harm.

There is definitely too much fan service. Some of it is subtle and well done. Then some of it is ridiculously overt and unnecessary. In a way, it felt like a multiverse movie without a multiverse plot. It’s got all these homages from ALL of the previous movies whether it is camera angles, things people do/say, or a character from the first Alien.

Where it really did well was creating the believable world and maintaining a consistent tone. There were many great interactions between the Rain character and her brother Andy, who had many ups and downs. Those character moments help to connect the viewer to the emotional stakes. What got bogged down in the latter half with too many throwbacks ultimately was redeemed by worthwhile characters that kept me caring. We’re not talking Ripley or Newt level, but it’s 2024. You get what you get.

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