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I've seen every Alien movie in the franchise and trying to rank Alien: Romulus versus the others is tough because you have multiple categories such as script / plot, acting, special effects, sci-fi content, and editing. Script/Plot: The plot is incredibly derivative with lots of fan service...there's not an original concept in A:R...it steals unapologetically from the other franchise films. Script/plot: You have an absurd and nearly impossible setup with super immature people reacting like 8 year olds as though they were on the set of Prometheus (that's very annoying but at least this crew wasn't hired for a multi-billion space journey). The plot has huge, unbelievable holes. Acting: Cailee Spaeny has a future ahead of her and David Jonsson had a tough role, also believable. The other cast members were given to histrionics all too often. Special Effects: Top rate. Sci-fi content: Pretty nerdy visuals and lots of well-crafted display shots. Editing: Fairly snappy but the movie does drag at the beginning. // Overall, I found the plot of A:R so laughable in plausibility and so grossly lacking in original ideas (aka, sycophantic fan service) that I spent most of my time at Regal Edward's watching my Apple Watch warn me over and over about the nearly endlessly loud (90db+) volume level. In space you can't hear yourself scream because Regal Theaters made you deaf.

This really isn't a Dune-the-book movie but a related tale that takes away all the sci-fi and deep intrigue that makes Dune-the-book such a fascinating tale. Instead what we get is super-stylized black-and-white with the details and the context rendered nearly superfluous in order to propel a simple tale of political ascension. Why is spice so important in use and action? What's the background that has set this whole conflict in motion? What's big deal about the worms? Why is Paul so reliant on the myths spread to "pave the way" versus his own abilities? Is Paul something special or not? Surely you've seen Dune I, now finding its natural continuation in Dune II which furthers the cause of gorgeous special effects, environmentals, sound, etc. But somehow it's all bland and as colorless as much of the landscape despite the spectacular costuming. Without context it's another ho-hum story of moderate manipulation that aims to succeed via Paul's riding the coattails of religious parable and meaningless miracles via a pushy Mom. P. S. Zendaya is only marginally better in D-II but far more annoying but T. C. has really grown up and greatly compensates for the overall plot dullness. My Oscar predictions: Every single technical award; in acting, nominations for Javier Bardem and Rebecca Ferguson.

It's not Noomi Rapace's problem that the screenplay for Prometheus was so poorly conceived and so I'm glad her talents were recognized independent of that mess of a movie...and now she appears once again in a space peril epic that appears to have borrowed much too literally from The Cloverfield Paradox...except that movie was much more dynamic and exciting and here everything is kind of sterile and Swedish, cold and calculated, both over-delineated and underwritten with hackneyed family problems, another problematic child relationship, another distant husband... and this doesn't have to be the situation vs. What's shown in The Martian where families could take a more mature approach to the whole space program (and let me tell you, the husband is one bore of a spouse and the child is one annoyance after another) but I digress from the other sinister higher-level string-pulling administrative exploitations so expected and also so boring. Can I rename this the Constellation of Yawns? Sorry, Noomi, but you really need to find a vehicle worthy of your talents.