Has more in common with Resurrection than it does the original Alien. Not sure why this one of getting a pass when it does a lot of same things that have caused people to complain about everything post-Aliens. Fede Álvarez did direct the heck out of it, I LOVE the emphasis on practical effects over CGI, and the final act features a creation that might be the most horrifying the franchise has churned out thus far. Even if it does bring back some unpleasant memories of the Newborn… The problem is it just doesn’t get the Xenomorphs right. Kind of like the fourth film they’ve (yes, there’s more than one here) been robbed of all menace, coming off as generic creature-feature fodder meant to deliver some schlocky thrills until they get blown away by the protagonist. None of what made this iconic sci-fi monster once so fascinating and terrifying back when it was first introduced to audiences in 1979 can be found.  Then there are the characters… Geez, such an unappealing bunch. Caily Spaeny is no Sigourney Weaver. The rest of the cast, on top of being obnoxious and weirdly too young feeling to lead a story like this, are clearly only there to ensure there’s a bodycount when the credits roll. Doesn’t help how predictable this all is. You can accurately guess how basically every moment is going to play out before it happens, and not because of all the callbacks either. Which, yes, are as bad as you’ve heard. The use of maybe Ripley’s most famous line quite frankly painful to witness.  Look, Álvarez packed enough of his trademark gory, gross out spectacle to keep me watching (even if he totally missed how that stuff isn’t the point of these flicks), and gosh dang it do I respect that he alongside co-writer Rodo Sayagues actually tied the plot into Prometheus too. That’s a big win for us lore nerds. Overall, this ain’t it though. If we aren’t counting the second AvP movie, this is easily the property’s weakest feature-length outing for me to date.