In the Alien films, a xenomorph is a monstrous, all-consuming life form that exists only to make more and more copies of itself. Once the first xenomorph appears, it’s only a matter of time until all those gleaming chrome walls will be covered in creepy black goo and the humans suspended lifeless from the ceiling

Anyway, Alien: Romulus is the seventh film about these particular monsters. According to the producers, the film takes the franchise ‘back to its roots’. So we get a group of grimy crew-mates piloting a big rust-bucket of a spaceship who pick up an extraterrestrial stowaway and end up having to use their wits and courage to survive as it gobbles them up, one by one.

And it’s not a bad film. It’s nicely creepy, the special effects are good, the acting is perfectly serviceable. In fact, I could give you a normal review of Alien: Romulus, but just writing this is making me feel a little crazy. It’s not a bad film, but it’s also a direct copy of a much better film that already exists. That film is called Alien, and it came out in 1979. It had Sigourney Weaver in it. It hasn’t vanished. If you have a Disney+ subscription or a torrent client, you can watch it tonight. Why have we made it again? What’s the point? Why have we spent the past 45 years – which is longer than I’ve been alive – making seven different versions of the same film? What on Earth is going on?

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    I always thought their goal was to weaponize the xenomorphs?

    But I suppose it’s not meant to be clear. They’re greedy corporations looking to milk as much profit from anything they can find. Good thing corporations aren’t like that in real life ;P

    • DragonTypeWyvernEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      I think that’s what Ashe and Burke talked about/implied so most people just rolled with it, it’s not like MIC corruption is a rare theme, but they’ve been working up the human/xenomorph hybrid angle for a while.

      https://screenrant.com/alien-weyland-yutani-xenomorph-goal-hybrid-species-marvel/

      And it does tie a lot of threads together while being honestly a bit more horrifying imo. There’s always been a bit of a background to the movies of “How could Weyland-Yutani be so stupid as to risk a xenomorph outbreak on Earth or a colony” and even “but Marines with guns absolutely slaughtered them so it’s not even that good of a weapon” that this motivation addresses far more readily.