Fede Alvarez’s remix of the Alien films so far and direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 original is a perfectly serviceable thriller, just as tense, creepy, and damp as you’d want an ALIEN film to be — but it probably goes maybe two or three direct references/callbacks/swipes too far, especially given that we had a theatrical rerelease of that original less an four months ago.
The story: ever-present evil mega corporation Weyland-Yutani extends the work contract of poor working class brunette Rain (Cailee Spaeny), who just wants to get off the godawful always-dark colony planet she lives on with her “brother” Andy (David Jonsson), a glitchy android her father saved from the scrap pile. This sudden and arbitrary contract extension leaves her quite vulnerable to a proposition made by her ex Tyler (Archie Renaux): join him and his family as they investigate and steal a derelict Weyland-Yutani ship in orbit which can get them to more hospitable climes and a better life. The ship, however, turns out to be a derelict space station where experiments were taking place on samples of a very familiar hostile life form.