a decently structured reflection of the alien franchise that regrettably kinda only really exists as a somewhat uninspired rehash of the first film, not to say that’s absolutely all it is, but it’s really hard to look past much of what occurs. Throwing in a slew of cheap references to remind you of the franchise's better days. And, without going into detail (you already know), it has the most perplexing callback that will undoubtedly irritate many people, including myself. It's honestly so disappointing that it fails to really carve its own identity. I was really expecting more. Man, writing all of this makes me incredibly sad. Not that it's all bad—there's some fantastic practical work and a few classically alien-driven thrills, thanks primarily to David Jonnson and Cailee Spaeny, who manage to convey an entire range of terror. It's always going to be difficult to strike a balance between homage and copy-and-paste; I do think some references are handled with care, while others are so just so blatantly silly (derogatory). The final act will make or break it for you, and I'm not sure what my thoughts are right now. Oh well. Others will undoubtedly enjoy, though.