mark ingrassia

The Alien franchise is officially dead. Alien Romulus steals scenes and dialogue from Alien and Aliens to the armed Ripley-like heroin racing back to save a comrade while the computer countdowns to oblivion ticks away. Evil synthetic Science Officer Ash returns in the same state we last saw him in Alien, but now his name is Rook. There were a couple of new twists, but the constant references to the first two Alien movies seemed a waste of effort, as Scott could have produced much better.

The movie has all the darkness and dystopia of the Tim Burton Batman One and Two, but lacks the art. The Batman's chief issue is the ongoing dialogue, there's too much. On and on, everyone has a story and a personal problem. Great action sequences are interrupted by soliloquies --If this is the Millennial version of Batman, it makes sense. It does not amaze, it does not wow.....too much talking, too many characters....I couldn't wait until it was over.