Marc Burney

When the series opens, the first scene had me so excited and confirmed what I was expecting from it: a return to the original movie in aesthetic, lore and tone. This however was very short lived as the ship began to crash and the Xenoporph appeared, and the more I thought about it, the more this summed up the issues I had with the first two episodes as a whole: that being, the lore and tone are completely different, and only the artificial aesthetic, though well done, is the same. The Xeno is completely different to the first alien film which was menacing, took its time, stalked its prey in the shadows, hidden in the dark using its natural black camouflage and waiting until victims were isolated to strike slowly and silently. This made it terrifying, you never knew where it was, how it got there, like it’s origin it was a mystery. This incarnation is fast paced, reactive, kills everything seemingly mindlessly, hyper aggressive and completely out in the open. It also seems uninterested in harvesting or taking victims to the eggs. Because of this difference I’ve seen far too much of the Xeno already. Theres a reason the original film is still so menacing and looks fantastic despite not having the technological advancements we have today – they left things to the imagination. The tail coming up the victim’s leg and then the scream down the corridor – you don’t see it because your head will do a better job. When watching the Xenomorph thrashing and flailing manically and ungracefully trying to get to the cyborg inside the mother room and then the safety compartment, I couldn’t help but think that I didn’t need to see the alien outside, just a shot of the damage gradually accumulating on the door from the inside, and then maybe a hand coming round to grip the door would have worked far better. Incidentally this style would have also served them better as, if paying close attention, close ups of the Xeno prosthetic itself is regrettably exactly that. They were so quick to show their hand, their signature monster, rushed to screen, no build up, no tension, no mystery. In essence, it’s an entirely different creature with the same face. This series might well not be canon and standalone, and it’s early days so they might explain it away as we know the creature changes due to the host / have seen different versions previously. But I can’t help but feel this sort of decision alongside tonal turbulence within the series itself, are a sign of more recent trend of nostalgia bait, feels unfaithful to the original material and a moving away from what made the franchise the beloved piece of art it was. In short, it’s wants to have its cornbread and eat it too!