At their origins, long before they turned into Predator battles and philosophical musings, the Alien films were about capitalism. Sure, the legendary Xenomorph as designed by H.R. Giger might have been a terrifying antagonist for Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and her colleagues, but the real villain of both the 1979 original and 1986’s Aliens was the corporation that would come to be known as Weyland-Yutani. These movies were horror tales of people facing off against an implacable foe that considered them nothing more than fodder for its growth—and the thing with the double jaws was pretty creepy, too.

So it’s quite a pleasant surprise right off the bat to see Alien: Romulus director/co-writer Fede Alvarez returning to those roots in this “midquel,” set not long after a Weyland-Yutani salvage vessel collects some valuable cargo from the spaceborne wreckage of the Nostromo. That cargo finds its way to an orbiting research station above a bleak mining planet—a planet where an orphan named Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic adopted “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) are stuck with little hope of paying off their ever-rising obligation to the company. When several of Rain’s friends learn about the existence of the station above them—and that it holds crypods that might allow them to relocate to a more hospitable planet—they launch into the void, unaware of what awaits them once certain critters start thawing out.

And what awaits them is pretty damned cool for much of the film’s running time, as Alvarez concocts a series of terrifically designed set pieces. When Andy determines that the “face-huggers” hunt mostly through sensing temperature, Rain and her possible romantic interest Tyler (Archie Renaux) try to make their way through a swarm of them in a room brought up to 98.6 without drawing attention to themselves. Later, the danger of the creatures’ acid blood gets an extremely creative solution as Rain attempts to escape. Looking to both Alien and Aliens as inspiration, Alvarez finds an impressive balance of unsettling tension, jump scares and flat-out action that feels deeply respectful to what those movies were all about—and that includes having a smart, tough, resourceful female hero  in Cailee Spaeny's Rain that's a fitting tribute to Ripley

Then again, there’s deeply respectful, and then there’s fan service. As much as Alvarez wants to evoke a certain mood and tone with Romulus, he also wants to nudge the audience with references that old-school fans of the series will understand. That goes beyond using the wreckage of the Nostromo as its launch point, up to and including recycling certain memorable snippets of dialogue, or the idea of an android head being reconnected to provide exposition. By the time Spaeny makes her way into a space suit to help facilitate her final attempt to kill off the alien, it starts to feel a little bit desperate in its attempts to remind you of those other Alien movies, which undercuts how great so many of this movie's own original ideas are.

It is certainly satisfying that the crux of Alien: Romulus’s plot centers around Weyland-Yutani’s ongoing efforts to monetize the discovery of the alien, recognizing that there’s nothing a corporation won’t do if it smells a potential profit in it. That’s also part of what hinders the ability of this really good Alien movie from becoming a great Alien movie. Alvarez should have been able to appreciate the irony of wanting to tell a story where business decisions supersede all other considerations, then ultimately telling a story that keeps feeling like corporate-level notes were involved in making sure the audience knew they were watching part of a franchise.

ALIEN: ROMULUS
***
Cailee Spaeny
David Jonsson
Archie Renaux
Rated R
Available Aug. 16 in theaters