THE DANMAN CAN

Fede Álvarez ’s Alien: Romulus (2024) is a perfectly serviceable Alien film that doesn't do enough of its own thing, instead paying more fan service than it needs to (and, most egregiously, resurrecting (sort of) a character in a terribly uncanny way for far too much screen time). I just don't understand why anyone wants member berries . Recreating moments from beloved films with new characters is, for the most part, never a good idea. The reason we loved those moments in the first place is because they were  unique and they are iconic.  At least the also-perfectly-OK-but-not-amazing  Ridley Scott  prequels tried new things and had deeper ideas. Álvarez does try  some  new ideas in A:R (and those are some of the best moments in the film), but too sparingly. Instead, we get multiple scenes recreated (and somewhat  subverted, so that they maybe feel newish)—and lines of dialogue directly (and poorly) ripped—from both  Alien   (1979) ( ...

Despite the buckets of blood and gallons of grue in Fede Álvarez ’s 2013 Evil Dead reboot, there’s something too pristine about this version. Both in the cast with their perfect skin and immaculate looks and in the crisp, clean cinematography.  Arriving 10 years after the solid 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot (and the same year as the abysmal Texas Chainsaw 3D ), ED ‘13 doesn’t feel that far removed from Marcus Nispel ’s film (both in look and tone). It gives me that same sense of shoulder-shrugging “Yeah that was decent, but was it necessary?” that I so commonly experience with reboots. None of the characters are particularly compelling. Sure, it’s grosser and has a bigger budget, but part of the charm of the first two Evil Dead films [my reviews of those here and here ]—for this viewer at least—is the homegrown quality and lack of finesse (along with the humor).  This was my third viewing of ED ‘13, which I saw in its theatrical release and again when it arrived on ...