Alien Movies: A Critical Look at the Franchise's Successes and Failures

Facehuggers and Flops: 10 Harsh Truths About Rewatching the Alien Movies

The Alien Franchise: A Look Back at What Worked (and What Didn't!)

The Alien franchise? Iconic, terrifying, and a major part of sci-fi horror history! Ridley Scott's original Alien (1979) is still a masterpiece of suspense – even after 45 years! James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is equally legendary. But after that? Things get a little…messy. We're diving deep into those harsh truths revealed upon a rewatch of this entire iconic saga, highlighting the evolution (and devolution!) of this universe.

The FX series Alien: Earth promises a lot! However, this article discusses why those other Alien films both succeeded and failed; some of which are deeply profound while other parts are hilariously absurd!

Also Read: Alien: Romulus Easter Eggs & References - Dive Deep Into The Franchise!

10 Harsh Realities of the Alien Movieverse

10. Ridley Scott's Original: The Scariest Alien Movie EVER

Alien is a suspense masterpiece! That famous “Chestburster” sequence might make you think otherwise; this seemingly violent act does highlight just how suspenseful and terrifying Scott's original really is, creating this incredibly terrifying atmosphere that remains effective; this film's incredible build-up through slow-paced tension, focusing on a bunch of relatable, ordinary workers trapped in a deadly nightmare, made Alien truly horrifying – something the sequels failed to repeat! The atmosphere, those visuals–thanks to H.R. Giger’s nightmarish designs— all contributed to Ripley's struggle that felt desperately real.

9. The Xenomorph's Mystery: Why Explaining It Ruined It!

What made the Xenomorph scary in the original Alien? That total mystery! We knew nothing! The Prometheus (2012) origin story totally wrecked this—reducing the monster from terrifying alien horror to simply another bioweapon, something totally anticlimactic! The story is more memorable, yet is severely undermined by adding this pointless extra history, resulting in a disappointing climax that really hurt that series in terms of potential impact on storytelling.

8. The Alien Queen: A Great Villain, but a Messy Canon

Official theatrical poster for Alien (1979) Image

Aliens' alien queen was a clever idea– making the sequel much more intense–a superb boss battle for Ripley! But introducing this new element also massively changed Xenomorph biology, a canon that created multiple, numerous problems through subsequent movies – making those later Alien plots way less satisfying and much less scary than they otherwise should've been. There was an important and incredibly profound aspect found in that plot however: the unexpected intensity and unpredictability in that added storyline.

7. Aliens: The Action-Horror Shift That Broke the Franchise

Cameron’s Aliens changed things from quiet survival horror to total action! A genius shift that could've gone perfectly fine as a sequel, had they made smart creative choices. However, future sequels had absolutely no idea how to balance action and horror creating various confusing directions and poor narrative design choices that severely crippled future sequels!

6. Alien 3: Ripley’s Misguided Prison Planet Adventure

Alien 3’s production troubles are well-known, the story was just terribly impacted and affected negatively and significantly because of it! That grim, solitary setting would’ve worked—if not for this important detail that changed this ending severely: This whole experience featured Ripley. Had this not featured Ripley as the primary character, then a dark sci-fi horror movie set within a prison might've been far more effective; creating additional possibilities with this relatively small change and better thematic approaches; generating suspense, thrills and some more enjoyable storytelling sequences that may have provided a slightly less unsatisfactory ending, that sadly was affected by several major changes to its production timeline!

5. Alien vs. Predator (2004): The PG-13 Mistake That Killed the Crossover

That epic crossover sounded amazing! The match-up of sci-fi icons? Everyone wanted to see that! But giving Alien vs. Predator a PG-13 rating completely wrecked it, killing any possibility of providing thrilling moments! It's frustrating as that movie’s Antarctic setting and the monster battles (once they happened!) could have easily turned into a memorable monster movie. Sadly, it wasn’t even remotely close to becoming either the intense monster movies typically found within either franchise – it was slow, bland, lacked any thrills and failed at being sufficiently intense; its lack of creativity really hurt this and those same flaws only impacted even later installments; creating those unnecessary missteps during the creative writing phases which had massive implications throughout many aspects later!

4. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007): The Franchise’s Unmitigated Disaster

This sequel made things much more gruesome. Unfortunately, it also created those many predictable moments that seriously hindered that storyline, making for one very unpleasant experience that completely damaged that earlier attempt, the first alien vs predator and any attempts to further explore such ideas entirely failed, resulting in the later cancellation of such ventures and a negative reaction even decades after the event itself.

3. Alien vs. Predator 3: A Sequel That Will Never Happen

This is not only extremely likely to never be attempted. Those previous blunders; both movies failed to meet anyone’s expectations— severely damaging that potential market for fans, those viewers desiring such storylines – those failed ventures and poor reception completely destroyed any hope for a potential third Alien vs. Predator movie – meaning such potential is essentially dead!

2. Prometheus (2012): Too Much Lore, Not Enough Horror

That prequel promised answers regarding Alien’s origins! And while many elements exist and can be considered part of this universe's wider cosmology. It added another very surprising point which remains critical to analyze; It attempts to create a blend of profound science-fiction exploration and intense genre horror yet never manages to produce something that viewers could totally love. It makes viewers decide if it even works! It never completely satisfies; making those grand concepts completely lose their impact.

1. Alien: Romulus (2024): The Problem of Over-Reliance on Fan Service

After the disappointing Prometheus, Alien: Romulus attempted a return to form. But this time however revealed other fundamental flaws in that narrative design: This latest movie faltered badly; those endless references and rehashed ideas seemed incredibly desperate, using old themes for an older generation to become engaged; those rehashed references seriously dragged the storyline down— emphasizing once more that creative ambition isn’t enough – this particular addition to this franchise demonstrates that clever narrative structuring alongside well-written character development are what audiences prefer. It felt way too forced, making viewers regret all the forced links and creative attempts and rehashed attempts.

Also Read: Alien: Romulus Deaths Ranked: The Goriest Moments

Conclusion: The Future of Alien Depends on Ditching the Past

The Alien franchise had its moments of brilliance— that suspenseful, terrifying masterpiece of Alien and a highly creative action-packed Aliens. But its other films? Mostly failures and lackluster adventures in storytelling. This includes bad sequels and rehashed themes which lack creativity; those missed chances seriously hurt this universe's overall reception; creating an unexpected consequence – any possible return would involve learning from those creative missteps found previously!

The Alien movies moving forward need to abandon past reliance on those nostalgic efforts. If they continue to depend on creating references, relying entirely on an existing fanbase's understanding and relying solely on past success they’ll remain bad; those efforts on building the universe through creativity, exploring unique and thought-provoking concepts will greatly improve these films – those elements would revitalize it; focusing more on thrills, creativity and suspense which is the hallmark of Alien; leaving aside nostalgia as a tool.