In the Dark Reviews

Watching "Alien: Romulus" offered me the rare experience of seeing a solidly entertaining, well-executed movie that left me feeling less optimistic about the future of the film franchise it's tied to.

The original "Alien" film premiered in 1979, and it officially became a franchise with its first sequel, "Aliens," in 1986.

Both movies are regarded as critical and commercial successes, but the track record of the roughly half-dozen feature films that followed has been uneven, to put it mildly.

The good news is "Alien: Romulus" is the best film in the franchise since the first two.

What's more c...