Breaking news: the blockbuster is officially back! And no, I’m not talking about our friendly blue-and-yellow neighborhood video store. Unfortunately, streaming has relegated to the far corners of our distant memories those fluorescent lights, that soft warm plastic smell, and that rattling “thunk” a video case makes when it hits the bottom of the drop-off bin. No, I’m talking summer blockbusters – highly-anticipated, in-theaters-only, commercially successful films that bring together people of all ages, genders, and even political preferences for a crowd-pleasing, audience-cheering night at the movies. With two of this summer’s big-budget, suspenseful, action-adventure films Twisters and Alien: Romulus leaning hard into thrills and scares, it finally feels like the industry has emerged from its COVID cocoon and is back to bringing us pure in-theater fun.
Both Twisters and Alien: Romulus boast easily navigable plots with strong character development. In Twisters, young meteorological professional Kate (played with range and finesse by the doe-eyed Daisy Edgar-Jones) is convinced by former grad school classmate Javi (played by everyone’s favorite Anthony Ramos) to leave her big city life in New York and return to Oklahoma to carry out potentially life-saving research on one of the plains’ biggest threats: tornadoes. Kate sets aside her unaddressed storm-chasing trauma and comes home to find herself surrounded by new friends – and even a romantic interest in a character played by man-of-the-moment Glen Powell. Together, the group seeks to achieve the impossible: use science to stop a funnel cloud in its tracks and save the innocent communities in its path.
Meanwhile, in Alien: Romulus, we are dropped into a storyline sandwiched between arguably the two best films in the franchise – the original 1979 Alien and its sequel Aliens. This means the beloved Ripley is still in cryosleep, so we are introduced to an entirely new cast of young characters who live a miserable, sunless life of indentured servitude on a distant mining colony. When a signal from a passing decommissioned ship promises cryopods, the crew of youngsters hope to sneak onto the ship, snatch the pods, and leave their misery behind for a far-off planet. But the decommissioned ship is actually a station, and not just any station – one where scientists captured and experimented on the dreaded chest-bursting, scorpion face-sucking, quickly-reproducing Xenomorphs. With the crew blending siblings (human and artificial alike), lovers, and cousins, the stage is set for relationships to define the characters’ decision making – whether savvy or reckless – as the group tries to escape alive.
Both films carefully weave in just enough throwbacks and easter eggs to satisfy true fans of the respective franchises, while serving equally well as standalone stories easily digestible for new audiences. While their moods differ – with Alien: Romulus leaning dark and brooding, and Twisters fun and energetic – both films offer engaging, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides, playing our emotions and frayed nerves like a violin. 
Perhaps this comes as no surprise for Alien: Romulus, given that it’s directed by puppet master of theatrical thrills Fede Alvarez of Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead (2013) fame. But it’s Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung who, in the wake of his delicately wonderful yet quiet gem of a film Minari, here showcases his surprisingly wide stylistic range and ability to achieve mass appeal.
With both films (thankfully) relying heavily on practical effects, we are thoroughly immersed into each world. We can almost feel the wind whipping through buildings, scraping up cars, and tearing away treasured cast members in Twisters. In Alien: Romulus, from slime to sizzling acid to slithery smiles, the aliens feel more real than ever. 
Both also up the ante for their franchises – from twin tornadoes to gnarly next-gen breeds of aliens, there’s something new for everyone.
But perhaps above all, both films nail what really brings all summer blockbuster audiences together into clapping and cheering glee: a shared hatred of the film’s villain. No, I’m not talking about the indiscriminate destruction of Mother Nature in Twisters, nor the freakishly well-evolved devilish creature in Alien: Romulus. I mean the true villain we can all unite against – corporate greed. 
In slapping a covetous smile onto a round-bellied business henchman or a robotic tone onto a droid programmed to maximize company profit, these films build up and tear down bad guys in perhaps the only way that can satisfy all Americans in an election year. Heck, maybe if we spend more time hanging out at the movies, we just might realize we have more in common than we think.
SpecialK Verdict: See Twisters and Alien: Romulus in the biggest, most packed theaters you can find, surrender yourself to some truly artful filmmaking, and sink back into your seat to absorb two classic summer moviegoing experiences. You won’t regret it.
Twisters is in theaters now, and Alien: Romulus opens in theaters Friday, August 16.
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