I think that’s the fun of the movie. It’s not trying to recapture the suspense or tension of the original. It’s a natural evolution in a world of monsters. In the first movie, the crew are just people trying to survive on a ship in space with a terrifying novel threat. Any other monster movie sequel, they find new victims and run it back, but the characters in Aliens react as one should to a new threat. Gear up and go at them with soldiers and weapons.

It’s still terrifying because you and they know what lurks in the wet shadows. They are prepared to fight it which is why it’s an action movie, but it’s still very much an Alien sequel.

The same could be said about terminator 2

That’s one of the reasons it’s so good. Alien is perfect space horror. Aliens doesn’t try to match it but tells a different kind of story with some of the same characters.

Which (IMHO) is the reason it works so well. The first movie can’t be topped because we’ve seen the Alien and the tension can’t be repeated (see: the later movies which try this same formula and fail). Aliens takes that and ramps it up in a different way to make the desperation of escaping with firepower on your side still nerve wracking!

The 3rd installment also takes a new twist and different approach but doesn’t succeed as well (I still found it enjoyable, and rewatch from time to time.

Everything since then has been a cash grab of hot garbage.

You don’t have the fear of the Alien and the tension from Ripley without the first movie… in my view, but yes it is a totally didn’t feeling movie otherwise.

The first film was a lot of set-up that payed off in part 2.