droid

Those questions aside, if the addition works at all in “Alien: Romulus,” it’s because they aren’t aiming for realism with this mangled droid.

In writer-director Eli Roth’s atrociously uninspired sci-fi fantasy escapade “Borderlands,” Claptrap, an acerbic droid voiced by Jack Black, calls to mind the humor of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” the parody TV show in which a group of sentient robots comment on unintentionally risible B-movies.

However, this argument is harder won in the case of the Acklay, the Nexus, and the Reek, the three alien creatures Padme Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-wan are made to square off against in an arena on the planet Geonosis after being captured at a droid factory.

The motion simulator lingers for a few seconds, and our makeshift animatronic captain, the golden droid C-3PO, turns to face riders.

Tano, meanwhile, arrives like an old friend who knows C-3PO and fellow droid R2D2.