Yes, Klingons as aliens was exciting.I remember when the first Disco trailers came out and everyone whispered excitedly in the press and online about the new aliens that looked genuinely alien.
This is more pedestrian. Workable, but hardly exciting.
Well put.I view the continued regression of the Klingons as a sort of microcosm meta-commentary on the current state and trend of the franchise. That is the continued stagnation of fresh artistic license in favor of continued promotion of stale familiarity, all in the name of appeasing a dwindling fan base.