Review: Alien - Romulus
Review: Alien - Romulus
In Space, No One Can Hear You.
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Alien: Romulus. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face-to-face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
QUICK REVIEW
Like Jurassic Park and the original Star Wars trilogy, the Alien franchise has that peculiar circumstance of having its original (and in its case, its sequel) be considered a masterpiece in blockbuster filmmaking - only for all the various sequels and spin-offs afterwards to have a wide range of subjective quality and divisive reception from both critics and audiences.
Its a franchise that gave us what I consider to be two A+ sci-fi creature features in Alien and Aliens; but has also given us the woeful Alien 3, Alien VS Predator: Requiem, and the good but not great Alien: Resurrection, Alien VS Predator, Prometheus, or Alien: Covenant. And the nature of the divisive reviews for those movies post-Aliens speaks in the fact that you the reader likely had an objection to where I listed certain chapters of the franchise, just now. You probably think Alien 3 deserves better or that Alien: Resurrection is garbage or you’d switch around your personal ranking for the two Alien VS Predator spin-offs.
The franchise has found itself needing to find an identity in the last decade. We’ve gotten two films that are supposed to be direct prequels to the first two movies, and yet it just feels like there hasn’t been much direction for where things are headed for future additions to its catalog. To my surprise the next film for the franchise takes place between the two masterpieces that are the original two, presented as a sort-of legacy sequel or “requel” and a return to the roots of the series being a sci-fi creature-feature horror offering.
This is honestly where I wanted the franchise to go. While I appreciate the effort at building lore with the two prequel films, and I’m actually open to seeing Ridley Scott try to finish that trilogy out, it’s the straight-up horror atmosphere of the first two (and to some extent of the first AVP film) that I like the most. The Xenomorphs, to me, are the most terrifying villains in all film history. They are designed in such a way that if I ever found myself in a room with one I’d start considering myself already dead. I came face-to-face with animatronics of them for the AVP maze, during a Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios: Orlando, and even the fake ones being in my face caused an existential crisis.
Directed by the man who gave us the “requel” of Evil Dead back in 2013 (Which incidentally I also went through a Halloween-themed event maze of that property), Fede Alvarez, this is a movie that keeps it simple - a couple of poor souls pick the wrong place to park themselves in space and come face-to-face with the deadliest creature in film history. Bad luck occurs, close calls happen, people die, and the creature makes you look over your shoulder in your seat every time it shows up.
The ensemble in here does a good job with their material given, but the heart of the movie is the relationship between Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson). Both are easily the best part of the non-Alien characters and the ones you root for the most. Their brother-sister dynamic with a twist (Rain is human, Andy is one of those pesky synthetics) is the anchor of the movie. While admittedly the writing of the side characters is thin, their relationship elevates the writing and makes the stakes count whenever they’re bond is tested.
The Xenomorphs are truly terrifying as always and they’re used to good effect. Never having them hog too much of the screen time, and making it count every time they showed up. I was a tad underwhelmed by the big finale’s big threat, I think we’ve seen much more terrifying versions of the Xenomorph than the one Alvares decided to present in this, but overall the care put to the creature design, the scenes for the Xenomorphs, and protecting the lore around them all worked enough for me.
The visual effects are great and help give us some amazing shots in space, the production design is top notch in capturing the essence of a space station in the same vein as the original, and the sound and scoring are well done. From a technical standpoint this is easily the best looking and atmospheric Alien film in quite some time.
That said I do have to address an elephant in the room. This movie has received a lot of comparisons to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World; two films that play more as tributes to the original than trying too hard to do something new. I would say those comparisons are fair. This is definitely a “requel” that tries to be a tribute to the 1979 original in the way it’s structured from start to finish. There’s even some fan service moments that hint to several films in the franchise. That’s going to bother some folks and make them feel the movie is being too lazy. As someone who considers JW one of the best films of 2015 and considers ‘Force Awakens’ the best in the sequel trilogy, that is not a knock on this movie for me. I’ll allow it to be a tribute to the original as long as it’s trying to set up potential future installments that continue the atmosphere that this movie brings.
If you ask me, this is what I want from the Alien franchise. I want full blown sci-fi horror that puts me in a good old-fashioned survival creature-feature that will scare me and have me worrying for our protagonists. I didn’t have “fun” with this movie, because I shouldn’t be. I should be terrified out of my wits and breathing a sigh of relief when the danger is overcomed. If it has to be a tribute to the original film to achieve that, then so be it. This, to me, is the best film of the series since the original two. I give Alien: Romulus an A-, meaning my months-long streak of no A-tier 2024 reviews has finally ended. It truly has been (so far) the year for the big IP blockbuster sequel.
INITIAL GRADING
