'Alien: Romulus' Movie Review
- Details
- Category: New Series and Movie Reviews
- Published: Friday, 16 August 2024 23:45
- Written by Lupe R Haas
Fede Alvarez doesn’t reinvent the ALIEN franchise wheel in ALIEN: ROMULUS but he does bring a fresh take to the space monster until Act III when it veers into familiar territory that kills the early buzz.
A group of young colonizers board an abandoned space station to steal Cryosleep pods and come face to face with a terrifying threat.
ALIEN: ROMULUS stars Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced (TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT), Archie Renaux (Upgraded), David Jonsson, Aileen Wu, and Spike Fearn (AFTERSUN).
When we first meet the young characters, they live in a thriving Weyland-Yutani Corporation mining colony similar to the abandoned LV-426 colony in James Cameron’s ALIENS. Life on that planet isn't ideal with the residents largely serving as indentured servants to the company. The introduction to this never-before-seen life is the most interesting aspect of ROMULUS in addition to meeting Rain (Spaeny) and her love for her synthetic adopted brother, Andy (Jonsson).
Then the action moves to an abandoned space station, and the setting is super creepy. The ghost ship serves as a haunted house of sorts. Alvarez approaches the scares much like his previous movies, EVIL DEAD and the breakout hit, DON’T BREATHE. The alien creatures stock their prey rather than stumble upon it like in Ridley Scott’s ALIEN.
Alvarez makes great use of the face huggers and the horror of having their tails jammed down the victim’s throats. No other ALIEN movie has approached it that way although the ALIENS scene with Ripley and Newt did a great job of it. Unfortunately, the animatronic face huggers were obvious at times in ALIEN: ROMULUS.
ALIEN: ROMULUS better serves those not overly familiar with the franchise. ALIEN fans are savvy to the creatures and the mythology so the scares don’t quite land as unique. Or perhaps the trailer spoiled two of the most intense scenes. One of the coolest action sequences involved xenomorphs in zero gravity.
Spaeny and Jonsson’s characters stand out and drive the relatability because of their emotional connection to each other as siblings. Their costars are not given good enough material to find them interesting which is a waste for someone like Isabel Merced who usually shines in her roles.
The production design harkens back to both Scott and Cameron’s ALIEN movies. It’s a world we recognize so there’s not much new world-building except for the brief glance at an active mining colony. What’s different is the cinematography by Galo Olivares. The lighting accentuates the industrial design and intensifies the action when the xenomorph’s translucent green blood is floating around in zero gravity.
Naturally, the filmmaker borrows elements from the original film and its sequel. There’s tons of fan service and a direct quote from ALIENS is out of place. Again the intensity is provided by the use of a ticking time bomb.
ROMULUS falls apart in the last act when it veers into familiar territory. The decision to introduce a new element into the story is baffling when ALIEN: RESURRECTION had already gone that route, and ruined the experience. I’d love to hear the reason for that choice from Alvarez and his cowriter Rodo Sayagues.
ALIEN: ROMULUS is filled with tons of plot holes. When we meet Rain, she’s told she can’t leave the planet until she fulfills her obligation to the company. Then Rain and the gang take off in their ship without any resistance from any authority. They board an abandoned Weyland-Yutani space station filled with valuable equipment left behind along with a scientific discovery. Given our knowledge of the company from the other movies, it’s not plausible that the greedy corporation would’ve sacrificed years of experiments.
ALIEN: ROMULUS works as a stand-alone movie, and is probably a better experience if you come in cold, without any knowledge of the franchise. ALIEN fans bring in too much baggage and rarely can we be satisfied.
ALIEN: ROMULUS is now playing in movie theaters.