There’s no doubt about it: Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus is (almost) exactly the movie I wanted. While it can be derivative, there’s enough originality here to make it a worthy addition to the Alien universe. It’s not just a welcome return to form for a film series that has lain chiefly dormant since 2017 – it genuinely breathes new life into the franchise.
Alien: Romulus is like a greatest hit playlist of the Alien franchise. Shadowy corporations, devious synthetics, repulsive aliens killing people in claustrophobic spaceships – Romulus delivers in spades. By doing so, it feels like this movie is confined to what is already standard for this franchise, unlike the profoundly ambitious (albeit messy) Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. There is an undeniable lack of originality to its premise: a group of characters being picked off one by one in a space station. It’s hard to forgive when nearly every other movie in this series has somewhat replicated this premise.
However, Romulus rarely lets this drag it down – it takes what you know and completely reinvents and recontextualizes it. There’s also an effort to execute better concepts that failed in previous Alien movies.
This movie wants to show you what you know and love through a different and refined lens.
Every sequence in this film feels inventive, and you can feel a real commitment to entertain and surprise the audience. There are, however, a few too many nods to previous films and “fanservice moments” that may either delight you or completely break your immersion.
The story here isn’t extraordinary, but it’s serviceable. It isn’t thematically empty either, and there’s a lot to engage with if you so desire. Even though this movie primarily exists to resurrect the Alien franchise and take audiences on a cosmic thrill-ride, its narrative of young adults trying to build a life of their own away from their corporate overlords (and freakish extraterrestrial threats) possesses sufficient emotional weight. Romulus succeeds at tying a number of the previous films together while further expanding the universe, but knowledge of those films isn’t essential to enjoying this movie. It also excels at setting up or foreshadowing several plot points early on and then providing a satisfying and unexpected payoff for said setup.
Replacing the usual cast of experienced scientists, navigators, and soldiers with a younger, more vulnerable cast is an excellent way to bring back some of the tension.
I especially appreciate that this movie does not treat its younger characters as stupid teens from an 80s slasher.
They’re bright and manage to make good decisions under extreme pressure, but they’re still inexperienced and out of their depth. However, they aren’t exciting, and a few feel like they’re just in the movie to die. Their dialogue is often generic and stilted, and the performances did not feel particularly special either. The exception here is Andy, played by David Jonsson, the best-written and performed character in the movie. His relationship with Rain, his adoptive sister played by Cailee Spaeny, is the film’s emotional crux, and I found myself rooting for them the whole time.
Álvarez’s unrelenting style of direction does wonders for this film’s pacing, as it quickly moves from one brutally intense set piece to the next. This movie continuously builds tension and raises the stakes, and it refuses to ease off or undercut the intensity.
There’s an engaging mix of horror and action, somewhere between Alien and Aliens.
The aliens are a threat, but our characters aren’t entirely helpless. The film isn’t just a back-and-forth of running from and searching for the Xenomorph – it’s a series of cleverly built-up and taut set pieces where our characters have to sneak and fight their way to their own goals. The horror is also well crafted: aside from the usual gore and body horror, it amps up the strange, sexual horror of the previous films. There’s a feeling of seeing something you’re not supposed to, and while it may not immediately scare you, it can most certainly unsettle you.
he Alien franchise is no stranger to beautiful imagery, and this movie does not shy away from that. The magnificent shots of cosmic beauty juxtaposed with the slimy and oppressive interiors of the spaceship make this film feel special.
From a technical standpoint, this movie is excellent. Everything comes together to create a truly immersive experience. The creatures and gore are done through spectacular (and sufficiently disgusting) practical effects. Everything feels alive, and any injuries the characters receive feel genuinely visceral. The interiors are faithfully retro-futuristic and claustrophobic, just like the ones from Alien and Alien: Isolation.
The audio is excellent, too, from the satisfying beeping of retro technology to the creepy skittering of Facehuggers. The only technical failure of this movie is their attempt to bring back an iconic actor from a previous movie using CGI, as it just doesn’t look good. It’s incredibly frustrating when bringing back this actor could’ve been very easily avoided, especially due to the replaceable nature of his character, and we could’ve avoided witnessing some terrible effects.
There’s been some discussion of the ending, which has proven to be quite divisive. I enjoyed it, even though I found it to be somewhat predictable. Your enjoyment of it may boil down to how much you dislike ideas from previous movies.
Ultimately, I couldn’t bring myself to dislike Alien: Romulus. It’s undeniably derivative but also an honest, well-crafted, and often successful attempt to make the classic tropes feel fresh while bringing the series back for a new audience. It’s a classic Alien movie that not only tries to respect and build upon what came before but also offers some neat and creepy little ideas of its own. It’s one of the best action-horror blockbusters in years, and I highly recommend it to new and old fans alike.