“Alien: Romulus”
R/Sci-Fi/Horror/119 Mins
Directed by: Fede Álverez
Written by: Fede Álverez & Rodo Sayagues
Starring: Cailee Spaeny (“Civil War”), David Jonsson (“Industry”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“Turtles All the Way Down”), Spike Fearn (“Back to Black”), Aileen Wu (“Skin”)
Review: After Fede Álvarez’s previous films, “Evil Dead (2013)” and “Don’t Breathe”, he cemented himself as one of the best voices in horror working today. I am a huge fan of his work and I’m an even bigger fan of the Alien franchise. If anyone could replicate the same tense, isolated and chilling atmosphere of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic, it is Fede. So when it was announced that his next film was an entry in this massive franchise, it shot up to the top of the list of my most anticipated films of the year. Did he deliver? Sort of…
“Alien: Romulus” takes place in between “Alien (1979)” & “Aliens (1986)” and it centers on a group of young space colonists going on a dangerous mission on a defunct space station to find an object that can help give them a better life. In true “Alien” fashion, things don’t go as planned and there also happens to be Facehuggers & Xenomorphs running around the giant station.
What I loved about this film was the practical effects and a set design that remains in the same style of the original film. It’s a film in a franchise that is set hundreds of years into the future but instead of super high tech gadgets and ships, it mimics the technical limitations they had during the 1979 production of “Alien.” Unlike the previous films, “Prometheus” (loved it) “Covenant” (really enjoyed) which featured heavy CGI with their Xenomorphs, Facehuggers and Engineers, Fede and co. brought it back to basics with animatronic robots bringing these icons to life. This added to the tension when they’re on screen because they look so real and terrifying. It also is credited to Fede’s talent who is a master when it comes to crafting suspense and seat-gripping-inducing set pieces (favorite scene would involve acid blood and zero gravity.)
Another strong aspect is the characters, primarily Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android half-brother Andy (David Jonsson). Their dynamic and their character arcs bring the most emotions out of the film due to their fantastic performances and are one of the brighter spots in the narrative. The other actors do a good job playing their parts with the limited backstory they are given. It’s enough to care about them when the bodies start dropping.
The biggest issue I had, unfortunately, was the way the story played out. As the film progressed, I felt my interest in the story start to wane and by the time a BIG swing occurs in the final act, it had just about lost me. I won’t divulge due to spoilers, but it’s a decision that just did not work for me at all. Another issue was the use of a character from a previous entry. No names or descriptions but what could have been a nice small cameo/callback turns into essentially an antagonist alongside the aliens. This would have been somewhat fine if it wasn’t for the horrible CGI used to bring this character to life. There’s that issue of “uncanny valley” where it looked rubbery and fake and you just wished they would move on from the character. Like this character and the use of an iconic line from “Aliens”, it felt a little contrived. Unlike 2022’s “Prey”, which revived the “Predator” series, that film was a complete original story that (aside from a prop from the second film) set itself apart from what came before while delivering what fans loved from the franchise. This film has an original story but the connections to what came before felt too heavy handed.
While it is intense and terrifying at times, I couldn’t help but leave “Alien: Romulus” feeling very disappointed. It’s a shame because I had such high hopes for this film and from this filmmaker, nonetheless. I am curious to see where the story goes if a sequel is made, however, my expectations would be more ambivalent going forward.
Score: 5.5/10
“Alien: Romulus” is in theaters starting August 16th.
