So, I am the weirdo that really enjoys basically all the Alien movies – not counting the Alien Vs Predator ones, I have not seen them in a while, and I don’t remember a thing, if I’m being completely honest here, which already puts me in an interesting position when it comes to this new installment Alien: Romulus. Directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the film with his usual collaborator Rodo Sayagues, the film is a sort of legacy sequel, sort of love letter, sort of “let’s do all the greatest hits, and give the franchise a good new starting point,” which does separate it from all the other movies up until this point.
Story wise, it’s not unlike Álvarez’s Evil Dead or Don’t Breathe, we have a set of youngsters who are working on a mining colony, desperate for some semblance of freedom from the clutches of the Weyland-Yutani corporation. They decide to sneak away to an abandoned space station to steal some potentially functioning cryonic chambers that they can use to put themselves to sleep for their travels to a hopefully more peaceful planet where they can start a new life. Unfortunately, things escalate quickly when the job isn’t as easy as it seems, as they face the threat of a mysterious alien being that begins to hunt them down.
This is very much a back-to-basics movie, putting us squarely back to the “haunted house in space” formula of the original Alien, but of course, as many legacy sequels go these days, sprinkled with iconography and lore taken from pretty much every installment of the franchise. It’s very clear that the filmmakers really adore this series, and are more than happy to take ideas and imagery from the films that even most audiences weren’t too fond of. For the less forgiving, this might be a sticking point, a sign of a lack of creativity, an obvious studio and franchise friendly move that doesn’t do anything interesting for the series.
I might have had those feelings too…if it weren’t for the fact that this was just a really well executed thrill ride. It really shows the difference between how I would imagine other filmmakers would tackle this versus Fede Álvarez, who more or less takes a similar approach to this as he did with his Evil Dead revival. Get those iconic images on screen, but with just enough of a twist that allows you to do your own thing while having a strong fundamental understanding of why the original worked as well as it did and stood the test of time. Plus, you have a strong emphasis on utilizing sets, practical effects – even if there is some extensive VFX work, which is a very popular move these days after seeing countless blockbusters with subpar visual effects and weightless green screen work.
The film nails the bleak nature of this franchise’s universe very quickly as we spend time on this hellish mining colony where people are forced to work under harsh conditions. It’s so bleak the planet doesn’t even have any sunlight, which has been mentioned several times by the characters as a symbol of hope, of better things to come. But naturally, they head into more darkness, finding themselves maneuvering through the shadowy halls of the space station where they have to escape countless face-huggers throwing themselves at their faces or xenomorphs lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. I don’t think there even is a shot where we see the creature in a full, bright view.
Álvarez has proven himself to be a solid filmmaker when it comes to two things in particular, building tension and unleashing some truly gnarly bodily harm upon his characters. The film gets quite bloody and characters are taken out relatively quick, and you never know if some will stick around for long. At least, aside from our two leads, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic friend Andy (David Jonsson). The skills from a filmmaking standpoint do ultimately help the film since it structurally feels closer to a theme park ride more than anything else, the abandoned station even is broken into two halves – the Romulus and Remus, and the Romulus is basically the original Alien vibe, while the Remus section is more like Aliens. I used to work at this virtual reality experience where people would walk through these games and interact with the world, and this movie did feel like someone adapting one of these games.
The performances are pretty strong here. You have a pretty solid collection of young actors. Cailee Spaeny obviously has proven to be a very talented performer these past few years, and she’s a great follow up to someone like Ripley, a lowly nobody in a cruel universe who will do whatever it takes to survive. David Jonsson is quite compelling, bringing a different kind of dynamic than what we’ve seen with the androids in these movies. It feels oddly on-the-spectrum-coded, which is a fascinating choice for a character type that has typically been hyper competent in these films. I’m reminded of how a lot of folks who have disabilities are often seen as the most disposable in society, and here you have a film where Spaeny’s character goes out of her way to look out for Andy when she can because he is worthy of being saved, he doesn’t have to be just another number for the body count. And you also have commendable work from the likes of Isabela Merced – whose character trajectory is hilariously cruel, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.
Maybe I’m stretching a bit with that. Like I said, this script doesn’t really have a ton of meat on its bones, I’m just talking about the superficial plot beats here. Every other department is really working on the top of their game, from the actors to the VFX team. Though there is one specific character from an earlier film – who I won’t reveal – that is brought back with heavy VFX use, which I have not the best feelings on, mostly because I found it a little distracting, and the closest the film gets to being really uninspired, using all the worst tendencies of a legacy sequel, which it had mostly avoided up until that point. But I don’t think it’s in the film enough to detract from my overall experience. I was thoroughly compelled by the film. It’s beautifully made, Benjamin Wallfisch’s score provides a really pulsating undercurrent that keeps the suspense going, and cleverly utilizing motifs from many previous installments of the franchise. I think it does stand out in its own way among the others in the series, and there’s definitely space for a back-to-basics exercise like this. While I still wish we could have at least one more prequel to close off the David saga following Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, I still think Alien: Romulus proves there’s really not a whole lot you can do wrong when you’re playing around with one of cinema’s most iconic monsters.
Alien: Romulus is now out in theaters.
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