Alien: Romulus (2024) 20th Century/Sci-Fi-Horror RT: 119 minutes Rated R (bloody violent content and language) Director: Fede Alvarez Screenplay: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues Music: Benjamin Wallfisch Cinematography: Galo Olivares Release date: August 16, 2024 (US) Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu.
Rating: ***
First things first, you probably want to know where Alien: Romulus fits into the Alien timeline if you don’t already know. The events of this seventh installment of the series take place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). While considered a stand-alone sequel, there is a major connection to the first film that can’t be ignored. I won’t say what it is, but it’s sure to be the subject of debate come Monday. That’s all I’ll say on the subject.
I recently rewatched all of the Alien films including the non-fave AvP ones. It was only my second time seeing the previous installment Alien: Covenant. I remember liking it when it came out, but I didn’t care for it this time. It has a lot of deficiencies like the bad VFX created by an outfit rather than actual artists and a lame heroine who’s not even a pale imitation of Ellen Ripley. It doesn’t even feel like a real Alien movie with Danny McBride and James Franco in the cast. I prayed hard to the movie gods that Alien: Romulus would be better. Apparently, they heard and heeded my prayers. It’s a good movie.
Director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) doesn’t let Alien: Romulus get weighed down by the weighty philosophical matters explored in the previous two movies- Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017)- by Ridley Scott. Instead, he goes back to basics with a plot involving a group of people who come face-to-face hugger with Xenomorphs in a derelict space station. They’re there to scavenge cryostasis chambers for an unauthorized trip from the mining colony planet they involuntarily call home.
Rain Carradine (Spaeny, Priscilla), the heroine of this story, wants nothing more from life than to leave her hellhole home for greener pastures on Yvaga, a paradise planet that promises a better life. She thinks she’s racked up enough credits to get the necessary papers, but Weyland-Yutani changed the terms of her contract without her knowledge. She’s stuck on this rock for another several years. Or maybe not.
Rain hooks up with a group of friends- ex-boyfriend Tyler (Renaux, Shadow and Bone), his pregnant sister Kay (Merced, Madame Web), his cousin Bjorn (Fearn, Back to Black) and his girlfriend, pilot Navarro (newbie Wu)- who tell her about the derelict spacecraft just floating around up there. The plan is simple; go in, take what they need and get out of Dodge. Unfortunately, it’s not actually that easy. The craft, actually a space station, might be abandoned, but it’s not unoccupied. They find this out after they make entry. They spend the rest of the film trying to fight their way out.
Now what do all Alien movies have in common? What haven’t I mentioned thus far? Did you guess synthetics (i.e. humanoid robots)? If so, that is correctamundo! Of course, Alien: Romulus has one. His name is Andy (Jonsson, Industry) and he belongs to Rain. He’s like her brother. His one directive is to look after Rain. He’s an essential part of the team because he’s the only one who can communicate with the ship’s computers. It’s a safe bet he’ll malfunction at some point.
I harbored some doubts about Alien: Romulus because of its August release date. It’s typically a time of doldrums with folks getting in those last weekends at the shore before Labor Day. Studios know this and use these weeks as a dumping ground for films they don’t have a lot of confidence in. Now I can’t say for sure what fate awaits Alien: Romulus at the box office. What I can say is that Alvarez breathes life back into a franchise in danger of going extinct. He doesn’t do anything new or original which is precisely the point. He delivers a good, old-fashioned sci-fi-horror made for the sole purpose of thrilling audiences. Is it as great as Aliens? NO, not by a long shot. To be fair, James Cameron set the bar impossibly high with his 1986 sequel. I don’t think anybody could surmount it.
Getting back to the business at hand, Alien: Romulus is mighty impressive on a visual level. The animatronic alien effects look incredible. I’m glad to see Alvarez retained the original creature design by H.R. Giger. It’s a welcome return to form after the generic CGI that helped sink the previous film. The cinematography by Galo Olivares gives the film a claustrophobic feel with the hand-held camerawork inside the space station. The production design by Naaman Marshall is also quite good. The sets, be it inside the space station or down on the mining planet, give the movie a realistic feel. There’s none of the shine and sheen of Star Wars or Marvel.
Spaeny, who I still say was robbed of an Oscar nomination for her outstanding lead performance in last year’s Priscilla Presley biopic, does a good job in the lead. She’s pretty bad ass. In fact, she comes the closest to recapturing the spirit of Sigourney Weaver. Jonsson has some interesting moments as Andy, a synthetic questioning his true purpose after the company gets involved with his programming. I wish they gave Merced more to do. If I’m being completely honest, I would have loved to see her take the lead in Alien: Romulus. She definitely has the stuff of an action heroine.
Don’t be put off by its late summer arrival. Alien: Romulus is a good popcorn flick. It’s meant to be watched at the cinema with a crowd. It’s a fun ride through sci-fi-horror territory with a generous dash of action and a completely bonkers ending. It’s the Alien movie we’ve been waiting a long time for. Now go and enjoy.
