Few franchises have passed through as many hands as the Alien series, and every director who has made an Alien film (except the two AvP movies, but we won’t count those) has gone on to an iconic career: Ridley Scott, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The newest entry, Alien: Romulus, is helmed by someone who has already made a name for himself in the horror genre — Fede Alvarez. While not everything about Alvarez’s take on the series works, it’s exciting to see an Alien movie actually be scary again.
Alien: Romulus Review
Alien: Romulus follows a group of young space colonizers who scavenge an abandoned space outpost hoping to reach freedom, only to encounter the “perfect killing machine,” setting them on a fight for their lives. After James Cameron’s Aliens took the film on a more action-heavy sci-fi route, it’s nice to see Romulus return the franchise to its horror roots.
There’s very little meaning to be found in the story of Alien: Romulus. There are many threads introduced that could have been explored in more depth, from the anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist messaging involving the franchise’s overarching antagonist, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, to an exploration of the ethics of androids and artificial intelligence. These are incredibly hot-button topics that could have been used to make Romulus a much more impactful movie, but Alvarez and co. seem content with allowing this to be a straightforward monster movie, and it’s a very entertaining one at that.
The film centers on the emotional relationship between Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson’s characters. Spaeny’s performance is strong, capturing the same badassery of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley while bringing something emotionally new to the table, while Jonsson continues the franchise’s trend of offering a more impressive performance as an android than the human lead.
The rest of the characters feel disposable, but frankly, they are there for little more purpose than to be prey to the eponymous creature. Isabela Merced and Aileen Wu both have a few scenes in which they shine, but they don’t have much personality. Archie Renaux and Spike Fearn make very little impact in one direction or the other.
Yet even though so much of the movie takes a minimalist approach, the finale takes a preposterous turn, seemingly designed to let Alvarez’s maximalist tendencies run untapped. Alvarez is, by no means, a subtle filmmaker. For most of the runtime, the filmmaker’s stylistic leanings coexist happily with the franchise’s. While its last fifteen minutes are an ambitious misfire, they aren’t bad enough to undermine the genuinely effective creature feature of the first two acts.
Apart from one instance of digital artifice that’s unnecessary and distracting, Alien: Romulus remains steadfastly committed to the style of practical effects that made the 1979 original so iconic in the first place. Many of the Xenomorphs are puppets, and the work with these is impressive. The creature design, combined with the atmosphere Alvarez builds, is enough to ensure that this is the scariest of the franchise since the first.
Romulus is also arguably the franchise’s most violent and goriest film, and it works. The kills are absolutely brutal and will have audiences squirming in their seats, whether or not they are squeamish. Alvarez offers some modernized twists on the classics — like the obligatory Chestburster — along with some gnarly new ideas, keeping the entire film feeling fresh.
If you’re looking at Alien: Romulus as a simple horror movie, it’s quite effective and very enjoyable. The atmosphere is intense, the effects are strong, the kills are satisfying, and — most importantly — it’s fun. Although the character development and lack of thematic depth leave something to be desired, the film is well-crafted and suspenseful enough to earn its place in the franchise.
Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16.
8/10
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