Released: 16th August 2024
Length: 119 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Director: Fede Álvarez
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu
Since 1979, the Alien series has stood as one of the most well known and venerable efforts in science fiction with many ups and downs through the decades. Seven years on from the last major release, Alien Romulus is putting aside the prequel threads and picking up with a new director. For the most part, it does succeed at continuing the franchise.
Set in between Alien and Aliens, we follow a group of young colonists who seek an escape from their oppressive lives on a mining planet. The orphan Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android companion Andy (David Jonsson) group up with Rain’s ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) for a salvage operation. Orbiting above their lightless home is the titular space station with advanced technology that can take them to a new destination. Little do they know that the facility holds a deadly secret, one recovered from the wreckage of the Nostromo by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Romulus doesn’t stray too far from the formula; we have a gradual build-up at the start and once the group enters the upper atmosphere, the scares are laid on thick with a combination of Alien and Aliens serving as the main inspiration. Surprisingly, we also get a slice of Alien Resurrection with a moment that Romulus delivers to a much higher standard. The film goes for a mix of old and new, but ends up tipping towards the former. We do see some new expansions to the alien life-cycle and behaviour, but many plot beats are well-trodden for the franchise; futuristic weapons, fighting through the Xenomorph hive and an unexpected surprise in the climax have been included many times before. The film reuses many lines from previous entries and this does become distracting. It needed more fresh ideas to match its superior predecessors.
Alien Romulus features six younger actors who all deliver serviceable performances. The film dodges weak dialogue and leans into a gritty and realistic tone. Cailee Spaeny is a good lead, conveying a great deal of fear and determination, but once again it’s the android who is the most interesting character of the bunch. Using a miniature disc drive, Andy swaps between the intelligence of an innocent child one moment and a highly efficient corporate model the next. David Jonsson does a great job portraying the two sides. Watching his changing dynamic with the humans results is fully in tune with the story and the machinations of Weyland-Yutani that constantly put obstacles in the way. Despite a reasonable script, many of the human characters aren’t very deep and we don’t have much time to get attached to them. This applies to Tyler’s pregnant sister Kay (Isabela Merced) who doesn’t grow beyond her main trait and Kay’s cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn) who doesn’t receive much screen-time. Their acting serves the story well, but they do fall short when it comes to audience investment.
Thanks to the keen eye of Fede Alvarez and cinematographer Galo Olivares, Romulus looks stunning. The retro-futuristic style from 1979 is captured beautifully before being placed against some vast celestial backdrops. The crumbling setting is both claustrophobic and foreboding with some superb lighting that really sucks you in. The aliens themselves also look great and are animated well; when the facehuggers break out in the early going, it’s a skin-crawling sequence. The main alien is performed by Trevor Newlin, but the film makes a hefty use of computer-generated effects that do blend well with the setting; this organism remains as frightening as ever. You’ll find a throwback to an older android which is presented to a high standard. The soundtrack from Benjamin Wallfisch is far more echoing than previous entries while still ramping up the intensity at desperate moments.
It’s not quite the smash hit many fans were hoping for, but Alien Romulus does make an impression. It gets all the important bits right with some solid direction to boot. An overly-referential narrative and lesser characters hold it back from greatness; nevertheless, this is still a very engaging and creepy production that will entertain any fan of sci-fi horror.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars (Good)
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