The MickeyBlog Review: ‘Alien: Romulus’
When Alien debuted in theaters in 1979, it was a horror film.
Legendary director Ridley Scott embraced the science fiction maxim that in space, no one can hear you scream.
20th Century Fox
And scream those poor space crew members did. They learned the hard way that Xenomorphs view humans as nesting pods.
Then, in 1984, James Cameron fundamentally altered the perception of Aliens, reinventing it as an action film.
Alien vs. Predator
Since then, titles like Alien vs. Predator have embraced the notion that big guns and shootouts matter more than terror.
With Alien: Romulus, director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe) attempts to restore the franchise to its origins. Does it work?
IMDB
Here’s my review of Alien: Romulus, a claustrophobic horror film where, thanks to the magic of IMAX, you can hear everyone scream.
About Alien: Romulus
Fox
I’m someone who cares about story, and I’m also invested in Alien as a franchise.
For instance, I’ve watched Prometheus many times and often use it to test the picture quality of new televisions. The movie’s gorgeous.
Fox
Circling back to Alien, I firmly believe it holds up better than Aliens, which is…kinda cheesy if you watch it now.
As for Alien: Covenant, I may have written the most hostile review on the internet for it. So, I’m all for a reboot.
IMDB
Thankfully, Alien: Romulus qualifies as Alien fan fiction as much as anything else.
If you loved the Ridley Scott film, you’ll admire all the respectful echoes of it permeating throughout the 2024 release.
20th Century Fox
From the start, the setting establishes the tone of the film. A spaceship looks like a speck of dust on the horizon.
That’s an accurate reflection of scale, one that I’ve found it’s best not to dwell on often.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
The premise here is that a thoroughly disposable cast of characters faces strong odds of a xenomorph disposing of them.
People WILL die, and we know that. It’s part of why we’re watching.
Of course, all of it falls apart if nobody cares about the characters.
Meet the Victims
Photo: 20th Century Fox
I’m not spoiling anything by telling you that some elements of this plot employ the Final Girl horror trope.
Then again, so do Alien and Aliens. Yes, there are other characters, but most people remember only one name: Ripley.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
We meet a similarly fierce heroine here, Rain, and she is gonna see some stuff.
Before then, we witness her relationship with her “brother,” a malfunctioning android named Andy.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
From the beginning, the story manipulates the viewer into rooting for Rain as it highlights her protective nature with Andy.
The two of them are trying to depart a planet that the light of day never touches.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Alas, their employer Weyland-Yutani, isn’t letting them go. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Rain seems fated to die in mines, and she knows it. So, when friends offer Rain and Andy a salvage opportunity in space, they agree.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
You can tell where this is going. The abandoned space station proves larger than they’d expected, and their plans fall apart.
One of the sticking points is the reveal of a bunch of alien pods with hatchlings just waiting to become fully grown xenomorphs.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Obviously, at least one of them does…and it’s hungry. That’s terrible news for Rain’s friends, like potential love interest Tyler and his sister, Kay.
Tyler’s jerk cousin, Bjorn, is also there, presumably to be part of the inevitable body count. Also, Bjorn hates androids like Andy.
About the Story
Photo: 20th Century Fox
To the script’s credit, ideas like this aren’t casually mentioned and forgotten. Instead, the plot fits together quite tightly.
Bjorn feels the way he does for a reason, and some of Andy’s actions aren’t as innocent and noble as you might expect.
Photo: Fox
There’s a bit of a homage to Prometheus and the character of David here, but it’s also in remembrance of Ash from Alien.
Frankly, androids have been trouble more often than not in the Alien franchise.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
When something happens to stop Andy from malfunctioning, the question arises of whether the repair will change him. I like that.
Still, most people would watch the film for the tension, the thrills, and the action.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Alien: Romulus follows the same path as Alien, yet it also branches out into the pure action sequences of Aliens at times, too.
At one point in the film, everything goes so wrong that the viewer cannot even decide which terrible thing happening is most important.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
The military term for this, FUBAR, applies, and that’s the crew’s fate. At times, there are NO good decisions.
I quite like that survival sometimes happens due to blind fate rather than intricate plotting. It feels more realistic.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Only a couple of these characters strike me as people who would survive based on their wits.
So, their struggle is more of a survival instinct triggering at opportune times.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
The environment helps with this aspect, as when the camera shows something, you realize it’s about to matter greatly.
In short, Alvarez controls the story through his writing and direction, demonstrating a deft touch for knowing when to go full throttle.
Final Thoughts
IMDB
On the whole, I quite liked Alien: Romulus, but it’s far from a perfect film.
You know that thing some movies do where there’s a natural conclusion, but then the story continues for 30 more minutes?
Photo: Pexel.com
Yeah, this film commits that particular crime, with several false endings and a conclusion that is less satisfying than the natural stopping point, where it doesn’t stop.
Also, as a Resident Evil superfan, I couldn’t but notice two different ideas blatantly stolen from the video games.
One of the showdowns is a direct lift of a memorable boss fight in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 4 Remake.
It wouldn’t have been as noticeable if there hadn’t been the RE4 Remake just last year.
Of course, if you’ve never played the games, you won’t even notice it, but the shamelessness of it distracted me.
Finally, as much as I’ve complimented the writing, it’s a fairly predictable Alien reboot plot.
Resident Evil
Getting from Point A to Point B isn’t the least bit subtle…but it’s the journey, not the destination.
Thankfully, the journey of Alien: Romulus remains tense and claustrophobic from beginning to end.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
I just wish they’d cut at least 15 minutes of additional danger scenes. It got to be too much and thereby distracting.
Overall, I’d give the film a B+. So, it’s good and a solid restart to the Alien franchise.
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