Seeing as we’re never going to see the conclusion of the (more superior) Prometheus narrative, I guess a Fede Alvarez-directed film is a fine substitute. Set between Alien & Aliens, Alien: Romulus follows a crew of space colonists scavenging a derelict space station when they come face to face with the perfect organism.
My first thought while watching this movie is how Fede Alvarez’s style of horror is tailor made for the Alien franchise, so this pairing is a no-brainer. In his attempt to take the franchise back to its roots, he makes full use of tight shots and smaller sets to emulate the claustrophobic terror that Ripley experienced. He really channels that old school Alien vibe and delivers the most tense, claustrophobic content of the franchise since the original. First thing’s first – the opening act of this film is some of the best horror content in the franchise… truly phenomenal. After about 30-40 minutes of this movie I was blown away – the tension is crisp, the slow-moving narrative is riveting and the horror itself is spine-chilling. All the while, there’s lots of great character moments with our two leads Rain (Cailee Spaeny) an Andy (David Jonsson) to get us caring about the story. Everything in this opening had me feeling like we were in store for something that would rival the brilliance of Prometheus. Now, while the rest of the movie doesn’t quite hit that mark, it remains thrilling right through to the closing credits.
The second act still nails a lot of the horror and continues with the claustrophobic feel, but it’s not quite as tightly woven. Some of the best individual scenes are in this second act, especially concerning the Xenomorph, so it has that going for it. However, it does lose some its focus on character growth – there’s great moments with Rain and Andy, but the rest of the crew become cannon fodder (as expected). All in all, the second act retains sporadic thrills and remains exciting right through. The final act is the one that will divide some viewers – it is undoubtedly the weakest act of the three, but I still found it quite brilliant and rewarding. It gets a little chaotic in classic Alien fashion, straying slightly from the horror vibe in favour of a more action-oriented ending. To be clear, it’s still a thrilling act and it does a lot of really neat things with Alien lore and mythology, the only downside is that it’s a far cry from the tight horror focus of the opening.
While this is a sequel to Alien, it’s also a love letter to the franchise and especially that original film. Fede Alvarez has nailed the dirty 70s tech aesthetic of Alien to a tee – the space station that much of the film takes place on emulates the look and feel of the USCSS Nostromo. The environments and computer systems feel pleasantly familiar, and even the time we spend on a planet surface is reminiscent of that same vibe. On top of the wonderful set design is the use of practical aliens as oppose to CGI. It’s clear where models, puppets and actors are used, and it just makes those scenes so much more terrifying and impactful than those that just go the CGI route. Also speaking of paying homage to the Alien franchise, there’s a number of iconic quotes that are used here in the same way that “I have a bad feeling about this” is used in Star Wars. Most of them work, some of them are silly, but it’s not something that helps or hinders the film either way.
By far the greatest performance in this film is that of David Jonsson as Andy, this film’s Synthetic. Jonsson is phenomenal across this entire film – he packs so much emotion in performance that he comes across as more human than the actual human characters in here. What sets his performance apart from the rest are the subtleties he injects into the role – small glances, motions and behaviours that give you more of an insight into who he is than simple dialogue would. It’s a very layered role, one which demands a lot of the actor, and Jonsson delivers. His chemistry with Cailee Spaeny is one of the film’s highlights, and she plays a strong lead who does a lot of the heavy lifting. She’s a likeable protagonist with a strong moral compass, one of the character’s best qualities, and is believable in every situation she finds herself in. From the tense action to small character beats, Spaeny nails it all and is fun to follow. Outside of those two, no one else makes a huge impact. The rest of the characters are pretty one-note, so the actors don’t have much room to really show off what they can do.
In the end, Alien: Romulus is a fantastic return for the Alien franchise, taking it back to its horror roots and twisting it through the lens of Fede Alvarez’s style of horror. It’s packed with claustrophobic thrills, plenty of blood and tonnes of Xenomorph action, ensuring it remains gripping and entertaining the whole way through. If you’re new to the franchise, you can jump into this film without any prior knowledge required. However if you’re a long-time fan, it does a lot with the existing lore and includes callbacks that are sure to get you excited. If the next Alien film happens to be a sequel to this, I’ll be more than excited.
8.5/10
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