Alien: Romulus

Sure to be a crowdpleaser and produced to perfection this greatest hits album catering to generation Z, doesn't really tread new ground. Don't you dare to be original like 'Prometheus' or bold, like 'Alien: Covenant'. Just give the audience familiarity and play it somewhat safe.

In a world where most new movies coming out from Hollywood are either reboots, remakes or sequels and where new ideas being greenlit are things of the past (unless it can be made on a small budget), we are being flooded with try-to-check-all-boxes movies with several screenwriters and focusgroups attached.

Consider me worried.

The movie had good direction, set, design, etc. Seeing the movie was a good experience in the cinema. But the story was unoriginal and full of fan service. All the material was borrowed from other Alien movies. It was as if someone watched the entire Alien series and noted all the good and memorable parts, and then made a movie. The CGI of a certain character was also horrible, and looked as if someone did on their phone. The iconic Ripley line from one character was cringeworthy. I liked "Prey" and I admire the story for the fact that they did something original. I liked Fede's "Don't Breathe" and went to see it without any prior knowledge about the movie. I wish they had done something original with Romulus, and I feel very disappointed with the lack of originality of the movie. I'll give it 6/10.

At this point in 2024, there are more bad alien movies than good ones. So, something that pays homage to the originals really piqued my interest.

Visually, it's vintage "Alien/s" albeit with modern polish. It looks great, spectacular even, especially the space scenes. The opening scene was perfect.

The main problem with the movie is that there is zero tension, no sense of dread, and it's not scary, except for the last few scenes, which I enjoyed.

The movie tries to force tension and intensity with another plot device on top of the alien-the equivalent of a bomb timer countdown. It doesn't work as it trumps the alien threat, they become inconvenient road blocks.

The facehuggers have been reduced to annoying pests-something you can just bat away.

The aliens are cannon fodder, and the cast just seems to bump into them. I didn't get the sense that they were being hunted. E.g The sentry cannon scene from Aliens, this movie references. But you don't see the aliens dieing in Aliens, you do here which makes them look weak. On a side note this scene also reminded me of the Starwars prison corridor "boring conversation anyway".

Many scenes played out like a QuickTime event in a video game, with characters over-explaining and then narrating their actions: "I'm going to press X to do this." It's as if the audience needs to be told what they're watching and why they should feel scared or tense because there is no tension in the scene, despite an alien being present.

I have concerns about adding more law etc into the franchise. I don't need to know how the alien works, it's not scary if you know everything about a monster. That's the point of a monster. They use this new found law to get past some aliens, again it was like a scene from a video game.

It really nails the alien aesthetic, its a high paced movie with video game level writing and characters. Somewhat fun but ultimately disposable.

Alien: Romulus delivers a gritty experience reminiscent of the original film, with impressive world-building and familiar tech that longtime fans of the franchise will appreciate. The movie captures the essence of the Alien universe, offering a standalone story that fits well within the established timeline and cleverly nods to Prometheus.

However, the film's reliance on callbacks to previous entries in the franchise detracts from its originality. While some references are clever, others are forced and cringeworthy.

The introduction of the main character Rain, played by Cailee Spaeny, feels uninspired. We've seen this before - another Ripley. It's actually David Jonsson's character, Andy, who ends up being the most interesting by a long shot. If there is one franchise that would benefit from exploring new characters rather than rehashing old ones, this is it.

Despite these negatives, Romulus is technically impressive. It's beautifully shot, the effects are good, it has some genuine scares, and manages to deliver solid thrills and action scenes that are sure to please. I just wish it were brave enough to carve out its own identity.

Positives first - Good action, great practical special effects, and nice visuals.

Director Fede Alvarez and his production team have captured the gloomy atmosphere of Alien, and the thrilling action of Aliens almost perfectly. The action was thrilling with some scary moments.

The use of practical effects and realistic miniatures was so refreshing to see in this age of CGI overkill. Seeing a fully realised Xenomorph in the flesh blew me away, and the Space scenes were beautiful. This camera work, visual presentation, and use of quality albeit limited CGI when necessary was excellent.

Negatives - Average acting, nostalgia bait story, copy & pasted dialogue from better Alien movies, and the inclusion of lore elements from the inferior prequels which I wish did not exist in official canon. Plus the reveal of the villain was an "oh, get out of here " moment, I will say no more.

Apart from the great lead actress Spaeny playing up her role, the other cast of actors/characters was just okay. I thought the nostalgia bait story was boring, eye-rolling, and almost 4th wall breaking, it ruined the immersion for me. I'm getting bored of sequels/prequels heavily relying on lazy "remember-berries" to get a kick out of the casual audience while making the Alien fans embarrassed almost angry. To be honest it's just lazy script writing, and disrespectful to the other Alien movies that did it first!. Unnecessary.

Also the overuse of copy & pasted dialogue from the better Sigourney Weaver Alien movies was very cringe. 20th Century Studios should've called it Alien: Remember because of the over-reliance on oh you remember this bit from.. Lastly, trying to inject all the controversial and franchise damaging Prometheus nonsense into the film was frustrating, I hated all that origin of the Space Jockey and creation of the Xenomorph rubbish. And don't get me started on the villain, I don't want to spoil anything, but it was laughably lazy.

I think setting the movie between the first 2 films was a mistake because you have to make your movie fit into the established continuity of the franchise with all the tie ins and plot beats required to make it fit. They should've done a sequel set years after Alien: Resurrection, and setup the start of a brand new Alien saga long after Weavers adventures (and with better writers onboard).

This had the potential to be right up there with Aliens, but due to disappointing characters, a lacklustre "remember-berry" story, and poor script, it was a let down. Alien: Romulus, an above average Alien greatest hits movie, 4th best film in the franchise.