Rating of
3/4
Feels Like the First Time
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/29/24
While both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were good in their own way, I can't help but feel they couldn't quiet capture the same feeling of Alien and Aliens. Fede Alvarez, however, has managed to make Alien: Romulus a better fit into the OG Alien narrative - mixing that tension with some true outright horror while also playing homage to the other previous films and even the well-received Alien Isolation video game.
Romulus is not a perfect film and I have given it the same rating as both the above-mentioned franchise films even though it feels like a very different beast. Besides leaning more into the horror aspect, Romulus also benefits from a solid cast with Cailee Spaeny standing out as a younger Ripley cipher while David Jonsson is likewise excellent as the android Andy - who goes through some interesting changes along the way. Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu round out a likewise solid supporting cast. The most divisive casting, however, has to go to Rook - who is a digitally AI version of the late Ian Holm - essentially reprising his Android role of Ash from the original Alien film. I have to say it was a bit jarring - while technology has certainly come a long way since Star Wars tried to bring back Peter Cushing - it's still hard not to get that uncanny valley feeling even today.
Romulus also makes all the characters much younger than what we've experienced before. We join our group on a Walen-Yutani mining colony with a high death rate, no sun and little chance of ever making it off planet (alive at least). Rain (Spaeny) and her "brother" Andy (Jonsson), a re-programmed Android with a few issues, thinks they finally have enough work credits to make it off the rock only to learn - surprise - the heartless corporation has extended all colonist work hours so that they will be able to leave in just another decade or so. With no other option, Rain is coerced to join Tyler (Renaux), his girlfriend Kay (Merced), cousin Bjorn (Fearn) and his girl Navarro (Wu) to a supposed derelict ship brimming with tech - including cryo pods that will help them reach a paradise-like planet far away - so far that the cryo tanks are key.
But it turns out the ship is actually a massive space station - Romulus (and it's sister Remus - based off the Roman legend) and it's also going to hit the asteroid belt surrounding their current planet in several hours. While they quickly find the cryo tubes and load them, it turns out they don't have enough juice to get them to where they need to go and they need more cryo fuel - and this decision is ultimately what sets off a chain of events leading to face-huggers, chest-bursters and the titular alien(s).
The mood of Romulus certainly evokes memories of the first two films - cramped, dark, silent - with something scary just around the corner. The film throws out plenty of Easter eggs from each film - some more subtle than others - but even the cheesy ones are still a nice touch. This film also does an excellent job with both gravity (or the lack thereoff) along with the acid that aliens secrete - both play pivotal roles in the course of the film and are dealt with in an interesting way. It's also fun to watch the last half-hour of the film essentially play out in real time - ratcheting up the tension even more. Say what you will, but after Evil Dead and now Romulus, Alvarez seems to have a good pulse on what constitutes an solid horror remake (or part of a franchise).
If you're a fan of Ridley Scott's take on sci-fi horror, you will like this new version. It might fall just short of the originals but I feel that it has it's heart (and mouths) in the right place. Given the response, I'm hoping Alvarez gets to continue this journey and I, for one, look forward to what comes next.
