Alien: Romulus – Another Review

27th August 2024

Alien: Romulus – Another Review. By Daniel Rester.

With Alien: Romulus, the Alien franchise is bursting out of chests and into theaters again after a seven-year hiatus. Ridley Scott has hit pause on his prequel run and Evil Dead (2013) director Fede Álvarez steps in for Romulus. The new entry takes place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), with Álvarez and his frequent co-writer Rodo Sayagues returning to the spaceship settings and horror roots of the series.

Cailee Spaeny plays Rain, an orphan who works as a miner on a dark planet called Jackson’s Star. Her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) invites her and her android – and brother figure – Andy (David Jonsson) to join him on a mission to recover cryostasis pods from a derelict spaceship floating above Jackson’s Star. This will allow them to leave their hardships behind for a better life on the planet Yvaga.

Also along for the ride are Tyler’s sister Kay (Isabela Merced), their cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and pilot Navarro (Aileen Wu). The six characters make it onto the abandoned ship and find the pods. But they also find something far more dangerous….

Álvarez is clearly a fan of the Alien series, calling back to aspects of the previous films – and even some of the video games – throughout. The practical creature effects, sound effects, and music score are all meticulous, but what really takes viewers back to the first two films is the production design by Naaman Marshall. He perfectly recreates the retro tech vibe of Alien and Aliens, stripping away the sheen of later entries and going back to the lived-in, grimy look of those first two films. Marshall’s work provides Álvarez and cinematographer Galo Olivares a great collection of environments to unleash scares in.

Romulus takes its time in the first 45 minutes to set up the character relationships and to build suspense. Once it gets going, however, it rips. Álvarez proves once again that he knows how to frame threats and deliver boo and gore moments for maximum effect. The Xenomorphs are impressive and scary like usual, but the facehuggers actually steal some of the spotlight this time around. Álvarez has fun with the creepy-crawly creatures as they hide in everything from water to shadows.

The cast of Romulus does well, and none of the six main characters feel like weak links. That said, Jonsson steals the show as Andy. The Alien series has always had interesting android characters, and Andy is no different. The character’s main priority is to protect Rain, but he has an intriguing arc once Rain reprograms him on the spaceship. Jonsson and Spaeny make Andy and Rain’s emotional journey together completely believable.

While a lot of Romulus clicks into place smoothly, some plot holes are easy to think of once one steps back and thinks about certain turns. There is also use of CGI on a character in the film that is distracting, landing in the uncanny valley. The final 15 minutes didn’t really work for me either. Álvarez makes a bold choice in that section, but the result feels like one of the lesser aspects found in the abysmal Alien Resurrection (1997).

Romulus is familiar, slimy, and bloody entertainment for fans of the series. Its plot is unchallenging and lacks the thematic ambition of Scott’s prequels Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). Álvarez and his team do a great job of recreating the look and feel of Alien and Aliens though. Romulus isn’t a masterpiece like those two films, but it delivers enough sci-fi horror goods.

Rating: 8/10

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