Tags:
Film: Alien: Romulus
Year: 2024
Director: Fede Álvarez
Writer: Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson and Archie Renaux
Review:
This was a movie that I didn't even realize was coming out until close to its release date. My background with this series is that I saw Aliens and Alien 3 first. It wasn't until college that I finally sat down to watch the original. I've seen all the films and I'm positive overall. Seeing that Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues were taking on this one had me intrigued, just knowing earlier works they’d done. I’ve also now given it a second watch to see how I sat with it for my end of year list.
Synopsis: while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
We start this off with a ship collecting something from space. This will come back into play later. It then shifts to the planet where we meet our lead, Rain (Cailee Spaeny). She works in agriculture and she has an android named Andy (David Jonsson). What we learn is that he was found by her father, they reprogrammed him and he's been a part of the family since. He is starting to malfunction though.
Rain believes that she's worked enough hours, so she goes to the colonist's office to put in for a transfer. Things don't go as planned as her required hours are increased. She's also switched to work in the mines. This is what killed her parents recently. Not only is this disheartening, but Andy is attacked by a group of kids. She resets him before going over to her friend's place.
It is here we meet Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and Navarro (Aileen Wu). Tyler is the leader; Navarro is their pilot and Bjorn hates androids. We learn later that something happened to his mother which has made him bitter. They have a plan, but they need Andy. Above their planet is a ship. It belongs to Weyland-Yutani Corporation, the company that everyone here works for. They believe that there should be cryo-pods. They tend to come in groups of 5. The offer is made to Rain that if they have Andy help them, they'll take her to this planet they dream of going to. Their planet has 0 hours of sunlight per day where the other seems like paradise.
What was thought to be an in and out mission runs into complications. The pods don't have enough power to get them for how far they must go. By turning on the ship to get more fuel, they awaken something. They speak with Rook (facial and vocally performed by Daniel Betts) to learn more. They also use a chip from Rook in Andy to allow him access. This creates more issues though since new directives have been given, ones that are more in line with the corporation. It is a fight for survival to get away before it is too late.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that before seeing this, I had friends that loved this while others weren’t as impressed. I took in what I could without spoiling this for me. I'll also say here is that ahead of seeing this, I wondered if this was a sequel to Alien: Covenant, the last to be released. Interestingly, this seems to be taking place about 20 years after the original, but before the first sequel.
Now that I have that set up and out of the way, let me delve into what we're getting here. It has a basic premise. What I noticed is that this has nods to other films in the series. The beginning here with meeting Rain feels like Aliens. The planet that she lives on also feels like the one that they go to visit in that movie as well. There is a feel of Alien Resurrection with this crew going to the ship above the planet. That is more of a reach there. What I will say is that I like this idea of a group of poor workers trying to revolt and flee their planet. They don't have any prospects there aside from work until they die. Taking a dark look at capitalism is a commentary that is in the fabric of all the movies and it is here as well.
What I also like here is that when they get onto the ship, we have that claustrophobic feel. When the xenomorphs and the face-huggers attack, there is that added dimension of fear that if their acid blood is spilled, then it will burn through the ship and open it to the vacuum of space. This vessel is large though so there are brief reprises where people can get to safety. I'll just go ahead and pull the effects in here as well. This goes brutal with different things we get. I'm glad that we have good practical effects to bring in that realism we got with like Evil Dead and to a lesser extent Don't Breathe. There is CGI here as well, there isn't any other way to do it. The money is there to make it look good. This brings the horror which I appreciated.
Let me then finish out discussing filmmaking. What helps with the effects is the cinematography and framing. That helps to hide the seams. They do good things as well conveying that this is in space. The location is brought to life as well. I’d also say that since we get action throughout, that helps to keep this exciting. Those were also filmed well, which helps. The only other thing would be the soundtrack. That fit what was needed. There is choir music that adds an element. I did enjoy that, made me think of Prometheus.
There is a gripe that I wanted to bring up. This film has a 'requel' feel in the fact that it does borrow and use things from earlier movies. I'd already said things with the basic story. There are also lines taken directly from it. The use of the Rook character is another, making to look like the late, great Ian Holm. The use of the android character seems to border on a combo of Alien and Aliens with what they do with him there. I get what they’re doing there, but I just wished they would have used the CGI to make him like Holm. I love paying homage, it just doesn’t look good. There's even a bit of the David character played by Michael Fassbender as well. It does this quite a bit to get fans excited and I'm not sure we needed to do it as much. There are even lines lifted directly that I’m torn on, the nostalgia part loves it and me as a viewer also groans.
All that is left then is acting. Spaeny is interesting here. Originally, I thought that she was flat. With this second watch, that isn’t as big a problem for me. She does well in as lead. Jonsson was fine as this version's android. I like the change that comes over him when his protocols change. There is also heart here between Rain and Andy that I enjoyed. Renaux, Merced, Fearn and Wu were fine. Betts was interesting to become Rook. I will also say that Kay has an intriguing reveal. Originally, I thought it was more for shock value, but it does build to something for the climax so I’ll credit it there. I’d say the rest of the cast were fine in rounding this out for what was needed.
In conclusion, despite the issues that I brought up, I still enjoyed this movie. It can be difficult to build tension when you're doing a prequel. This is set in an area and time where it does work though. This is a franchise that timing wise works better than others. I like the brutality with the effects that we get. I’d say that in general they are a bright spot. The cinematography and framing help there while also capturing where this was set. I do like the social commentary that has been in this series, as it is still relevant. I think this is probably in the upper half of the franchise for me after one watch and that is solidified with a second time around.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10