In August this year, the latest instalment in the Alien franchise, chest-burst onto the big screen in its most recent iteration as Alien: Romulus. Rather than a reboot, Romulus is an interquel that takes place in the year 2142, meaning the events occur after Alien (1979) and before Aliens (1986). You may think, well, why do we need another film set between the two? And who in their right mind would decide to squeeze themselves between Ridley Scott’s horror masterpiece and James Cameron’s sci-fi action blockbuster? It seems Fede Álvarez [Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe] decided to take on this task and maybe, just maybe, successfully bridged the link between the two titans.
Alien: Romulus is an American sci-fi horror film directed by Fede Álvarez and co-written with Rodo Sayagues. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the ninth instalment in the franchise.
Exploited and downtrodden, a group of young space colonists hope to escape their inevitable demises working on Jackson’s Star under the Weyland-Yutani Corp and decide to make a break for it when they notice a Wey-Yu research station come into orbit. With the hopes of scavenging the station in order to make their own ship, the Corbelan, suitable for long distance space travel. The film centres around the character Rain Carradine played by Cailee Spaeny [Pacific Rim Uprising] and her brother Andy, played by David Jonsson [Rye Lane], a synthetic with a modified programming chip. Amongst the group are also Tyler [Archie Renaux], Kay [Isabela Merced], Bjorn [Spike Fearn], and Navarro [Aileen Wu].
Romulus explores a lot of themes we see in science fiction generally – such as cautious attitudes towards AI, and the danger of the unknown. Perhaps Álvarez’s film doesn’t add anything new to the wider philosophical applications of the narrative, but there are relationship dynamics that are new to the series, and although the characters do all fit into an archetype, it’s still worth having a good mull over certain aspects. There are references aplenty, most of which are very on the nose, which does interfere with the suspension of disbelief, but this is, after all, a movie set in a space about mad aliens.
Unlike many of the previous entries in the franchise, Romulus returns to its roots by employing a number of practical effects, including Xenomorphs which requires the use of puppets, animatronics, and suits. I always enjoy seeing the use of practical effects in cinema and I almost equally enjoy seeing the limitations it imposes on the filmmaker and how they overcome them. In Romulus, audiences will notice the clever use of shadows and darkness to create a truly eerie atmosphere which ramps up the stalking, hunting sense of dread Alien fans are looking for. Of course, the film does use a hell of a lot of CGI, but where it is needed, the practical truly shines.
There is also a big controversy around the films use of CGI in one particular instance, however I fear I cannot detail that in this review for fear of having to add in a spoiler warning. The use of lighting in the film is atmospheric and the sets do what they need to do – i.e. provide a functional setting for the story to unfold, however, Alien fans will notice the distinct lack of Giger’s symmetrical biomechanical design influence. There are certain stills in the 1979 film that are masterpieces of their own accord, and unfortunately, audiences of Romulus cannot expect the same level of composition. That being said, I neither expect nor want a remake of Alien, which is where the film does excel.
Once it gets going, Alien: Romulus is a thrill-ride with some genuinely hairy, scary moments. I actually jumped in my seat at one point – luckily I had already polished off my popcorn. The action is relentless really, barely leaving a moment to catch your breath in some places. This utilises the very nature of the “perfect organism”, it doesn’t give up in its pursuit of survival, and neither does the action of Romulus. The film does a good job of balancing horror and sci-fi, unlike a lot of contemporaries which seem to start in one genre and morph into another entirely. It encapsulates that classic haunted house feeling that can only be described as “Oh god, what’s going to go wrong now?”
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Alien: Romulus. It’s action-packed, engaging, and will keep your eyes glued to the screen, with the slight exception of a few peeps down the aisle just to check for Facehuggers (it’s only sensible). I suppose the question here is does Romulus offer anything new? I suppose the answer is no, not really, but is it a bloody good watch? Yes, indeed.
Final rating: 8/10
Screen Waffle 