Alien: Romulus
I went to see this with a friend, as I did for the first Alien back in 1979. That time I was on the edge of my seat because it’s a scary freakin’ movie, and I appreciated the gorgeous and different look of the film. It was a real departure from a typical science fiction film to that point, showcasing incredible horrors with a highly cinematic level of grunge and low level working conditions, not to mention a genius tagline (“In Space No One Can Hear You Scream” – more on that in a minute) and title card (the letters slowly revealing one line at a time instead of a letter at a time, growing, as the alien grows).
I went to see the newest Alien film and was impressed by a lot of it. Romulus is a famous twin, which makes it a brilliant title for a film that is a visual and thematic twin to the 1979 film, with the addition of big nods to the other films in this long lasting and still going strong franchise. Hardscrabble workers under the thumb of an evil corporation, just trying to survive a deadly monster? Check. Grunge, horror and beautiful to look at? Check. Though I did find the horror a little on the lite side this time around. CFR may disagree with me on that, as she needed a seatbelt a few times for the jump scares.
Rain and her brother Andy, who probably isn’t her biological brother at first glance, are barely surviving at one of the Weyland Corporation (boo! hiss!) mining colonies. Not only have they never seen the sun, Andy is physically and neurologically impaired and prone to being beaten up by people who hate androids. A Weyland cog casually adds five years of indentured servitude for Rain when she applies for a visa to escape to an actual colony where you can actually work for yourself and see the sun when you look up. She visits some friends with a spacegoing jalopy who let her in on their scheme to escape by pilfering cryogenic units from a derelict space ship so they can sleep the 65 years it takes to get to the nearest colony. They blast off, complete with windshield wipers on the spacecraft (I’m sorry, but I really loved that touch), sparking multiple ticking time bombs under the table. Chaos ensues.
The very first nod to the original movie was the opening credits, the letters appearing one line at a time. Sped up of course for the more impatient millennial audience. This is juxtaposed with something of a recreation of the opening sequence that begins Aliens. Then I noticed that, unlike 99.9% of all science fiction films, there is no sound on the outside of the salvage spaceship. Because they’re in space and there is no sound in space because sound requires air. So, the film opens with a really nice meta melting pot of homages to the original movie’s tagline and title card overlaying an homage to the second film. This was only the beginning of my being impressed with the choices made by the director, Fede Alvarez, who I had vowed to boycott after his movie Don’t Breath. The opening credits disclosed how much of early Alien creators were engaged in making this film, and it really shows throughout.
Shots from all of the previous movies are generously sprinkled throughout the film, from a recreation of Ripley (Rain) against a wall turning her head from an alien with no regard for personal space, to synchronized swimming aliens, to Rain (Ripley) in her skivvies quietly stepping into a space suit. (and the crowd, literally, cheered) Thankfully this time we are not treated to a bikini clad crotch shot. There is a rather significant role played by an actor who died years ago, the music is very reminiscent of the early films, and there is a LOT of original sound effects. I was very pleased with myself for noticing a prominent easter egg near the beginning of the film, though I had to look it up to discover that it has appeared in every film in the franchise. Kudos. To me, cause Alvarez of course put that prop in, but I can’t believe I noticed it.
There is a lot that distinguishes this as its own movie, like a neurodiverse android. I found it to be an inventive choice for a science fictional character, and it’s beautifully acted, helping the viewer keep up with some twisty and tasty plot devices. The cast is more obviously diverse this time around, though it is still mostly Caucasian. Androids are still portrayed as, essentially, monsters no matter how sympathetic they can be made to appear for a short while. This is a discussion that has been going on for over a century in one form or another and I’ve always found it fascinating that this franchise carries that into the far future.
You have to know that Your Cranky will have some quibbles. Some of the characters had accents so thick that when I do eventually watch the film at home I’ll have to turn on the subtitles. It caused me to be a bit confused sometimes about what was going on and why it was happening. Rain, the Ripley substitute, is physically smaller and seemingly weaker, not to mention awfully naïve and unconfrontational for someone who grew up in a rough place. The AI created throwback character almost fit, but wasn’t quite “right”. Movement, voice and recreated art work all seemed a tad lacking to me. There is a bit of clunky plotline forced into the film to create an opportunity to use a character that fans of the whole franchise will love. I have not seen all of the Alien movies after being so put off by Prometheus, so it didn’t affect me much and made me cringe just a bit at the not totally believable plot device used to introduce it. The requisite long thriller action sequence to end the movie went on too long, I felt. Something that surprised me was I didn’t feel the movie is all that scary. Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it’s because the fodder characters weren’t given enough time to be made sympathetic enough to the viewer that they felt bad at their awful demise. (Except for one, who was cheered by the audience when they bit it big time.)
This film is a very solid feature in the franchise, a good science fiction film, well made in every aspect from acting to cinematography to well placed and executed homages while remaining its own work. Of course I recommend seeing this in the theater because horror movies like this work better on a big screen in a place where an occasional audience scream will enhance the experience. But I also feel it will eventually be just fine on a tv screen and you really should check it out.
Available on: only in theaters at this moment.
LINKS:
CFR: In Addition
Unnnne Gah! Alien!!!!!!
I have LOVED the Alien franchies – wait, not truly accurate – I LOVE Alien and Aliens. Two fantastic movies. Alien: Romulus felt like a worthy addition to the franchise. Promotheus and that sequel were ok. I adored Aliens vs Predators, but that’s another review…
I was so excited to see this movie with Cranky. I knew we would have fun. After some delicious tea at a franchise, we sat down and I gave Cranky a pad of paper and a bad pen. Thank goodness she could still read her writing!!!
Love it. Loved all of the Alien(s) shots and throw backs. Loved the little touches. Loved that even if you didn’t know anything about Alien(s) you would still enjoy this.
I loved the diverse coloring and size/shape of the cast. This is a new trend I am seeing with the younger generation of movies makers and I am so here for it! I agree that I was glad the one character died – he was just mean.
I got nervous when the android was treated poorly and uh, he was also the only black presenting actor in the cast. Then again, he character was the best but I did get worried about racist undertones. Gulp. Still wondering about that one and YES I rooted for that character the whole time and he was a HERO. So good.
I agree with Cranky that watching this at home with subtitles will be excellent as there were times I missed what was said. That also could be because the actors were not properly annunciating, but I am not sure.
So looking forward to buying and watching again.
Hey Cranky! Come over and lets have an Alien(s) party!! Dear reader, you might want to do the same
*I despise 3 and am meh about 4 and wait? There’s a 5..
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