Alien: Romulus (2024)
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Premise: Set between the original Alien and Aliens, a group of space colonists board a damaged spacecraft in the hope of taking it over and traveling to another planet. They discover the ship is infested with xenomorphs.
What Works: Alien: Romulus caters to the fans of this series while also playing for younger viewers who may not have seen the original picture. It manages to satisfy both audiences. Longtime fans ought to enjoy the way the newest film fits into the existing storylines. The premise and production design complement the original movie while also linking the original Alien films with the prequel couplet Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Romulus is set between the first two Alien pictures and it does a great job matching the look and feel of the original picture. The visuals have the same mix of industrial and organic qualities that were so distinct about this series. The xenomorph creature has always had a sexual component to its design and the filmmakers of Romulus seize upon this with some of the visuals. Many of the Alien films share elements of slasher and haunted house pictures. The filmmakers of Romulus play to this aspect as well and the film is quite scary. This film is particularly good at compounding the conflicts. The crew has to escape the ship before it drifts into a debris field but their actions accelerate the risk while unleashing the alien creatures. Romulus also has a notable performance by David Jonsson as an android. His personality shifts with updates to his programming and Jonsson changes his entire voice and manner depending on what directives are in control. Romulus benefits from an effective human touch. These characters have some complexity and compassion for each other.
What Doesn’t: The Alien series has a checkered history, including some very good films and a few bad ones. However, most of these films have moved the franchise forward, expanding the universe and introducing new ideas. By comparison, Alien: Romulus is very safe and mostly consists of scenarios and images we’ve seen before. The filmmakers pay homage to the first two pictures and recycle a lot of their scenarios and plot beats. It does these elements well, in some cases better than the franchise’s lesser entries, but Romulus plays as an Alien greatest hits compilation. In at least a couple of instances the homages are cringe worthy, particularly some callback dialogue and a sort-of cameo that is not visually convincing and is often distracting. The filmmakers finally take a big swing in the very end although this sequence is remarkably similar to the finale of Alien: Resurrection. The new direction comes far too late, past the organic conclusion of the drama, and plays as a tagged-on addendum.
Bottom Line: Alien: Romulus is a satisfactory addition to the series. It’s well made, scary, and gives viewers what they look for from this franchise. It also feels constrained by fan service. The filmmakers are content to rehash scenarios we’ve seen before rather than push the series forward.
Episode: 1010 (August 25, 2024)