Stanisland Magazine

This front-loaded instalment of the beloved franchise shows how hard it is to make a great Alien movie.

**Spoilers ahead**

Where on earth do we begin? Clearly not on our planet, and that’s the only thing to cheer when recalling the ideas put forth for this movie.

Prior to the film’s release, Fede Alvarez was sent a note by Ridley Scott saying, ‘don’t mess up’, but not in an endearing way. Unfortunately, he did. Now, if you were to peruse the Alien fandom online, in particular, Reddit’s r/LV426 sub, you’ll be held within a vacuum of toxic positivity for this movie, opinions of which are only partially agreeable.

Despite its beautiful set design, brooding atmosphere and attention to detail, ‘Alien: Romulus’ begins a good addition to the franchise with a hailing dedication to character building. As the story progresses, I felt a smile in the back of my mind, beaming at the tangible efforts put into the project as it stayed true to the origins of the screenplay and the lore of the Xenomorphs. But then something happened.

The film is set on the mining colony Jackson’s Star, where workers are trapped within gruelling enslavement and abject poverty. Forced to work in the mines, and once they finish their assignments, they’re told by the company ‘Weyland Yutani’ that their contract has been extended due to a shortage of workers. Frustrated by their lack of freedom, the protagonists decide to take matters into their own hands and leave the planet in search of rumoured cryostasis pods that will aid their travels to another planet – Yvaga III, which is Russian for ‘warning.’

The film falls short on many fronts, but let’s begin with the positives.

Practical Effects Are Core To Its Atmosphere

Having been skeptical of the mechanics chosen by Alvarez, in practice the Xenomorphs were believable and faithful to its predecessors, eschewing the poorly executed CGI on show in prior instalments. Cough, cough, Ridley Scott.

Dimly lit cinematography plays a crucial role in bringing them to life, masking any flaws a bright set would have accentuated. It is clear the director understood the assignment.

Casting Choices Get A Big Thumbs Up

The decision to cast a younger set of characters works well, as their naivety regarding life outside the planet fuels their excitement to leave it—much to their detriment. But as time goes on, this lack of experience begins to show as they panic in the face of adversity. Isabela Merced was excellent in her role as ‘Kay,’ jumping between caring to outright horrified. David Jonsson nailed the role of android despite a moment that ruined a perfectly good scene. But the rest, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu were not so memorable,

Final Verdict

Let’s be real here—Fede Alvarez understood the key concepts of the Alien universe, but needs an education in what can and cannot work on screen.

There were a lot of ‘remember that?’ moments that rolled eyes more than they did glue them to screens. From the on the nose moments of “get away from her, you b***h” to the inclusion of an ‘Alien Resurrection‘ meets ‘Prometheus‘ moment, it is clear Ridley Scott’s fingerprints are all over this. The film essentially remixes everything that came before it.

From the ‘engineer’ offspring (that looked like a furry with no hair), to Ian Holm‘s disaster CGI inclusion, it’s safe to say that the execution was lacking in several key aspects. Where did the characters get their expensive ship on a planet they complain they’re prisoners of? Are we really expected to believe that Weyland Yutani would leave a space station vacant with an incredibly expensive bioweapon?

In short, there was nothing new on offer: Too many callbacks to earlier movies, a bad screenplay, plot holes, and a musical score that zaps the viewer closer to Jurassic Park.

The film was rated 15, a troubling indicator to begin with. The masses who seem to love this movie but dislike Prometheus and Covenant should really reflect upon their opinions. Because what we saw, was a monstrosity, and yet again, a butchering of a beloved franchise. It is sad, that after all these years, ‘Alien’ and ‘Aliens’ remain the only two movies of prestige within the saga.

Ridley Scott’s updating of the saga to include ‘the engineers’ removes any form of positive ambiguity regarding the xenomorphs origin. To the audience, they became less frightening and more pet-like.