Introduction
Ask five different Alien fans what their favorite movies from the franchise are and why they love them, and you’ll likely get five different answers. Still, it all but goes without saying that every subsequent entry in the series gets measured by its level of similarity to one of two films: Ridley Scott’s 1979 original and James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens. In Alien: Romulus, the latest installment in the series, writer-director Fede Álvarez and frequent co-writer Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe) wear their love of Scott’s and Cameron’s films as proudly as any fans of the franchise would, to the film’s visual merit and narrative detriment.
Plot Overview
Set 20 years after the events of Alien, Álvarez’s film centers on Rain Carradine (Civil War’s Cailee Spaeny), an orphan living on Jackson’s Star, a mining colony light-years away from Earth that’s shrouded in an unending dark storm. Her mother and father are dead; her only companion is Andy (David Jonsson), a malfunctioning synthetic android she cares for as a surrogate sibling. Desperate for a means to escape the colony — and the grasp of the Weyland-Yutani corporation, the Alien franchise’s true central villain — Rain agrees to join a group of friends as they break into a derelict station that’s drifted into their planet’s orbit. What they find aboard is not salvation, but a threat beyond their wildest imagination.
Analysis
“Is it as good as Alien or Aliens?” is the obvious question franchise fans will ask when weighing whether to see Alien: Romulus. Álvarez and Sayagues seem to have been uncomfortably aware that this question was coming. They anticipated those five different answers about what Alien fans love from the previous films, and tried to split the difference between all of them and more. Like the Romulus and Remus stations, which serve as the film’s setting, Alien: Romulus is made up of roughly two parts: a haunted-house story in outer space à la Alien, and a crowd-pleasing horror-action spectacle like Aliens. The former element is stronger than the latter in this case, and the imbalance is one of the reasons Alien: Romulus feels like a by-the-numbers retread of the franchise defining it, rather than the resuscitative breath it so desperately needs.
Visuals and Sound
There are gratifying aspects to this movie: Alien: Romulus’ set and production design easily place it as one of the most visually impressive sci-fi movies to come out this year, fastidiously replicating the cassette futurism and tactility of Scott’s original film while introducing “new” technology that still feels like it fits in the setting. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is another high point, echoing Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic orchestral music from Alien while introducing discordant, abrasive notes of industrial sound when things hit the fan.
Characters
Spaeny and Jonsson inarguably deliver the strongest performances in the film’s ensemble. Rain is obviously coded as Alien: Romulus’ answer to Ellen Ripley, though she’s far from a one-to-one facsimile of Sigourney Weaver’s character. Rain isn’t a hardened space trucker with a do-or-die knack for survivalism, she’s a scared young woman trying to claw her way out from under the crushing weight of corporate debt bondage. Jonsson’s turn as Andy is one of the most affecting performances in the entire film, portraying a character who faces a moral dilemma between loyalty and self-preservation.
Reimagining the Xenomorph
How do you make the Xenomorph scary again after so many movie outings, all copying the original two films? In the case of Alien: Romulus, the answer is simple: You don’t. Despite some inventive sequences, the film fails to introduce a compelling reason for audiences to fear this incarnation of the creature. The Xenomorphs in Alien: Romulus feel more like colonial marine rifle-fodder rather than the inscrutable, apex predators they are known for.
Conclusion
Alien: Romulus is a technically impressive but narratively rote horror movie that heavily borrows from its predecessors without contributing much new material. While it may appeal to fans looking for a nostalgic trip, it falls short of providing a fresh perspective on the franchise.
Alien: Romulus debuts in theaters on Aug. 16.