With the release of Alien: Romulus on August 16th,, many critics and fans of the series praised the film with the same level of love and energy as the original film Alien, which was released nearly fifty years ago in 1979. The film has been superseding expectations with audiences across the U.S., but is it on par with its 1979 predecessor?
The Alien series has been a household name in the horror genre, and with esteemed director Fede Álvarez behind the wheel, the film had high expectations to fulfill. Starring actress Caille Spaeny as Rain, Alien: Romulus follows a group of young space colonists scavenging a desolate space station in deep space while an otherworldly lifeform hunts them down. With the heavy criticism the last movie in the Alien series (Alien: Covenant) received 8 years prior, doubts arose when the project was first announced in 2019. But expectations were blown out of the water opening weekend with Alien: Romulus grossing over 42 million dollars in the US alone. The film currently stands at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and scored 86% with audiences.
Positives
Alien: Romulus does an amazing job of capturing the desolate landscape and the situation the colonists have dug themselves into, capturing the same essence of terror seen in the original.
With most of the film taking place on the space station, Romulus, the film does an exceptional job of bringing the viewer into the station and forcing them to feel the seclusion of space. Many of the space station’s tight corridors and shafts induce a feeling of claustrophobia as you watch. The style of the station and the world around Alien: Romulus does a relatively good job at paying respect to the original and keeps that same 80’s feel you could expect out of an Alien movie. Alien: Covenant lacked a lot of what made the original film so good, and it was important for Álvarez to not fall into the same trope.
It pays homage to the other films throughout the series, even with the return of Ian Holm’s android from the original film as a synthetic scientist on board the Romulus. While more die-hard fans of the series will have some fun at the callbacks to the originals, the film still keeps enough distance to form its own identity. Sophomore Elina Soong stated, “I thought it was a very clever and interesting way of combining sci-fi and horror. I thought the casting choices were amazing. The movie also really terrified me, but intrigued me as well.”
The alien is the true highlight of the film, with the creature keeping the same level of fear and dread as in previous entries. The first act has a somewhat slow start, with the Alien not showing itself until later in the second act. However, its baby counterpart, the Facehugger, remains a constant threat throughout the movie’s runtime. The station holds a collection of facehuggers that terrorize our cast of heroes.
The film had a heavy emphasis on using as many practical effects as possible. Director Fede Álvarez wanted to use the same techniques as seen in the opri film, using realistic props and environments as much as he could. VFX did play a part in the film, but its role was less significant and large as the practical effects. They look incredibly real, and as a member of the audience, you feel on the edge of your seat anytime they scurry across the big screen. The alien itself is no different. It has a large presence on the screen, and in any scene with the alien, you can see the dread in each character’s eyes as they fight for life. The design looks better than ever, and the bondage between both practical and visual effects almost pulls the alien into the theater with you.
Critiques
One issue with the movie is its characters. The majority of the film only shows six characters, with few of them having barely interesting backstories or adding much to the plot. Navarro, portrayed by Aileen Wu, is a pilot and takes off from a remote mining colony to the Romulus Space Station. While Aileen gives a good performance with what little was given to her, her character lacks any of the charm or satire as the cast of its 1979 predecessor. In the end, she has a very select amount of screen time and acts as no more than a filler character to keep the film moving forward.
Another lackluster character is Bjorn. He is an engineer and the cousin of one of his fellow colonists. He has an intense hate for androids, due to one being responsible for the death of his mother. While this could be a deeper topic for the movie to elaborate on, there is a lack of exploration of his character throughout the film. The film only uses this for occasional arguments or fights among his fellow space-colonists, and seldomly uses it to drive the movie’s plot. This makes the scenes not only predictable, but insufferable at times.
A lack of both meaningfullness or action in these scenes make them rough to sit through. While the characters of Rain and Andy are explored deeply during their screen time, it’s a shame that director Fede Álvarez didn’t give other characters a chance to develop. The lack of character exploration took a lot of emotion away from the film and made viewers care a lot less about each character’s fate. As movie critic Jana Monji put it — “The frightening facehuggers star in a fast-moving film that’s low on character development but high on the body and creepy critter count” (Rotten Tomatoes).
While other characters suffered major issues, a standout character was the android, Andy. Portrayed by David Jonsson, Andy serves as the star’s android brother. He was programmed by Rain’s last father, who made him keep her safe and out of trouble. Rain considers Andy a brother to her since he stays and gives her company in the mining colony. Andy is a very glitchy model synthetic: he tends to keep a very timid and quiet attitude and lacks sophisticated programming. Once he makes it aboard the Romulus and messes with its programming, he gains a staggering level of intelligence. He no longer keeps his shy attitude as he gains an emotionless, robotic outlook on the people around him. He loses his original programming purpose and no longer acts in the good blood of Rain, but for the “company.” Jonsson’s performance sells the character, and his cold-blooded shell makes his presence in any scene chilling.
Overall, Alien: Romulus falls somewhere in the middle of the series as a film. While the film has its fair share of issues, it’s a fun watch. Fans of the series will have a good time seeing the nods to earlier entries in the Alien series, and first-comers will have their share of jump scares and exciting scenes. Alien: Romulus may not go above and beyond, but it will keep you entertained and on edge until the end credits.
