Crazy to think that the first Alien movie came out in 1979 and is one of the most pivotal science fiction movies in history. It also managed to get a sequel in 1986 that managed to be even better and become another pivotal movie in Sci-fi. Sadly, every other entry in this franchise has not been remotely as good. Is Alien Romulus the first actual good Alien movie since 1986?
The story itself is straightforward but what makes this entry great is the main core of the story, the brother and sister relationship between our main characters. Rain played by Cailee Spaeny is the heroine of this movie. She does a great job and her character is very likeable. It is also a joy to see her not be one of those characters who make dumb decisions which you see in many horror movies. Her brother Andy played by David Jonsson who does a terrific job in the role. Both David and Cailee have great chemistry and you root for their survival throughout the whole of the movie. This entry goes back to the horror roots of the original Alien and it is done very effectively in Romulus. There are some genuinely tension-inducing scenes including one that pays homage to the game ‘Alien: Isolation’ that is terrific. Fede is well known for body horror and he continues to deliver disgusting scenes here as well.
I appreciate how they bring back the gritty and dark look from the older Alien entries for this one. The world and the ship look dirty and dark which further elevates the creepiness. The practical sets are phenomenal with lovely practical effects for some of the Facehuggers and Xenomorph scenes. CGI is still used a fair amount but they look good for the most part. The cinematography is great with how it conveys the unsettling and claustrophobic nature of the ship. The sound design and the score are amazing in the way they help make the scenes feel incredibly tense.
The movie isn’t perfect though. The rest of the crew apart from the main characters are very forgettable. The movie doesn’t fully delve into any of the other characters apart from 1 or 2 lines about them. Instead of rooting for their survival, you just know they are fodder and want to see how they die. The iconic Xenomorphs don’t start to appear until halfway and even then, they don’t appear much. The major threat is really the Facehuggers but they start to appear too much to the point that you want to see something else now. The final act might also be a bit divisive to people. The first two acts are homages to the previous Alien movies but the final act is something else entirely. It is insanely weird and you’re going to either love it or hate it. They also bring back an actor from the dead using current tech and it sounds as bad as you think. The CGI is very obvious.
Overall, it is nice to finally have a proper enjoyable Alien movie in such a long time. It does make me wonder where they can go with this franchise though. It will be extremely overdone if we keep getting another survivors who are attacked by Aliens on a ship or planet story again. What made Aliens great was that it did something drastically different from the first. Hopefully, with the success of Romulus, we can get a bolder Alien movie in the future.
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