The Alien franchise, much like its central monster, is the ultimate lifeform when it comes to matters of survival.
From Ridley Scott’s classic original, James Cameron’s classic sequel, and… the other ones, this series is both a perfect example of Hollywood’s reliance on intellectual property while also being a complete anomaly. Each of the first four entries were directed by different directors who, for better and for worse, took Scott’s tools and put their own stamp on it. Even the reviled Alien 3 can’t escape the signature of it’s fledgling director, David Fincher.
It survived after moving away from the iconic Ellen Ripley (an increasingly well-paid Sigourney Weaver, and I don’t blame her one bit for it) with the scrappy yet enjoyable deathmatch with Predator, before Scott returned with his philosophical duology (the third will never be made) of Prometheus and Alien Covenant: solidly weird films with BIG IDEAS that were let down by characters who were so stupid it was increasingly hilarious that they were supposed to be scientific experts. David was good, I guess.
Alien: Romulus is what you get when a franchise needs a soft reboot. Directed by Fede Álvarez, who helmed the fantastic Evil Dead remake and cult classic Don’t Breathe, this movie is everything you like about Alien all at once. Facehuggers? There’s hundreds of them. Xeno-tons. Working class stiffs beholden to the company? They’re basically teen slaves on a mining planet in constant darkness. Morally ambiguous cyborg? We’ve got two!
It’s these miners, led (cast-wise, at least) by Cailee Spaeny’s Rain and her robot “brother” Andy, that infiltrate a dead space station in their planet’s orbit look for sleep pods so they can escape their hardship. Backstory is a minimum requirement in these movies as long as the performances are right. Spaeny and David Johnson as Andy are the heart of this, even if Andy does end up running away with things. It’s Alien, it would be weirder if the android wasn’t overshadowing everyone a little. The rest, apart from Isabela Merced’s Kay, who is sympathetic from the go which isn’t a good sign for her, are drawn more broadly but do their job of cannon fodder well.
Romulus, unlike, say, Prey, doesn’t want to be a new take on an old monster, but it also understands that this proverbial horse is flogged to death. Alvarez gets round this in clever ways. Focusing on a younger cast of characters makes them appear more vulnerable from the beginning. The scares are less about making you piss yourself at a nearly 50 year old monster, and more about crafting set pieces that are both tense and unpredictable, making for more of a thriller than a horror. Much like every other Alien movie, Romulus is boosted by absolutely gorgeous design. I’ve given movies credit for just having sets and not green screen, but this Romulus Space Station, the mining planet, the beauty and harsh look of this world does so much to make this an engrossing experience.
The one downfall to this is that, for the first time in an Alien sequel, I don’t feel the director coming through as much. Romulus is a skilled attempt to reboot Alien by delivering references to every other iconic movie in the franchise, sapping it of some of its individuality in the process – it feels too reliant, at times, on what came before than what it can do in its own right.
It’s entertaining, and probably the best Alien movie since Aliens, but I hope that if Alvarez gets another crack at this, he gets to go even harder, and bring more of his style to the movie. If there is any mainstream franchise that can allow that, it’s Alien.
By Kevin Boyle
(header image via BBC)
No But Listen 