While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
REVIEW:
Alien: Romulus doesn’t really try to recreate the series. It’s content to recycle the greatest hits. It’s filler. The original 1979 masterpiece has never been exceeded, not even by Ridley Scott.
Romulus is all nuts and bolts action adventure with sufficient but not overly inventive frights and splatter. It’s biggest problem: its heroine and supporting cast are the blandest and most generic of the series. Disposability rather than originality is its hallmark. The director and writer Fede Alvarez doesn’t want anyone mourning these folks. The next recycle hit is all that matters to him. Unfortunately, it’s also the most darkly shot too. A lot gets lost in the blur of inky black. Even Ian Holm, who died a few years back, is AI-ed in, to give it some original creds.
Romulus tells a familiar, undeveloped story of adversity, grit, perseverance, adaptability and fight for survival. It centers on Rain (Cailee Spaeny), a 20-something contract worker in a grim outer-space mining colony. There, along with Andy (David Jonsson), a glitchy android that she loves and calls her brother, Rain yearns to leave the sunless planet and the punishing conditions that condemned both her parents to early deaths. She soon gets her chance when some other friends share that they’re planning an escape in an abandoned space station that has conveniently drifted above their planet.
Alvarez is efficient at delivering the karaoke version and details. He’s economical with his setup. The sets are adaqustely creepy . The corridors are empty enough to allow for a good killing zone. Just the mystery is not mysterious. They’re the same old evil, human killing alien bunch. Something is wrong when the sets are better than the plot.
Spaeny is an appealing performer. Her youth and slight frame deceivingly suggest childlike frailty. She’s audience sympathetic immediately. She even mirrors the Sigourney Weaver original in facial bone structure and hairstyle. She’s almost good enough to be Ripley’s symbolic hair.
The aliens still retain their shock even if the humans don’t. They’re better company than Rain’s friends. I didn’t mind their deaths when the bloodlust starts. Too bad they die too fast. Android Andy is ironically the best drawn and human of the lot. He and Rain make a fine duo. Too bad Ian Holm’s Rook AI shows up to remind everyone how good the original really was.
Alien: Romulus gets a 3.0/5 or a B.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Written by
- Fede Álvarez
- Rodo Sayagues
Based on
Produced by
- Ridley Scott
- Michael Pruss
- Walter Hill
Starring
Cinematography
Galo Olivares
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
- August 15, 2024(EIFF)
- August 16, 2024(United States)
Running time
119 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$80 million
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