Horrifying Sci-Fi Actioner Has The Best (& Worst) Of The Alien Franchise

If you ask the right person, they will tell you there are no bad Alien movies. Even at its worst (Alien 3, though many make the case for Resurrection), the Alien movies are still oozing with the kind of horror that makes any sort of space travel seem like the worst idea ever. Alien: Romulus is no different in this regard. Fede Alvarez, known for the utterly bleak and brutal 2013 Evil Dead remake and the suffocating tension of 2016’s Don’t Breathe, is the latest director to make his mark on the franchise.

Though it doesn’t quite live up to the gut-churning terror of Alvarez’s previous work, Romulus is an effective sci-fi feature. Somewhere between Alien and Aliens — fitting given its place in the franchise timeline — Romulus serves up blockbuster-level action and visceral horror all in one, though its heart-on-its-sleeve dedication to the previous films ends up feeling more like fan service than organic integration.

Alien: Romulus Plays All The Greatest Hits

The hits are great for a reason, but there’s one major flaw

Some 100 years after the Nostromo was destroyed by Ellen Ripley, Romulus begins on a sun-less, grimy mining colony somewhere in space. Rain (a game Cailee Spaeny) is working to get herself and Andy (David Jonsson, handling synthetic android duties for this entry) to a planet system where the sun actually reaches the surface of their home. Rain’s debt to Weyland-Yutani is endless, though, and when she’s contacted by old friend Tyler (Archie Renaux) with a scheme to get to the Yvaga system, she can’t resist the temptation.

In many ways, Romulus feels like a classic Alien movie. The opening credits evoke that of the original 1979 film. It has a slow buildup that ratchets up the tension before the facehuggers emerge. There’s a morally ambiguous android character. The film even opts for dated analogue technology as opposed to the sleek, modern tech we’ve seen in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. It’s a wonderful reminder of what these movies were even as, over the years, they expanded into mythological fables about the folly of human curiosity.

This back-to-basics approach is one that a lot of reboots have taken. Prey, with its story of a Comanche woman fighting a Yautja across the Great Plains in 1719, immediately comes to mind. Romulus, though, can’t help but dip its toe in the franchise well and, like the horrific creatures found in Weyland Yutani test labs, it becomes a distorted and disfigured amalgamation of what has come before, for both good and bad.

Haunted by itself, Alien: Romulus can’t help but look back, as if to say, “See, this is why you loved those movies.” It’s an ineffective tactic, especially when so much else of the film works as well as it does. There are effective jumpscares, unforgettable gore, and enough Xenomorphs to fill three Nostromos. Rain and Andy’s relationship is one that expands considerably throughout the film and Spaeny and Jonsson make for a helluva team.

Alien’s Established Formula Doesn’t Hurt Romulus

But it’s caught between two movies

Ultimately, Romulus finds itself stuck in some liminal space between the sheen of contemporary blockbuster filmmaking, with its franchise callbacks and interstellar scale, and the lo-fi tension that leads to abject terror in the original films. It’s a beautifully shot movie, using the Romulus space station as a playground for slaughter, moody lighting, and a few chill-inducing action scenes as it approaches obliteration in a stray asteroid belt.

A third act twist, one that is sure to delight Prometheus lovers (of which I am one), results in a gnarly birth scene and a classic monster chase that feels both of its franchise and a new, uglier version of Alien. While thematically light compared to previous entries, Romulus is a damn good time, a collision of what made the Alien movies great and what made the new prequels so divisive.

Alien: Romulus releases in theaters on August 16. The film is 119 minutes long and rated R for bloody violent content and language.

3.5

Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.

Pros

• Alien: Romulus feels like a classic Alien movie in many ways.
• Cailee Spaeny is great as new hero Rain.
• Fede Alvarez crafts a beautifully claustrophobic environment.
• The callbacks to Prometheus bring the franchise full circle.

Cons

• Some references and callbacks feel like fan service.
• The appearance of a familiar face feels forced.