Alien: Romulus

Alien: Romulus starts off promising enough, with interesting takes on the dystopian world of the Alien franchise combined with beautiful cinematography and a creepy atmosphere. But around the half-hour mark, it starts going downhill — and accelerates with every passing minute. The worst part is the incessant and extremely annoying fan service and visual callbacks to the previous movies, combined with a horrible CGI re-creation of Ash from Alien. These moments take you out of the film completely and utterly ruin whatever atmosphere or build-up the director had going. It’s like an ignored child shouting for attention: “Look at me, look at me! Remember this famous line from Aliens? Huh? Do you? What about this one from Alien? Huh? Do you? Aren’t we clever for putting it here in the movie?” It’s frustrating. Combine that with a plot that’s basically a rehash of Alien and Prometheus, and you have a movie that feels uninspired and predictable. The young cast also gives Alien: Romulus a whole “Camp Crystal in spaaaace” vibe, which doesn’t help. There are some good moments, though — a few innovative action scenes, and David Jonsson is genuinely great as the android Andy. However, these few flashes of brilliance aren’t enough to save the movie from mediocrity.

Fede Álvarez delivers a film in Alien: Romulus that tries to revitalize the franchise but stumbles on several key aspects. While visually appealing and faithful to the oppressive atmosphere characteristic of the saga, the movie lacks a solid narrative and memorable characters. The script relies too heavily on genre clichés, with bland dialogue and unconvincing decisions from its protagonists. Attempts to explore philosophical themes about survival and human nature remain superficial, leaving the impression that the film tries to tackle more than it can handle. Álvarez’s direction, which has shone in the past with more intimate horror projects, feels overwhelmed in such an established universe. The moments of tension and terror fail to achieve the desired impact, falling into an uneven rhythm that alternates between dull and predictable. For the most devoted fans of Alien, this installment is particularly disappointing. In an unfortunate parallel to Disney's mishandling of the Star Wars saga, Romulus feels like a production that prioritizes franchise formulas over true innovation or respect for the original spirit. Rather than expanding the Alien legacy, the film dilutes it, leaving a bitter aftertaste for fans who had expected much more. Ultimately, Alien: Romulus fails to live up to its heritage, becoming a missed opportunity and a reminder that not all cinematic revivals are necessary.

The Alien franchise has had its ups and downs with mostly the latter in recent years. This latest one, which takes place in between Alien: Covenant and Alien in the timeline, is a solid entry from Fede Alvarez and is more in the vein of the first film in terms of look and tone. The story is pretty basic and no real twists that we haven't seen before in the franchise, but I did like the lead actress Cailee Spaeny. The classic line, "Getaway from her you bitch" was delivered as great as Bale's "I'll be back" from Terminator Salvation (meaning not very well). Still, an all around entertaining sci-fi horror film that has great effects, both practical and CGI. **3.5/5**