When Alien premiered 45 years ago, it unleashed an unprecedented level of terror onto audiences, which would leave a lasting mark on the world of film and broaden what science fiction and horror could achieve when combined.
1986’s Aliens further expanded upon that concept with immense success before Alien3 made the momentum of the franchise come to a grinding halt after its deeply troubled production and subsequent poor reception from critics and audiences alike.
Sigourney Weaver departed the franchise after 1997’s Alien: Resurrection, the two AVP crossover films cheapened the inherent terror associated with both the Alien and the Predator franchises, leaving the interest in both at an all-time low.
As such, when Ridley Scott returned to helm 2012’s Prometheus, there was hope that the franchise may return to a semblance of what it once was.
But Scott’s needlessly convoluted attempt to imbue the Alien universe with a deeper meaning only served to make it frustratingly muddled, which ultimately kept Prometheus from tapping into the primal sense of terror Scott had utilized so well in the original film.
Alien: Covenant once again promised to revitalize the franchise, but due to Scott’s unwillingness to let go of his need to overcomplicate the narrative, his third effort in the franchise also fell short of capturing what had once made the franchise so iconic and compelling.
Much like the original quartet of films had different directors, each with their own unique style and vision, it was evident that new blood was needed once more if the Alien franchise was to stand a chance of being reinvigorated, and Fede Álvarez’ penchant for gore and body horror seemed like it just might do the trick.
As the marketing campaign for Alien: Romulus began, there was a heavy emphasis on how Álvarez wanted his contribution to bring the franchise back to its roots by seeking a more stripped down narrative with emphasis on atmosphere and practical effects in order to recapture what had made the franchise so thrillingly unnerving back in the day.
Álvarez’ film starts off strong by reimmersing the viewer in the filthy and unsafe world introduced by Scott, the production value, set design and sound design bringing about a welcome return to the style and themes so integral to the franchise.
The group of characters with a very bad time ahead of them have a few standouts with Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson in particular delivering good performances, just as the motivations of the group to go exploring where they should not is tinged with enough desperation to merit them doing such an inadvisable thing.
As we board the Romulus section of an abandoned Weyland-Yutani research outpost, the inspiration Álvarez has taken from the 2014 survival game Alien: Isolation saturates every frame, and he succeeds in recreating the sense of dread both the game and the early films did so well, mixing familiar beats with new takes in a largely satisfying manner.
However, once a particularly ghoulish digital recreation of a character from one of the previous films is introduced, Alien: Romulus comes apart at the seams, and swiftly unravels into one of the most egregious overuses of fanservice ever committed to celluloid.
Having nods to what came before is not unusual in franchises, but where set design, costuming and sound effects are usually welcome reminders of a certain cinematic world, as they can help to create texture and cohesion that support immersion, that is not the case with Alien: Romulus.
Instead, the viewer is bombarded with recreated visuals, regurgitated plot points, and recited dialogue, none of which are subtle, but instead insist on referencing some of the most memorable moments from previous installments. This zaps the film of any tension and turns it into an insufferable circle jerk of self-referencing, which is taken to borderline farcical levels when the final threat is revealed in the finale of the film.
Aside from the tension, another casualty of this lazy “greatest hits” approach to storytelling is the character development of the new protagonists, as any discernible sense of identity is removed from them as their arcs drown in a tidal wave of reminders about other characters, rendering the newcomers incapable of leaving any memorable impression of themselves beyond what they achieved in the first half of the film.
The sense of urgency also continues to dwindle as the runtime and references mount, in spite of the characters having multiple factors putting constraints on their mission and their lifespans.
Not even the gore and body horror can save the film – which is particularly disappointing considering Álvarez rose to infamy because his remake of The Evil Dead was an unhinged bloodbath – resulting in Alien: Romulus bafflingly being the most milquetoast in the series in terms of gore.
While Prometheus and Alien: Covenant where underwhelming and excessively elaborate, they at least sought to do something new with the franchise, as frustrating as those new takes largely were.
With Alien: Romulus, the first half being as engaging as it is only makes it that much worse that the second half is as lazy and devoid of an identity of its own as it is.
Those less familiar with the beats of the older films may find some entertainment value in Álvarez’ film, as the callbacks will be less obvious to them, but for those who are well-versed in the franchise and hoping the new film will finally be a return to form, it is unfortunately anything but.
Verdict: 3 out of 10.
* * * * *
Produced by Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Walter Hill
Written by Fede Álvarez,, Rodo Sayagues
Based on Characters Created by Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Directed by Fede Álvarez
Starring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux,
Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
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