alien romulus [launch]
The best way I can describe my thoughts on this movie is “I wanted it to be a different movie- but the movie they did end up making was great.”
I think it’s fair to say the first 75% of Alien: Romulus is the movie Alien, and the last 25% is the movie Aliens. Alvarez was very upfront about that in the leadup to this movie, that it was going to be a tonal blend of the first two wildly beloved films, so I wasn’t too surprised to see guns-blazing action and a blockbuster-esque Xeno-extravaganza near the wrapup point. However, as much as I enjoyed this, going in I wanted it to be different. I wanted a quieter, almost silent small-budget retro futuristic movie with all new characters (but few of them), one practically-built monster with an eerie sense of dread setting it up, and a Jaws-level of hide and seek with the creature itself to build even more suspense. I wanted a small, passionate, eerie horror movie that looks like it took years, but maybe only a couple million dollars, to craft.
Thankfully, I got pretty much exactly that for almost the entire runtime of the film. What I did not anticipate, nor did I really want, was a pinch of nostalgia bait. I’m talking mostly about the Ian Holm Grand-Moff-Tarkin CGI deepfake. Yeah, that was putrid, and the worst part about it is that it was computer-generated on a movie that was 98%, and prided itself on its, practical effects. Huge slap in the face. And while we’re on the topic, the film was much more “big” than I expected it to be, too. Not only in its approach to nostalgia and word-of-mouth references (“Get away from her, you bitch- erm, that sounded better in my head!!1! XD), but also in its usage of guns, serums, sequel setup as a result of said serums, and one uniquely blockbuster-y creature that we’ll talk about later. That kind of disappointed me as I was watching it- but here’s the thing. The presence of any of these elements is not bad in and of itself. They’re just different. They were executed near flawlessly. Like I said, I wanted this movie to be different, but the movie they did decide to make was pretty damn good.
I have no other negatives about this edge-of-your-seat experience. The retro futuristic setting, with the rain dripping down off the windows, the white, clean corridors, the technology, elements of ‘Mother’ from the first film, the spaceship designs, the doors- might be my favorite setting/vibe in any movie ever. There’s a reason my unrealized fantasy script from back in high school had that exact same setting. The world feels so lived in and real. The cinematography and lighting gels with this style insanely well. Even with Dune this year having the same quality level, but differently scoped, cinematography, it's been a while since I’ve seen a movie that looks this good, and the smaller scope of this does not detract from its fleshed out world. The sound design and effects, as per usual, are subtle and unnoticed yet masterful, and the design of the Xenomorphs themselves? Perfect. Literally perfect. These triumphant colossi have cemented themselves as one of the most respected, effortlessly-crafted and timeless creature designs in the history of practical effects. There’s a reason they’re still scary 45 years later.
Speaking of scary, that white alien baby monster thing was a legitimate surprise, one deserving of its setup. I actually got chills in the theater upon seeing that monstrosity. I didn't expect such a gasp from the audience from a movie like this, but I'm so glad we got one last scare, and moreover, I'm glad it was so different from what we were expecting. That damn baby was SO creepy.
I liked pretty much every character in this movie, and all the performances were great all around, with the standout in my opinion being David Jonsson, if only by a small margin. I’d love to see him in more stuff, and I’m also very excited to see Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl in the upcoming Superman movie. I don’t know if this particular set of characters will reach the icon level of the original Alien’s crew, but they all served their respective purposes in a horror movie, if not slightly underutilized. I will say though, the eerily-lit X-ray shot of the baby Xenomorph in Aileen Wu’s Navarro’s chest was INCREDIBLE. One of my favorite visual moments in the entire experience (although the anti-gravity acid blood whirlpooling around the corridor was stupid action-movie fun too.)
It’s gaudy, bombastic and a little bit louder than I would have liked, but Alien: Romulus is a fantastic innovation of the horror genre in a gorgeous setting with well-written characters that pushes the Alien franchise forward overall. If this film’s only standing legacy is that it was an edge-of-your-seat, tightly crafted sci-fi horror/action hybrid that dropped jaws only once in the theaters and nothing more, it will have accomplished what it set out to do with style.
