Movie Reviews

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Alien: Romulus

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Out of the seven Alien franchise movies (not counting the two Alien vs. Predator movies), this was the first one that I have rooted for the creatures--go arachnoids go !

The movie fails because of the screenplay written by the director
Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead 2013, Don't Breathe, The Girl in the Spider's Web) and Rodo Sayagues, his frequent collaborator. The story takes place about twenty years after Alien. A space probe recovers a gestating xenomorph in a cocoon from the wreckage of the Nostromo. In an attempt to go AWOL from their employer, Weyland-Yutani, the crew commandeers a space hauler in order to reach a space station so they can steal its cryostasis equipment necessary for their escape. At the Renaissance space station, members of the crew unintentionally release a swarm of facehuggers. They are saved and retreat to the space hauler but one of the crew, Navarro is impregnated by a facehugger. Meanwhile in the space hauler, a xenomorph hatches from the cocoon. A fight between the facehuggers/xenomorphs and the crew follows.

The film stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. Spaeny, playing Rain Carradine, was excellent in Priscilla and Civil War, but doesn't have the intensity of her predecessor heroines, Sigourney Weaver, Katherine Waterston, and Noomi Rapace. David Jonsson (Max's Industry 2020-2022) is only adequate as the android, Andy. I didn't have much empathy for the rest of the crew. The interior sets are uninspired and because the story is confined to spacecrafts the film is intensely claustrophobic which has a negative effect.

Rook, a scientist android, is created by CGI and voiced by a Speecher modified Daniel Betts to resemble Ian Holm's Ash from Alien. He joins the growing list of CGI resurrected actors. It's a chilling performance that raises questions about the future of movies. Will there be expanded roles for CGI created thespians? Can we expect a movie starring a CGI Marilyn Monroe or Steve McQueen in the future? One thing I know for sure, a good screenplay makes a good movie and this film is lacking one.

I can't recommend Alien: Romulus. The story is convoluted, the spacecraft interior sets are unimaginative, the acting is dull, the characters are unsympathetic, the sound is annoyingly loud, the action is average, there is no suspense and the tropes are banal.

Alien Romulus• Final Trailer • Twentieth Century Studios• YouTube

Alien: Romulus • Various streaming services • R • 1hr. 59 min. • 2 min. read