The studio formerly known as 20th Century Fox was the home of many successful sci-fi franchises, ranging from Planet of the Apes, Star Wars and even Avatar. Due to the Disney acquisition, many of these franchises are being revived by the house that Mickey Mouse built, though that wasn’t going to stop the Alien series from losing the chest-bursting spectacle. Having directed the 1979 horror masterpiece simply titled Alien, Ridley Scott regained control of the franchise since 2012’s Prometheus, and now Scott collaborates as a producer with director Fede Álvarez to bring new life to the Xenomorph in Alien: Romulus.
Set between the events of Scott’s own Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, Alien: Romulus centers on Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), an orphaned young woman, and her synthetic adoptive brother Andy (David Jonsson). Both desperate to leave the mining colony they have worked at for years, they are approached by fellow miners to salvage cryopods from a derelict spacecraft. However, they discover something much more horrifying in the shape of alien creatures.
The franchise has changed so much over the decades, with various directors putting their own spin on this sci-fi world that is the antithesis of the light-hearted space adventures of Star Wars. Especially after 2017’s Alien: Covenant, which got too deep into explaining the mythology, Álvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues decide to revert back to back-to-basics horror in the way that the original Alien was The Old Dark House in space. Considering Álvarez has made his name in the horror genre with his Evil Dead re-imagining and Don’t Breathe, Romulus follows the formula of a Fede Álvarez horror flick, even down to the miners themselves being twenty-somethings that could appear in a generic slasher.
Despite the fine performances from everyone and the attempt to find some emotional connection, the characters aren’t the most well-developed. The only dynamic you care about is Rain and Andy, whose relationship changes throughout the course of the narrative. David Jonsson may deliver the standout performance — though that’s a given since the artificial person is the most fun character in these movies — Cailee Spaeny holds her own in a role that evokes the iconography of Ellen Ripley, but doesn’t attempt to copycat what Sigourney Weaver had achieved.
Watching this latest instalment shows that Álvarez is a huge fan of the franchise, for better or worse with many callbacks to previous films, even including the recent Scott-directed entries. With its specific setting in the timeline, without going into spoilers, the storytelling ties itself with Ridley Scott’s original to rather clunky effect, particularly the appearance of a familiar face.
As the fan service makes you wish that Romulus functioned as its own thing, Álvarez’s remixing of the well-established mythos leads to some intense set-pieces, particularly with the facehuggers that will get under your skin. It may not reach the slow-burning horror of the 1979 original, but you have to be impressed by the insanity that Álvarez throws at, especially in the third act that throws in gore, zero gravity and a last-minute final boss that is really unexpected.
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