S Poddar
Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus is not another entry in the great science fiction horror franchise but a bold, bloody, brazen attempt to breathe new life into a rather familiar nightmare. It is a movie that takes place between the original Alien and Aliens, its appreciation for the classics clearly noted in its sleeve.
Cailee Spaeny is at the head of the charge of new stars, and it certainly seems her star shines brighter with each passing role. Her character, together with all the rest, are a batch of young space colonists standing in sharp contrast to the grizzled vets of the old films. Desperate, hopeful, and utterly unprepared for the cosmic horror that awaits them.
Álvarez, whose calling card has been his gleeful embrace of gore, delivers in spades. Alien: Romulus is visceral, but more than that, it’s a relentless assault on the senses. In terms of pulse-pounding tension and shockingly brutal set pieces, it falls directly in the golden age vein of the franchise. That said, while the ability of the director to craft terrifying sequences is undeniable, often the story of the film plays second fiddle to its carnage.
The world-building is out of this world. Romulus pains a forsaken mining colony on a sunless planet, where hope comes few and far between. The characters are the product of this harsh environment, and one truly does feel that desperation to escape. A world that has been lived in where the weight of history hangs heavy at every corner of it.
Yet, for all of its strengths, Romulus missteps when it tries to hew too close to the original film. At one point, the film decided to resurrect one of the most loved characters digitally, which came off opportunistic and disrespectful. It’s a misfiring move that overshadows the achievements of the film.
Even with this misstep, Alien: Romulus is a wild ride. It’s a movie that knows its franchise DNA inside and out but also has the guts to do something a little different. It’s a movie that will appease longtime fans with its gory spectacle and is a movie that might just introduce a new generation to the terrifying world of the xenomorph.
Ultimately, Alien: Romulus is a split-personality film. It’s a brutal, exhilarating horror spectacle, but it also aspires to be a thoughtful character study. It succeeds fantastically at the former but falls quite short of its ideals on the latter. Nevertheless, it’s a film that demands to be seen—a bold statement in a franchise that often plays things safe.
Alien: Romulus is the movie that will leave you breathless, disgusted, and eager for more. It is definitely a movie proving there is some bite left in the Alien franchise. Not to say it is without flaws, but it is at least really good.
