Directed with reverence to the Alien franchise by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe), Alien: Romulus is a sequel that reworks aspects of previous sequels in the Alien series into a refreshing take that largely works as an effective horror film.
Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adoptive brother, Andy, a synthetic human, join a band of raiders who attempt to salvage technology from Romulus, a space station that contains a surviving species from the Nostromo (from Alien) when they inadvertently release alien specimens. As the crew flees in terror and the ship’s security features lock down, it becomes a test of survival against a ‘perfect organism’, one that is a tactical priority of the Weyland corporation and its AI entity’s ‘prime directive’ that could spell doom for all.
Early on, the film sets up scary situations with the crew trapped aboard a spacecraft filled with monstrous xenomorphs leading to edge of the seat moments and grisly violence. There are numerous references (including a noteworthy callback) and visual homages to the Alien films especially the original although much of the film’s DNA draws from Alien: Resurrection. In fact, the film could be guilty of playing it safe with too many similarities to the original film. The filmmakers should have had more confidence in their storytelling than leaning into established concepts. After intriguing insights into the aliens’ behavior and life cycle, there is an interesting twist that has horrifying implications that could take the franchise in new directions.
Spaeny does quite
well (in the
spirit of Ellen Ripley from the first film), and kudos go to the technical team
for the impressive sets and visual design.
Essentially a celestial funhouse
of horror, this is a film meant to terrify and scare but nothing more. It
succeeds.
****
of ***** stars (for Alien fans)
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