Alien: Romulus – A Familiar Organism with Updated Design
When I first saw the trailer for Alien: Romulus a year ago, I was immediately intrigued. There’s something about seeing a frightened woman (Let me finish) sprinting down a derelict space station hallway with flickering lights to inevitably be confronted by a xenomorph that never gets old. When I saw that Fede Alvarez (Director of the Evil Dead reboot in 2013 and Don’t Breathe) was the director entrusted in delivering the latest installment of Ridley Scott’s vision, my intrigue quickly turned into excitement. I was excited to the point where I actually started to become worried, I began to ask myself, ‘Am I expecting too much from this film?”. The indication that Alien: Romulus would return to the original formula of story combined with decades of equity built up in the Alien IP provides this movie with a high floor. It seemed almost too obvious, the next question I began to ask myself is “How is Alvarez going to fuck this up?”. After viewing Alien: Romulus, I can confidently say that not only did Alvarez not “Fuck it up” – this movie actually fucks. It’s a protein rich, low fat steak of an Alien movie. From the linear structure to the small cast, this is a pretty slim cut with excellent production design, remarkable set pieces, and some impressive performances from the cast.
The production design that Alvarez and his team brought to Alien: Romulus is the first aspect that you will notice. This film was shot to be seen on the big screen. It really captures the vastness and emptiness of space in a way feels bigger than the setting of the film. It’s able to capture an interesting feeling, where you simultaneously experience the immenseness of the universe and yet feel the claustrophobia and trapped feelings that comes with an alien movie. This movie not only looks good, but it also sounds good too. There are some set pieces where Alvarez uses the sound (or rather the absence of sound) to build effectively build tension. The sound makes this movie feel big when it needs to feel big, dread when there are moments with no hope, and tense when inevitable doom is looming. Cailee Spainey and David Jonsson both played the main leads, and I thought they were both incredible. Their relationship is the other focal point of this film, and they both do well considering how much they have to do. The ensemble cast is also filled with very good performances.
If you want to be critical, the third act can get a little long at parts and branches off into different endings. But to be honest, the set pieces and production are so good that it is easy to overlook. I didn’t feel at any moment while watching this film that it was too long. This movie was extremely fun to watch in theaters, and while it doesn’t do much in terms of furthering the lore of the Alien universe I appreciate that Alvarez trusted that the audience has seen Alien and focused on the aspects that would maximize the viewing experience and not veer offtrack with pointless exposition. It’s worth noting that the Alien franchise is so ingrained into our culture that there’s not much you can surprise the audience with. For the most part, everyone has seen an alien movie and knows what a xenomorph looks like. Alien: Romulus is working from a disadvantage as Alvarez can’t hide anything. So it’s a credit to Alvarez and the production team to integrate a sleek and smooth style into the film while maintaining the concepts that made Alien great in 1979. The film leans on its strengths and minimizes spots that could be potential pitfalls.
Alien: Romulus is a film that returns to the horror basics, and there’s a lot that feels similar to the original. That might be a turn-off for some who are looking for a more original story, but at the end of the day it’s a sleek film that has fantastic production design, great performances, and doesn’t overextend itself by overcomplicating the plot. So I’ll just repeat my earlier summary of the film; this movie fucks.
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