Film Review: ‘Alien: Romulus’ Has Enough Scares to Point the Franchise in a Solid Direction

The Alien franchise is a tail of a few highs, a couple of crossover lows, and aside from that, a lot of mediocrity. I’ll talk about that more when I rank the films later on in the week, but for a series with major influences on cinema, as well as a status as A-list, surprisingly few entries have been of high quality. There’s Alien and Aliens, but no other stone cold classic movies. So, Alien: Romulus enters the fray with a lower bar to clear than you might expect in order to be considered upper echelon. Does it accomplish that? Yes, but not quite by as much as you might hope. It’s good, to be sure, but anyone wishing for it to be great will end up at least slightly disappointed. Still, the franchise is on solid ground and potentially pointed in the right direction.

Alien: Romulus is closer in approach to the two best installments, though it does more or less take a straightforward approach to being a mix of science fiction and horror. The action is far less than in Aliens, so it’s a slightly scaled up Alien, at its core. That might not sit well with those looking for something big and bold and new. However, if you’re just looking for the powers that be to get this sort of thing right again, well, you’re in luck.

Rain (Cailee Spaeny) knows nothing but darkness. Her mining planet never gets to see the sun, her parents have died in the mines, and it’s just her and her robot “brother” Andy (David Jonsson), an older model deemed out of date by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. She works, along with most others, as an indentured servant, essentially, but Tyler (Archie Renaux) has a plan to get her and some of his friends to a better place. The company has a vessel out of commission just above the planet with the materials they need to travel to a new world. A little scavenging and they’ll be home free. Tyler just needs Andy’s help, with Rain the key, as the robot is programmed to do what’s best for her. After a little resistance, she agrees.

In addition to that trio, along for the ride are Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu). Almost immediately, things don’t go according to plan. First, the ship is actually a massive space station, one that’s slowly going to crash into the belt around their planet. Once on the derelict space station, the group discovers that they’re not alone. The station wasn’t de-comissioned, but overrun by an alien presence, one that’s still there and very much prepared to ruin their day. A fight for survival like we have yet to see ensues.

The small cast isn’t exactly well developed, but David Jonsson and Cailee Spaeny are best in show. Jonsson’s interpretation of the older model of robot is actually surprisingly emotional, which goes a long way towards investing you in Andy’s relationship with Rain. There’s heart here, in a way the rest of the film does not contain. Spaeny isn’t asked to do quite as much as she’s capable of, but she manages to be both a very acceptable scream queen and a believable hero. She’s not Sigourney Weaver, admittedly, but then again, who is? Isabela Merced doesn’t get enough to sink her teeth into, while Archie Renaux ends up blander than intended. On the other hand, Spike Fearn immediately grates on you, while Aileen Wu leaves absolutely no impression. Supporting players include Rosie Ede, but Jonsson and Spaeny are who you ultimately care about.

Filmmaker Fede Alvarez directs this with a clear affection for the franchise, while the script he penned with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues utilizes a lot of what he’s done in his prior work. There’s again a small team attempting a break in, members meant to stick around while others are for the body count, and a third act move towards the divisive/weird. The H.R. Giger design of the xenomorph is on full display, with the facehuggers getting more attention than usual. Alvarez and Sayagues depict them in a more spider-like way than I’d prefer, but that’s a me problem. They also go for a real big swing towards the end that some will love and some will hate. I mostly liked what they took a shot at, even if it’s a bit out of left field. By not doing too much, they largely figured out how to make an effective entry into this series.

Fans of the franchise will likely appreciate most of the callbacks and easter eggs found here. There’s one big choice that I’ve avoided spoiling that will probably not go over too well, but it’s not an unforgivable flaw. There’s less of the weird sexual overtones of the Giger design with the creatures than usual, but the straightforward approach is just a different way of tackling things, as opposed to a positive or negative.

Alien: Romulus is unlikely to blow anyone away. At the same time, it’s hard not to feel like this is a definite step in the right direction. If it had stayed as a Hulu release, it might have seemed smaller and more insignificant. While Prey avoided that issue (though I admittedly saw that on the big screen), this could have. So, the fact that we have this franchise in cinemas, about to thrill and terrify again without any extra bells and whistles, well…I think that’s a good thing.

SCORE: ★★★