Alien Romulus

Like many horror and sci-fi nerds, I grew up with the Alien franchise. My Dad took me to Aliens in 1986, when I was about 11-years-old. At the start of the movie, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is lying in a hospital bed talking to Paul Reiser. Suddenly, she doesn’t feel right. She looks scared, she clutches at her chest, we hear her heartbeat as time slows, Jonesy the Cat hisses at her as she goes into full panic mode, knocking equipment over and making a scene. Then — bam — a chestburster blasts through her rib cage — and she wakes up. It was all a dream.

In that moment, I knew real horror for the first time. My body had a physiological reaction — my own heart was pounding, I was sweating, I felt a scream working its way up my throat. But I swallowed it hard, held it all in, because I didn’t want my Dad to see that I was freaking out.  

That was my introduction to the Alien franchise, but also to horror and science fiction beyond heroic space operas that featured a lived-in world of blue collar workers. Alien Romulus director Fede Alvarez clearly a similar experience. (Alvarez is known for the Evil Dead remake, which I didn’t love, and Don’t Breathe, which is a surprisingly excellent home invasion movie).

The original Ridley Scott Alien is a classic. The James Cameron follow up is an upping the stakes action bonanza sequel. Fincher’s Alien 3 was unfairly maligned and is still my third favourite in the series. Alien vs. Predator are unwatchable and Scott’s later Prometheus and Covenant are technically masterful and have some great ideas, but they’re crushed under the weight of plot holes and other nonsense. So, what was Alvarez going to bring to the table?

In Alien Romulus, a group of young slaves on a corporation mining planet figure out a way to freedom that involves stealing cryo-sleep chambers from an orbiting, derelict space station. (It takes place after the events of Alien and before Aliens).

Overall, I’m positive about the film and it was a fun theatrical experience, worth spending your hard-earned money on. That said, the movie also left me a bit cold. But let’s unpack that sticky, gooey egg and see what’s inside. Guard your mouth hole!

On the plus side, the movie is a well-crafted action/horror film that feels at home among the original three films. There are some good jump scares, a couple of decent characters, and it looks great (some really cool space shots!). There are a few great action movie/video game idea; acid blood in zero gravity, fighting on a ship where acid blood means a hull breech, etc. There are some good practical effects (though, one legacy character with very distracting, bad CGI). The movie is paced well; it never feels like it’s dragging.

However, while I don’t have anything overly negative to say about it, it left me somewhat cold. The reason for this is because it felt like a fan fiction Alien movie. Which, I suppose, it was. But it borrows so much from the first three movies, with almost no surprises. At some points, it’s literally giving you the same moments as those films, including some cringey fan service.

Here’s where I think mileage may vary for viewers. To me, it felt like déjà vu — a carbon copy of several better movies that I’ve seen hundreds of times. However, I think if you haven’t seen an Alien movie, or at least, you’re not overly familiar with them, then this could be the most exciting and surprising movie you’ve seen this year.

So, take what you will from that assessment. I wish they had chosen to do something different with this franchise. Like, when are the Xenomorphs finally going to get to (or near) Earth? That was what the original trilogy kept hammering on. And yet, here we are on another derelict space station in the middle of nowhere.

However, don’t let me put you off too much. Alien Romulus is an otherwise excellent film that looks amazing and has a ton of thrills. It is 100% worth seeing in the theatre.

My own 11-year-old son isn’t ready for horror movies yet. But if he was, I know this would scare the shit out of him. And potentially create a lifelong fan of horror and science fiction, the way Aliens did for me.