Alien: Romulus

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Alien: Romulus is the seventh Alien film (ninth if you count the vs Predator films) and is set in between Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens. Within this feature, Rain, a young colonist on a Weyland-Yutani mining world, seeks her escape to an independent planet free of corporate control. When her salvager friends unveil a spaceship and a plan to harvest cryo-pods from a nearby wreck, there seems to be hope. But none of the crew are prepared for the horrors awaiting them on the abandoned space station.

This is a film that is for horror fans, it's for science-fiction fans and it's an incredibly sincere love letter to the fans of the Alien franchise. What this film understands is that the series isn't about explaining the monster as the last two entries have stumbled through, rather this is about building an atmosphere, a building tension that something dark and terrible is impending. From the moment we entered the space station Romulus, the whole tone shifted. There was a colder quality to the setting, and the emptiness of those halls left a sense of foreboding in the air. Steadily this film blends in that monstrous other, the Xenomorph through every stage of evolution, placing our heroes in peril that leaves us questioning who will actually make it out of this mess. The main brother/sister dynamic of Rain and her adopted android brother, Andy, is perhaps the most charming part about the film. These two lean on one another, even if Rain can be indifferent or if Andy is faulty. This is a relationship built on trust and even love, like you'd see in siblings. Watching this relationship become corrupted over the course of the film is an emotional sucker punch, and one of those deft narrative moments that send this film sailing leagues ahead of past instalments. The rest of the salvagers are a fascinating crew as well, they aren't all likeable people, but they aren't inherently bad. They are desperate and come from bad lives, now finding themselves in a life and death situation that is consuming them whole. The film also positions the megacorporation of Weyland-Yutani as a central antagonist, even in a decaying android husk the vicious qualities of the company are being dished out to our heroes. This is a quintessential Alien film that honours what has come before while building a thrilling new experience for a brand-new audience.

This is visually the most impressive Alien has looked since 1986. The cinematography is really special, playing with tight corners, focus slightly off-centre and extreme close-ups to evoke powerful scares; action is also caught in a thrilling manner that showcases movement well. The visual effects are next level; the design of the creatures, the space station and especially the spacecraft flight had my jaw dropped. Benjamin Wallfisch does the score for this film, and it rocks, the music sets in and leaves you feeling frozen with the chill of a scene.

 

Cailee Spaeny, who played Rain, finds a great protagonist in her desperate horror heroine; her scene work with Jonsson is phenomenal and my top reason to see this film. Archie Renaux, who played Tyler, feels like the level-headed and charismatic leader type; Renaux does a good job in maintaining a refreshing moral presence that leaves us feeling hope. Isabela Merced, who played Kay, is the more charming and innocent type of character in this; Merced gets to revel in playing the 'scream queen' who often finds herself in the most perilous situations. Spike Fearn, who played Bjorn, feels like the token jerk with a heavy chip on his shoulder; his antagonistic attitude makes him one you will love to hate. Daniel Betts, who played Rook, managed to provide a great performance underneath an ugly visual effect; Betts' has an unsettling cold delivery that feels in pace with Holm's brilliant original portrayal.

However, the best performance came from David Jonsson, who played Andy. There must be something about the android roles I feel, a great actor can evoke some powerful stuff while appearing emotionless at times. Jonsson in this is so sweet with his dorky Dad jokes and moments of affection for his adopted sister Rain. Jonsson does a lot of work making his character non-confrontational and very passive, he's vulnerable at first. This is not the bold android with peak performance and an ulterior motive like Fassbender or Holm. This is a figure you really root for and hope to see a bright new day with his sister. Watching the switch flick in Jonsson as his role becomes more calculating and cold is fascinating. It shows an incredible range in his ability to perform, and it makes the ultimate reunion scene all the sweeter. Andy is a character who functions in the world of protagonist and antagonist, with Jonsson being more than capable for either.

The things I disliked in Alien: Romulus are more things I felt as being very tired film tropes or negative signs in terms of the direction of Hollywood. The final act of the film had a terrible final fifteen to twenty minutes, in which a monstrous pregnancy trope makes a real beast out of a woman carrying a child. This was everywhere in the 70s/80s horror scene and seriously feels like a played out plot point. It's a bit misogynistic and goes beyond the realms of pushing the body horror envelope. The fact Fede Alvarez has done this here and in Don't Breathe feels a bit uncomfortable and makes me wonder how much studios leash his scripts in. I also really disliked Ian Holm's Rook being digitally reconstructed and puppeteered around. Rook was well written and well performed in this, don't get me wrong, but he was in almost the whole film as a poor CGI effect. The only poor CGI effect of the film. Ian Holm is dead, and it was like watching a corpse do ballet, unsettling and more than a little wrong. I also thought the zero gravity moment in which Rain spiral and dances through acid blood was a bit of a corny end to a major confrontation.

Aileen Wu, who played Navarro, feels the least experienced of the cast and seems set up just to go out; her stoic nature meant her role didn't feel like it had too many facets to it.

One of the best entries we have had in the series since the first two, a must-watch for Alien fans. I would give Alien: Romulus an 8/10.