'Alien: Romulus' Restores The Franchise To Its Early Greatness

Fans of the Alien movie franchise have been salivating for a movie experience similar to the first film and its sequel, Aliens. Director Fede Álvarez stepped up to the plate and clearly understood the assignment. Listening to Fede Álvarez speak about his love for the Alien franchise; you could immediately tell he was anxious to get an opportunity to deliver his take on a movie featuring the iconic movie monster, the Xenomorph. Álavarez is no stranger to reviving classic movie franchises; you don’t have to look further than 2013’s Evil Dead, which has become a beloved film among horror fans.

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But with Alien, this was a different beast, and being a fan himself, he knew he had to approach it with the utmost care when making Alien: Romulus. Co-written with his longtime collaborator Rodo Sayagues, Álvarez went to great lengths to make an authentic Alien film that both Ridley Scott, director of Alien (1979), and James Cameron, who delivered what many considered to be one of the greatest movie sequels of all time in Aliens (1986) gave him their stamp of approval. With Romulus, Álvarez wanted to return the franchise to its sci-fi/horror roots that Scott so fantastically delivered with his classic film. Using both Alien and Aliens as a template, Álvarez tells a story that will feel familiar to fans but uniquely fresh at the same time.

A Scavenging Mission Turns Into A Nightmare For A Young Group of Space Colonizers

In Alien: Romulus, which occurs between Alien and Aliens, we follow Rain (Caliee Spaeny), an orphan, and her android brother Andy (David Jonsson). Rain and her brother/protector live in a Weyland Yutani colony that only experiences perpetual darkness and longs to head to a new home where she can experience sunrises and not be a literal slave to a company. She gets an opportunity to make that happen when a group of scavengers she calls friends, Navarro (Aileen Wu), Kay (Isabella Merced), Tyler (Archie Renaux), and Bjorn (Spike Fearn), decide to take a trip to what they believe is a derelict ship that turns out to be a massive space station called Rennaissance to obtain some cryo pods so they can leave the colony and head to their new home in hopes of having better lives. Little do they know that the space station is home to a terrible secret, the Xenomorph, that the Weyland Yutani Corporation has been experimenting on in hopes of using its secrets to enhance humanity for profit. The ragtag group’s scavenger expedition becomes a survival mission as they race against time to escape the space station while avoiding becoming incubators for Xenomorphs.

Alavarez’s Attenion To Detail

In Romulus, Álvarez paid homage to all of the Alien films before, placing plenty of callbacks and details that will undoubtedly gain the appreciation of lifelong fans. Each location recaptures the feelings we experienced while watching the previous movies, like the claustrophobic, tense settings as Rain and her crew navigate Romulus and Remus sections of the Renaissance space station, which instantly gives you the feeling of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) navigating the dark halls of the Nostromo or the eerily empty corridors of Hadley’s Hope. Álvarez’s attention to detail is also appreciated as he and his crew brilliantly recreated the retro-futuristic look from the first two films down to a tee. Another aspect Álvarez knocks out of the park is making the Xenomorph and those little disgusting Facehuggers terrifying again. The director brought back people who worked on the first films and opted for more practical effects when bringing the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers to life in his movie. That decision alone paid off because these Xenomorphs are just as terrifying as the original from the first film, and the practical effects, especially with some of the more gruesome scenes, are executed very well.

Alien: Romulus Has Characters You Care About

One thing about the most recent Alien films is that the human element doesn’t serve any purpose other than being eventual incubators for Xenomorphs. In Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez gets viewers to care for the film’s characters, mainly Rain and Andy. Spaeny continues her streak following brilliant performances in Priscilla and Civil War. Spaeny portrays both versions of Weaver’s Ripley that we met in both Alien and Aliens. Rain grows from an innocent orphan who has to figure things out on the fly as they deal with Xenomorphs to an ultimate badass who will fight to save the people, or in this case, the artificial person she loves, Andy. Speaking of Andy, David Jonsson was easily our MVP in the film. Jonsson walks a fine line portraying the childlike android, who effortlessly undergoes a dramatic tone shift at specific points in the movie. Spaeny and Jonsson work well together as they quickly grow on you, and you find yourself rooting for them to survive their nightmare. The support characters are also terrific and help move Álvarez’s Alien film, which never hits a snag during its nearly 2 hour run time.

The Real Alien Resurrection

Alien: Romulus successfully takes the Alien franchise back to its horror roots following two prequel films that took a more philosophical route and tried to expand the lore of the movie franchise further. Álvarez wasn’t afraid to reuse some of the same story beats that made Alien and Aliens the classic films they are and threw in some nods to those two films and the others which are not as beloved that many fans will appreciate, while we won’t be shocked if some scoff at them. The director brilliantly delivers a film that isn’t afraid to go heavy on fan service while also introducing some new concepts that we haven’t seen before in Alien films, like the cocoon metamorphosis, that firmly puts his imprint on this film, allowing him to stand amongst the men he looked up to, Ridley Scott and James Cameron. Like Prey did for the Predator franchise, Alien: Romulus has done the same for Alien by delivering a fresh new take that remains true to what made the first two films so exceptional. We also have two fantastic characters in Spaeny’s Rain and Jonsson’s Andy that we hope to see more of. Based on how well this movie is currently doing, we know their stories will continue. Alien: Romulus is damn near perfect, minus one decision, but Álvarez manages to make that choice a forgivable one because of how it works in the story. This film is truly one of this year’s best and easily earns a top spot in the Alien movie rankings. You can peep some fan reviews in the gallery below.

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