Alien: Romulus Review

In many ways Fede Alvarez’s entry in the Alien franchise should be the one that makes the most people happy. A greatest hits of the franchise so far, it mainly successfully pulls together threads and moments from all the proceeding films (yes, all) into a cohesive, engaging, and well-paced story. Though when it does drop the ball it does it pretty hard.

There was some trepidation heading into Alien: Romulus. And not just because Prometheus and Covenant left me confused. Alvarez, whose Evil Dead I had to pause due it’s visceral nature, brings a unique feeling to his horror. A tangible, gross intensity to it all. The creatures are often impressive on set physical effects, as he builds several novel and exciting set pieces. His reinvigoration of franchise staples we feel we understand, such as facehuggers and acidic blood, is exciting. With this in mind it’s easy to argue that he has the best handle on the concepts since Alien and Aliens.

But whilst Alvarez clearly has a lot of love for the series, fan service bleeds into every aspect of the film. For every time I appreciated a call-back, another one had me rolling my eyes. Shoving images or lines in my face! Look! Look at the thing we’re showing you! Isn’t it cool! SEE THE THING. Between this and Evil Dead, it’s clear he can play in someone else’s sandbox; I just wish he showed a bit more restraint and trusted what he was bringing to the table more.

Fortunately the blunt nature of some call backs is balanced out by the cast and the design. Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson are incredible. Orphans on an uncaring world, surviving, you quickly and absolutely buy into the why of their situation. Jonsson in particular is brilliant. Androids in Alien films are often some of the best parts of their respective films, and he’s more than up to it. Some of the cast are clearly fodder, and some of them are annoying. But when they all have such clear reasoning for taking risks and doing what they’re doing, you feel that much more immersed.

Alien: Romulus is a great looking film, full of interesting and inventive designs and ideas. Anchored admirably by its young cast, it’s an upper-mid entry and genuinely thrilling at times. But I bought a ticket to an Alien film, so I didn’t need to keep being told I had.