Alien: Romulus – a continuation of the classic or new experiments?

“As a movie franchise, Alien is still considered one of the pillars of modern cinema and popular culture in general. This is despite the fact that even the original films differ significantly in tone, atmosphere, and quality. However, the power of the ideas behind the universe, multiplied by Hans Giger’s unique designs, allow the Xenomorphs to remain a favorite of millions of people even in 2024.

Ridley Scott tried to bring Aliens back to the big screen with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, but the audience did not appreciate the plot experiments. Therefore, the franchise was put on hold. However, in 2024, it returns to theaters, this time thanks to the efforts of the director of 2013’s Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead. And it turned out that if you don’t experiment with the universe once again, xenomorphs are still capable of causing horror and fascination. But in part, it still seems as if all this has already happened.

Alien: Romulus takes place between the first and second films in the franchise, but you don’t have to watch them to understand what you’re about to see. A girl named Rain (Kaley Spaney) lives with her android brother Andy (David Johnsson) in a mining colony where even starlight cannot reach due to excessive pollution. There will definitely be no peaceful future in this place. So when Rain’s friends offer her a risky trip to an abandoned spaceship to escape to another planet, she agrees. Andy is supposed to be the key element of the whole plan, thanks to his android nature. However, it quickly turns out that the Romulus ship is hiding something extremely dangerous.

Like any successful series of contemporary films, Alien has several levers of influence on the audience. On the surface, of course, there is the image of the xenomorphs themselves, which combines the most surprising elements. There was even a place for a tangible share of eroticism.

But on a deeper level, Alien evokes pleasant emotions and gives us food for thought. For example, the films regularly raise the issue of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. They also develop storylines about the influence of large corporations on ordinary people and the callousness of capitalism. Alien works on many levels, even if not all viewers realize it. But it’s not for nothing that critics love xenomorphs as well.

However, the audience’s feedback on Prometheus and Alien: Covenant” eloquently hinted to the producers that sometimes trying to go too deep and develop the setting is not the right thing to do. Therefore, Alien: Romulus is a return to the basics of the franchise. Yes, there are some experiments, but the film crew is very careful with them. And at the same time, they are trying to make the story more accessible and human for the modern generation. What does this mean for the audience?

First of all, the group of protagonists immediately catches the eye. Absolutely all of them are young people who have neither fighting skills nor an adequate ability to analyze the situation. It would seem an obvious move to make the characters more relatable to the audience. However, it also raises questions about the logic of the events in the movie and the individual actions of the characters. The characters just wanted to make a quick buck, but ended up in a nightmare.

It’s also obvious that everyone will expect a movie with the word “Alien” in its title to feature Aliens. However, the authors of Alien: Romulus work with the canons as competently as possible in this moment. The aliens are not shoved in your face in the first few minutes, the movie leads you to the appearance of the main monster carefully and without haste. But when the xenomorphs start hunting, the level of tension will rise to such a level that it will be impossible to tear yourself away from the movie.

Alien: Romulus may not be the scariest movie in the world, but the level of suspense it achieves is something that few other films can recreate. Even when all the cards have been revealed to the viewer, and the enemy is literally in front of the protagonists’ faces, you can still feel sincere horror inside.

But it’s not just xenomorphs that scare the audience. The topic of artificial intelligence and its interaction with humans becomes one of the central themes in Alien: Romulus. However, Alvarez looks at it from a more positive angle and tries to reveal the idea that sincere attitude towards each other and kind support can resonate even in the mind of an android. This thesis may seem naive on the surface, but the movie skillfully reveals Andy’s storyline, which turned out to be almost the best. So after watching the movie, you shouldn’t have any questions about it.

Alien: Romulus does a great job with all the elements of the story. It’s good science fiction, filled with interesting details and successfully depicting a dark society of the future. The atmosphere in the movie is almost tangibly “dirty,” but this style only benefits the story. There are also no questions about the relationships between the characters and their actions, which was especially critical in the previous two films. It would seem that we have a perfect movie in the Alien franchise. So what’s wrong with it?

There are only two problems in the movie, but they are so large-scale and complex that they cannot be ignored. The first concerns the ending of the story, which begins to flirt with the themes of Alien Resurrection. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but let’s avoid any spoilers. It is much more important that the movie could have ended about twenty minutes earlier without undue damage to the story. The final scenes feel superfluous. Yes, they are beautiful and creepy, but thematically and stylistically they seem to be taken from a completely different movie.

And the second problem characterizes Alien: Romulus as a whole. It’s a movie that depends too much on the first two parts of the franchise, which seems to be afraid to do something of its own, so it goes the tried and true way. Even the camera positioning and color palette will constantly remind you of the old movies. No one can argue that the element of nostalgia works, and fans will definitely be delighted while watching. But when the emotions pass, the doubts begin.

You can criticize Prometheus and Covenant as much as you want, but they should be at least a little bit respected for the fact that they tried to move the Alien universe forward. “Alien: Romulus” does not even take small steps in this direction. It’s a good, but safe movie that almost shouts about the coolness of the first parts of Alien.

You can understand Alvarez, because he got to his favorite childhood franchise, so he worked with it delicately. The logic of the producers and all the people who are interested in Alien: Romulus” is only interested in making money. They emphasized the means that have proven to work. And indeed, the movie feels coherent, well-designed, and thoughtful in every way. On the technical side, by the way, there are no complaints about it either.

However, after watching it, you realize that it’s too much. That Giger’s work deserves something more avant-garde and experimental. Perhaps Alien: Romulus was just a “warm-up” for the audience, who needed to be reminded of the existence of xenomorphs. And the next works in the franchise, such as the series Alien: Earth, scheduled for 2025, will be able to show something more interesting. Then all complaints will be canceled.

Because Alien: Romulus is a great movie. But… it couldn’t just be “great,” it could be “great.”