‘Alien: Romulus’ review: Scares in space, but at what cost?

Fede Alvarez makes the Xenomorph monstrous again. If only the rest of Alien: Romulus knew how to fight franchise fatigue.

So here we are…the ninth Alien movie. NINTH. That’s shocking to learn considering how the Alien franchise can be both omnipresent and easily forgettable. The first two entries are benchmarks of science-fiction (for entirely different reasons), while the other entries don’t have much staying power. Which is also interesting because the Alien franchise has tried almost everything to keep itself going: serve as a metaphor for carrying guilt (Alien 3), question the purpose of creating life itself (Prometheus), or have such little on-set lighting that any scene becomes literally unwatchable (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem). And now we’re here, eight movies deep with a prequel saga prematurely canceled and a TV series still under development. What else can Fox (or in this case, Disney) do with our old pal, the Xenomorph? Start from scratch, baby.

Or in the case of Alien: Romulus, start from scrap. Specifically a mining colony on a distant planet, where Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson) can’t escape the grip of the profit-hungry Weyland-Yutani Corporation. That is until old friend Tyler (Archie Renaux) and a scrappy gang of rogues come to her with a plan: raid a decommissioned Weyland space station for cryopods that’ll keep them preserved for the nine-year journey to a new planet full of sunshine and rainbows and happy smiley faces. But wouldn’t ya know it, said space station (named Romulus and Remus for maximum mythology) was once a research facility doing tests on some face-hugging spider creatures. With that, the gang must try to escape before the creepy crawlers (and a certain big beast) feast on their flesh.

An old-fashioned fright.

Many have described the original Alien as a slasher movie in space. In the case of Alien: Romulus, the best way to describe this go-around is a haunted house in space. That makes all the more sense when you know it’s co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez, who earned acclaimed from remaking another movie about a haunted house (Evil Dead) and making his own movie about a scary house (Don’t Breathe). But that’s all Romulus is: a big-budget carnival ride that takes its audience through various dark rooms for kooky creatures to jump out and scare them. Quite loudly, by the way, as Romulus sets a new record for jump scares in an Alien movie and the bombastic score from Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner 2049) tries very hard to make Romulus feel more epic than it is.

But, for a movie skipping any deeper thoughts or thematic ambitions for the sake of cheap thrills, Alien: Romulus is not too bad. Alvarez strips the franchise down to its core entertainment elements: body horror and intergalactic imagery. He and the production designers hit those marks by crafting a grimier vision of the future with spaceships rising from scrap heaps and beaten-down characters covered in sweat from climbing over each other. Alvarez and co. also level-up to the gross imagery typical of an Alien movie, taking franchise staples (facehuggers, acid blood, chestbursters, etc.) and putting them in new environments that are frightening and fun. Future filmmakers should take note of an essential lesson in effects-heavy blockbusters: combine the digital with the practical. Romulus knows precisely when to give its creatures a digital boost for speed and when real models backed by animatronics can make its monsters truly intimidating. 

Fear the franchise refresh.

Alien: Romulus is fun on a technical level, but the script keeps crippling the movie’s attempts to establish its own identity. Almost all the Alien movies have the same structure: people at a creepy place, a Xenomorph shows up, people run from it, then it dies. What kept the franchise going is a new gimmick for each entry; first there are Aliens, then our heroine has a Resurrection, now there’s a Predator, and so on. With Romulus going back to basics, that means stripping the story of any thematic innovation outside of a few fun set pieces. It’s the most basic sequel idea that a studio would want use capitalize on the first movie’s success. Our gang make dumb mistakes to keep the movie going, the aliens show up at the worst time, Weyland-Yutani has an angle to play, etc. Slightly different, but all the same. 

And then there’s the most dreaded word in the world of movie franchises: continuity. Alien: Romulus takes place 20 years after the events of Alien. But according to Alvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues, Romulus knows that a bunch of other Alien movies have happened before and it has no problem reminding the audience. There are a few too many callbacks to Aliens in the visuals and the dialogue, the production and character designs harken back to Alien: Resurrection, and even the plot twists bring to mind the dullness of Alien: Covenant. Without spoilers, there’s an admirable (but unnecessary) attempt to connect Prometheus to Alien to Alien: Romulus. While none of that totally derails the movie’s brisk pacing, it again keeps Romulus from establishing its own identity and hints at fan pandering when it needed to just give everyone a good scare. 

It also means that the characters of Romulus are practically nonfactors. None of our rogues leave a lasting impression onscreen and are just marks for the creatures to chomp on. Spaeny thankfully isn’t trying to mimic Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, but she doesn’t have much else to work with. Jonsson impresses as the verbose wild card of the group, pulling the strings before our third-act twist. Despite his cold demeanor, there’s not enough room for him (or anyone else) to have a major personality. All that time is spent building up the Xenomorph when, in prior installments, the development of its human opponent built excitement for the climactic showdown. It’s another case of a franchise using characters in service of recognizable IP, when the best sequels use recognizable IP to service new characters. The star of the movie is the franchise itself, which makes it feel slightly hollow. 

The bottom line.

It’s a gift and a curse to have Alien: Romulus in cinemas. Seeing grisly body horror done on a blockbuster scale with such technical prowess is a true gift in an era when most blockbusters are sanitized. It’s a shame that Alien: Romulus is also cursed with being more Disney-sanctioned franchise management, trying to bait fans with too many distracting references to the past glories of Alien. It’s a fun and ferocious rollercoaster, no doubt, but it still has the same integrity as a theme park ride you’d take your girlfriend to for a chance to snuggle. That distinction is usually fit for the trashier franchises of Hollywood, like Friday the 13th or a Blumhouse movie. Is that how far the Alien name has fallen? Guess we should be hedging our bets for Alien X.

Alien: Romulus is now playing in theaters everywhere. You can watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Walt Disney Studios. You can read more reviews by Jon Winkler here.