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There’s something to be said of the Goldilocks Zone aimed for with Alien: Romulus that actually manages to reach a safe space of intense thrills. It’s not a rip-roaring sci-fi action extravaganza akin to James Cameron’s Aliens, nor is it a meaty philosophical contemplation present in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Romulus preserves the spectacle thrills of past Alien films with some of the smart and unique claustrophobia from director Fede Álvarez. In theory, a film this cautiously faithful would seem like a lukewarm retread, but damned if it doesn’t tickle the giddy Alien fanboy that has been lying dormant for so many decades.
What helps make this film compelling is that it’s easy to get engrossed in the fresh, young cast. The crew for this outing is a ragtag band of colony miners seeking a way to escape the corporate vice grip of the enslaving Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is losing hope that she’ll be able to leave her current colony, given that her parents died in the mines, and she’s likely to die there as well. With the aid of her only companion, the android Andy (David Jonsson), she becomes a useful ally for those in a similar situation. Her ex-boyfriend, Tyler (Archie Renaux), is organizing a scavenging mission for crucial tech to escape their mining labor. It involves infiltrating an abandoned space station, Romulus, for cryotechnology to make the trip. They don’t realize that the station was abandoned for a very good reason.
As many Alien fans will boast, there’s an authentic atmosphere that preserves the franchise’s spirit and tactile nature. The practical sets and effects all look fantastic, whereas the decaying space station has the spooky presence of leaking pipes and flickering lights. The aliens occupying the station feel present and intimidating, especially with the scurrying face-huggers that force their penises down throats for the expected chest bursters. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch aids this environment with its wondrous melodies for space travel and its driving intensity for running from the assaulting Xenomorphs. For those who want to feel those familiar vibes of Alien and Aliens that have mashed together in their childhood, Romulus will appease for that nostalgic twinge.
While the rose-colored glasses don’t need to be firmly forced on the eyeballs to appreciate the tributes of this legacy sequel/side-story, the film isn’t devoid of the Easter egg hunt. It starts subtle enough with the opening credits of 20th Century Studios echoing the same drop in the score in Alien 3. It was kind of neat, considering I was just thinking about that as the film started, and there it was on the big screen. As the film continued, however, the references started to make the spot-the-reference game more apparent. This comes in the form of a cameo replication and a familiar line delivered with enough time to give the fans time to cheer. Moments like these took me out of the film, making the film feel more like a nostalgic game when it has all the tools to be more than that.
The film succeeds best as that blistering Alien film, which is more about the quest for survival than something grander. Those hoping for more of those philosophical contemplations present in Prometheus and Covenant will be let down by Romulus. The thematic elements start as bold as a bullhorn in the first act, making sure the capitalism satire isn’t lost on the most dim of viewers. The second act’s sexual imagery of the Xenomorph aliens is excellent in design, but something feels lacking amid the penis-forcing face-huggers and vagina-looking egg-sacs that spew acid on men. The third act almost loses a meaningful core until there’s a decent payoff with a pregnant crew member who births the most terrifying of creatures.
Alien: Romulus is still fun, even if it relies on more of its old tech and gritty gore to carry its sci-fi horror. It fulfills enough of the franchise checkboxes to fulfill those standard demands of chest-bursting aliens, acid blood that melts human flesh, and a spooky space station to set the tone. Fede Álvarez very much delivers the Alien film one would expect, relying on all of his strengths but falling back on classic Alien hallmarks for the mostly-assured fan applause. As an Alien fan, however, I can say with more enthusiasm that this picture was a treat for being a thrilling experience. For anybody who wants to see aliens face-fucking humans and a space station crumbling as alien vaginas shoot skin-melting fluid, Romulus is a very fun film for those who like that kind of stuff (and I very much do).
