For the past decade, the video game known as Alien: Isolation has been considered by Alien fans to not just be the best Alien game ever made but the very best thing to happen to the franchise since the first two masterpieces of film known as Alien and Aliens. It was a game that understood the original Alien inside and out. It captured the intense, suspense, cluster phobia, and pure horror nature of that 1978 sci-fi gamechanger by Ridley Scott. Putting you in the hands of Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, as she has to confront with the same alien surprises as her mother could not have been a more fitting gap between the events of Alien and Aliens.
Since then, many fans have wondered if a game like Isolation could be properly translated into a feature film or tv series. Whether it’s to experience more adventures with another badass Ripley or have scares and thrills that is reminiscence to that, making something that could completely capture that lightning in a bottle that a video game could really do wonders for this franchise. And if the latest installment, Alien: Romulus is any indication, Fede Álvarez seems to have us all COMPLETELY covered in that regard.
Romulus is able to hit the beats that you expect and want out of a proper Alien movie, while acting as easily the most consistently good film entry in the Alien series since 1986. It’s far from the gamechanger that the first two Alien films were nor is it even as ambitiously imperfect as the likes of Prometheus or Alien 3, but in terms to delivering the goodies and pure entertainment value in the way it intends to, Romulus has been as good as it gets for the Alien franchise for a good long while.
Premise: Taking place between the events of Alien and Aliens, while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists (Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu) come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
On the surface, the plot of Alien: Romulus comes across as a simulated version of the entire Alien franchise up to this point. You got the alien acting as the uninvited guest from the original Alien, the aliens which forces our main character (s) to take matters into their own hands from Aliens, the alien that is determine to strip everything away from our main character from Alien 3, some of the alien lore expansion of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and just a tiny bit of the campiness from Alien: Resurrection and the Alien vs Predator movies. However, what makes this all work is not only how well utilized it is in the world that is Alien, but Fede Alvarez is able to add it’s own sauce (Did I use that right?) to the franchise that had yet to be seen up to this point.
Alvarez has already shown is horror directing chops in Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe but with Alien: Romulus, he was able to really set himself loose. His horror style is able to make every moment with the Xenomorph as intense and suspensible as it has any right to be, making nearly every single sequence with them stand out in a grand way. Not only with creating exciting action sequences with the aliens or making them all look cool but he understands perfectly as to why these monsters are as opposing and threatening as they are. It’s not because of the lore or backstory behind them. It’s just the fact that they are able to cause one problem after another for our main heroes, constantly being a sinister threat every step of the way. Whenever you think you are safe, you are most certainly not. That is what makes these creatures stand out among the very best monsters in horror and sci-fi history and what makes Romulus work as well as it does.
And if that sound similar to how the aliens were portrayed in Alien: Isolation, you would be corrected. It’s for that distinct reason as to why Romulus acts as the perfect adaption of Isolation without necessarily being one. It has that perfect set of tension, suspense, horror, action, and just perfectly putting you in the shoes of the main protagonist, making you feel like you are on this horrific roller coaster ride with them. And that’s not even going into the fun little easter eggs from that game such as the emergency phone save point, crawling through dark tunnels, and the alien knowing your every presence every step of the way. For anyone out there that wanted a proper Alien: Isolation film adaption but also is it’s own thing, look no further than Alien: Romulus.
It’s also impressive how it’s able to weave in certain elements from infamous Alien entries such as Prometheus and find a way to make it worth here. It’s able to find that right balance of incorporating other elements from previous Alien movies to not just tip their cap to those films but also make it worth for the purpose of this story. Although, there is one particular plot element that the film goes perhaps too far with. And yes, it’s the one that many people have discussed at volume length and is perhaps the biggest talking point of this movie.
Personally, I felt it worked just fine for this movie as it provided the right connection the original Alien and it did get approved by everyone it needed to get approved of. I just wish that no real A.I. was used to make that element work so it could avoid all of this controversy. I can understand why many people don’t like it but considering they found a way to make it work for the movie and got the permission needed, I think it works just fine.
The entire cast is also to stand on their own very well here. I don’t know if they will be as remembered fondly as the cast of the original Alien movies but they do work well on their own here. Cailee Spaeny is very strong and compelling as Rain, being able to avoid the trappings of prior leads in the Alien movies and growing into her own unique presence, by the end becoming more than just a standard Ellen Ripley clone. David Jonsson as Andy makes for easily the most unique and charismatic android this series has had in a long time, providing for some of the film’s most standout moments. Archie Renaux and Isabela Merced make for welcome additions that will certainly get them roles in future horror movies for years to come. Spike Wearn and Aileen Wu are the two members that get pushed to the wayside but they do suit their required roles well.
The production values are very top notch in Alien: Romulus, save for that plot element with the recurring character which you perhaps could have down without. You can definitely tell that Fede Alvarez has a love for practical effects and craftmanship and he’s really able to show that throughout the entire movie. The Xenomorphs and other aliens have not look this good in ages, the cinematography is spot on throughout, there’s plenty of iconic moments that stand among the franchise’s best, the action set pieces make for some of the best sequences in the entire franchise and a third act which is so over-the-top and feel approximately Fede Alvarez that I couldn’t help but love it. Even with the 80 million dollar budget, you can tell that nearly every single penny is put to good and proper use.
After going down a very inconsistent road from Alien 3 to Covenant, Romulus sees Fede Álvarez
returning this franchise back to it’s traditional roots and it could not be any better for it. This is able to hit all the beats that you would expect from an Alien film while also providing it’s own unique voice and plenty of memorable scares and thrills of it’s own to make this a worthy addition to the Alien canon. The new cast of characters are likable and compelling in their own right, the action, gore, and set pieces are among the very best in the franchise, this is easily the scariest film in the series since the original Alien, and the third act is so bonkers and so out of left field that I can’t help but love it. It’s even able to take plot elements from Prometheus and have it work rather well here.
It does suffer from some imperfections such as a callback or two that doesn’t really work (You’ll know it when you see it!), and a reemergence of a certain character that you perhaps could have done without. Even so, this is easily the most consistently good Alien film since Aliens and perhaps the most pure fun installment in the franchise thus far. While it’s far from the most thought provoking and groundbreaking film in the franchise, Alien: Romulus is able to deliver where it counts the most with this franchise in providing it’s own scares, thrills, and tension throughout.
Romulus is able to do to Alien what Prey was able to do with Predator, give it’s previously considered dead franchises a new life and leave room for plenty of more stories to be told with their own respected franchises. Whether it’s for a sequel to this movie, a sequel to Covenant, one final swan song with Sigourney Weaver, or another Alien vs Predator movie, I’m now genuinely curious as to whether the Alien franchise can go from here.
Bring on Alien: Earth!
And please make a sequel to Alien: Isolation! I want more adventures with Amanda Ripley!
Adam's Blog 