#Alien Romulus review

[jakey-beefed-it]

I watched Alien: Romulus tonight, after having wanted to see it since it came out. Spoiler-free review: It's a B that could've been an A. Probably the best Alien movie since Aliens, definitely the best since Alien 3. It's at its best when it's doing it's own thing, and at its weakest when too directly trying to be "just like Alien/Aliens!". If I have one chief complaint, it's that it would benefit from a stronger 'less is more' approach than it takes. Spoilers below the cut.

So one problem I have is the timing. The alien's lifecycle, as established in other films, takes time. It's fast as hell compared to normal things, but on the order of hours and days rather than months and years, rather than minutes. They could've tossed in a single comment to the effect of "the scientists extracted the black goo compound and refined it, testing it on the facehuggers and whoops their lifecycle got sped WAY the fuck up" but they didn't so that's the realm of headcanon rather than text.

EDIT: rewatched it today and there is some commentary over how the xenomorph has a measure of control over its metabolism; the reason it's able to mature so rapidly and yet also shut down for long-term vacuum survival. It's not quite as apparent as I'd like but it definitely qualifies as offering at least some textual explanation so my above complaint is less 'this makes no internal sense' and more 'this strains my suspension of disbelief even more than the things' ability to grow to prodigious size without seemingly feeding on anything already did.'

Speaking of the black goo, yeah, it ties back into Prometheus (which I saw, and personally didn't much like) and Covenant (which I didn't see owing to not having much liked Prometheus). On the whole I don't know that this was the right move for the franchise, but the film mostly makes it work. The final monster being essentially a xenomorph/engineer hybrid was not a premise I was excited about and the stills I'd seen made it look kinda stupid, but in the actual execution, it is suitably unsettling/uncanny and imo it actually works.

There were a couple of nostalgia lines that made me roll my eyes pretty hard- when Andy rescues Rain toward the end by zero-g divebombing an oncoming xenomorph, shooting it and saying "get away from her" i was like "yeah great, good callback, good moment". When he then adds "...you bitch" I rolled my eyes. Didn't fit the moment or the character, was strictly there to reference a better moment in a better movie.

Which isn't to fault David Jonsson, who plays Andy extremely well. Due to synthetic fuckery he has basically 2, 2 and a half personalities throughout the film, and he does them all very very well. Stand-out performance IMO, would love to see him in more stuff.

Cailee Spaeny does a good job as Rain, there were a couple moments early on where I wasn't 100% convinced of her authenticity, but as the film wore on, I saw that it was an acting choice to make Rain a bit socially stunted, coming across as awkward.

None of the actors were bad at all, and while I have some ethical concerns with digitally resurrecting a cgi Ian Holm circa 1979, the effects were cromulent and whoever they got to do most of his voice work was quite good, and Rook made for a decent antagonist.

On the topic of 'less is more' I mentioned above, I really wish they'd used fewer aliens in a couple of the big set pieces. You don't need a dozen scrambling facehuggers to be terrifying, you honestly don't need more than one, but the pair of them from the scene with Ripley and Newt proves that 'one per endangered character' is a fine guideline. Likewise when they get to the hive section of the station, they could've kept it every bit as terrifying (and indeed probably more so) with fewer, stealthier aliens than they used.

EDIT: the things a lot of horror fans care most about that I didn't mention on my first pass. The SFX are great, very effective. I'm not sure to what degree they relied on practical effects but there's a much more tangible feel to a lot of things that are very hard to get with cgi. There are a couple of cgi moments that are less effective imo- the zero-g acid blood wasn't 100% convincing though it was by no means bad -but for the most part, it was all very convincing and suitably visceral for a franchise so thoroughly rooted in body horror. The deaths were gruesome in a franchise-appropriate way, for the most part, and people who watch horror movies with that as their priority should be reasonably satisfied. The lighting was dark in a good way- not so dark you couldn't see what the fuck was happening, but dark enough that the shadows were ominous and potentially hiding threats. Set design was flawless, no notes.

From a scientific standpoint, i didn't like how solid the rings were. Planetary rings are absolutely a feasible astronomical hazard one would want to avoid crashing into, but that's less to do with their status as what looked like a frozen sea of bumper-to-bumper icebergs, and more to do with their being composed of eighty fucktillion objects moving at orbital velocities which will absolutely shred any object moving perpindicularly (more or less) through them. This is admittedly a pretty nerdy quibble that most viewers won't give a shit about and I'm willing to mostly overlook it for the sake of the film but it did make me pull a scrunchy Kermit face.

My most minor complaint was the (in my opinion) overuse of the Weyland-Yutani name and logo. A single use of the logo would've been sufficient. Since the film's mission statement was basically a return to the whole cassette-futurism of the first two films, calling it simply 'the Company' would've gone a long way toward that.

Probably my most significant complaint pertains to misogyny. Like, okay, this is an Alien film, it's going to be chock-full of reproductive body horror, big creepy bio-mechanical genital-lookin stuff, etc. But of the four characters who die, both men die of 'being attacked by a full-grown alien'. One dies by being impaled by a phallic tail, so that's something, I guess. The other dies by getting whomped upside the head and falling into the stream of some acid pouring from a distinctly vaginal alien coccoon. He'd just rammed a phallic tazer thing into it though, so maybe it's some weird sort of payback if you want to psychoanalyze it. Both women, however, die due to alien pregnancy- one from a normal chestburster, the other killed by the weird uncanny human-alien-engineer monster her fetus turned into after she tried to save her own life by injecting the black goo. Not by its birth, despite the size of the coccoon thing she passes and the accompanying blood loss, but when it comes back and chomps on her a bit with its more eel-like pharyngial jaw. Which is also rather phallic now that i write it out like that. Meh.

EDIT: there's also a bit of unfortunate implications wrt race. Two points, outlined below.

The most obvious is that the artificial person owned by the company is a black man, but given that previous synths in the franchise have all been white actors (Ian Holm, Lance Henriksen, Winona Ryder, Michael Fassbender) it probably gets a bit of a pass. Only a bit of one, in that Andy is outright stated to be a more menial model than, say, Ash or Bishop given the designed role of 'mining colony asset' rather than 'science officer' or 'colonial marines assset' which has some unfortunate implications. I might have more to say on the matter if I myself was black, but I'll leave that to other reviewers.

The other thing is that the survivors are the white woman and her synthetic brother (played by a black man, as mentioned above). Which could be worse, for sure, but it doesn't sit entirely right with me that the brown guys (I couldn't speak to their specific ethnicity though I'd take a stab at 'mixed' with some white ancestry in there too) and the brown woman (definitely a latina) get killed off. As a mixed white/latino guy, I just wanna see a brown person survive the whole horror movie sometimes. I'm often disappointed. At least the director is a latino guy? It's something.

On the whole though, it's a pretty effective, decent Alien film that could've been a very effective, great Alien film if it had a bit more restraint. Your mileage may vary, of course, but in my opinion, the weaker elements don't wholly overwhelm the stronger ones, only dragging it down a peg or so.

[thecanadianowl]

Alien: Romulus is easily the 3rd best movie of the Aliens franchise (though that's not a very high bar to pass). The movie really plays on the same atmosphere/tone as the first two Alien movies and that really helps it in the long run.

Its biggest drawback however is when the plot needs to make callback/references to past Alien movies (some of which you'd like to forget existed) and interconnect them. I wouldn't be surprised if those particular plot points were Ridley Scott's idea. It's not they're bad, it's just you really didn't need them.

Overall, the movie is pretty solid and acts as a nice 'desert' for the Alien movies.

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

Alien Romulus & how (not) to optimize your slasher cast dynamics

Much as I enjoyed Alien: Romulus it made the cardinal horror movie sin of killing off the cast in the wrong order for maximum interpersonal carnage.

If your established cast is the hero, the villain, the villain's partner, the hero's partner, and the woobie, killing off the villain's partner and then the villain, leaving only the characters who know and like each other to work together has much lower peak potential for dramatic tension among all possible configurations.

Firstly, there should have been more panic when Navarro died. She was the pilot. How are they meant to get off the ship without their pilot? (Yes, the autopilot exists, but that's a plot contrivance they could find out about later - or they might have to scavenge a new part from the ship to add to their damaged smaller vessel to add autopilot functionality to it. Or, perhaps, Andy can be the autopilot - but that requires Andy getting off the ship which requires convincing the AI upgrade within him to do so - which would be another layer of complication.)

But anyway the ideal next candidate to die is Tyler. Tyler is the peacekeeper between Bjorn and Andy, and the link between Rain and the rest of the remaining crew, who are all family members. (Even before we get to Kay and Bjorn being exes or ex hookups)

Remove Tyler from the remaining cast and Bjorn and Rain immediately have a power struggle. Bjorn hates androids, but they need the android to escape the ship. Neither Andy or Rain like Bjorn, but he is an extra person to use as defence in a situation where they can't afford to make their party any smaller. Bjorn also has immediate personal beef with the aliens as they killed his partner, Navarro - so will be a loose cannon if they ever come across aliens. But, he also has Kay to protect now - the mother of his unborn child.

And, sorry to be gross, but it is the horror genre - imagine the magnification of the horror element if, at the end, when the alien-baby hybrid is born, if not just it's mother but it's father is also still alive there. Or if Bjorn has been hurt by the acid blood still and he and Kay have to choose between them which of them they will use the black goo to save, not knowing that whoever takes it is damning themself to become the next alien host. Or if Kay and Bjorn think they are safe and have escaped, and Bjorn, who has now bonded with and come to respect Andy through their adventure together now calls out to Andy for help against the alien as they are escaping in their escape ship, because he trusts him now and thinks he will save him - but Andy's protocols to do what's best for Rain have at that point been turned back on and so Andy cannot put Rain at risk even to save Bjorn and Kay after all they've been through together.

Now that's how to write a real horror on all levels.

[ginjasnappp]

Alien Romulus: my opinions/review!!

I'm so sorry to everyone who sees this and therefore is subjected to it but my thoughts must exist somewhere

Spoiler free review is overall I'd recommend it! I think it did a lot of things right by the franchise and is a solid addition - but nothing beats the original imo.

Also I've only seen the first 2 movies before this so call me a fake fan if u want but the og is all I need

Spoilers for the whole movie below the cut!

Also warning it's absurdly long

THINGS I LIKED:

▫️ I really enjoyed all the characters! I thought they were faithfully written as a bunch of rebellious, rambunctious young adults trying their best in a shitty world. I thought their dialogue was fun and realistic and their age made me hold more space for the fact that they made reckless choices lol. I also thought their acting was spectacular. I wish we got a little more time with them before they got killed off to make way for Raine.

▫️The scoring and cinematography were great. it veered in and out of familiar territory, but there were several moments where the music and camerawork really evoked the first film, and even when it didn't to me, it was still effective.

▫️PRACTICAL EFFECCCCTTSSS how I have missed them. There was a mix of practical effects and CGI but even most of the cgi was done really well except for one part (lookin at you, Ash deepfake). All the practical creatures and general ooze and viscera were great.

▫️ The human hybrid?? Creepy as FUCK. It easily couldve been goofy lookin but it was genuinely super unsettling and expertly done imo!

NEUTRAL OBSERVATIONS:

▫️ This movie rang closer to Aliens than Alien to me, which was a little bit disappointing but entirely down to personal preference. Part of my love for Alien comes from the claustrophobia and creeping sense of dread - 'where is it', 'there's nothing I can do but hide', etc, and while there was some of that, this and Aliens are more action-packed with loud conflict and guns. Still a lot of fun though!

▫️I found it interesting and a little unfaithful that the only characters to get facehugged/otherwise impregnated (at least onscreen) were female characters. A big part of why a male character was the facehugger victim in Alien is because Ridley Scott noticed that in horror, the female characters are usually the ones to be physically violated in such a way and wanted to flip that around and make male audiences uncomfortable by depicting a male 'birth scene' (from what I read years ago, anyway). Seeing as Scott worked on this movie as well, I'm interested in why this choice was made, if it was even a conscious choice.

▫️The 'artificial person' Andy is a whole can of worms for me. When he was first introduced, before he's revealed to be an AP, my (and my parent who I saw it with's) very first thought was 'oh god, he's the autistic character that's gonna get killed off'. He is an example of how stereotypical autistic traits and scifi android traits (not understanding social cues, taking things literally, being outwardly unemotional and practical) can overlap, and there's a very fine line between drawing interesting but not direct parallels and coding the character outright, often negatively or to characters' detriment. He's definitely a character I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on!

THINGS I DISLIKED/DIDNT MAKE SENSE/THOUGHT WERE MEH

▫️We all know you can't breathe in the vaccuum of space - so why, after being warned of the danger of letting the xeno blood go through the floor, did it actually happen and then everything was fine? Sure, things were sucked out into space, but Raine was fine and could breathe, which is impossible - her head would have imploded seconds after she was exposed to the vacuum. Also she would have frozen to death.

▫️The deepfake face. Just why?? I think it could have been way cooler if his face was entirely practical and maybe worn beyond recognition, and then a namedrop or similar reveal could be really effective.

▫️Dare I say it - too many aliens. Like the difference between Alien and Aliens, I find one unfaceable threat in an enclosed space is more effective than a whole shootable swarm in a large space. I enjoyed the shots of facehuggers skittering everywhere tho.

▫️This is PURELY my own unreasonable hopes being dashed but I was hoping and praying for a Sigourney Weaver/Ripley cameo. I understand wanting to leave her to her era and not drag her into a new one (and also that apparently she died like 4 movies ago) but I MISS MY QUEEEEEN

▫️I wish we got a liiittle more worldbuilding - though I understand the sentiment of 'we know what you're here for so we'll get right to it' lol.

That's it! Wow ty for reading if you got this far

Hand over your opinions >:3

[biblioflyer]

Alien Romulus thoughts (minimal spoilers)

What I liked:

The characters are reasonably intelligent and make decent choices given what their knowledge and the situation. They weren't outrageously dumb given their backgrounds and situational awareness: I'm looking at you Prometheus.

The first 2/3rds has great ambience. It genuinely felt like an Alien movie.

The character of Andy.

The "gore" felt appropriately dialed in. There was really only one scene that I felt was over the top and unnecessary. It felt appropriate for an Alien movie. Its R rated, but the sort of R rated where I wouldn't feel that weird about seeing fourteen year olds in the audience.

The presentation of the Xenomorphs is about right. They're neither omnipotent nor have they suffered much in the way of villain decay.

I saw a lot of complaints about the CGI used for [redacted] comparing it to other deep fakes and the airbrushing of Henry Cavill's mustache. I didn't find it jarring personally.

What I didn't like:

The final act suddenly starts shotgunning callbacks like it was a Marvel movie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Marvel movies, but Marvel movies are Marvel movies.

The world building feels a bit half baked. The number of plot contrivances just seems a little much. The scheme of the heroes seems a bit of a Hail Mary and unlikely to work or be within their competencies once you start thinking about it. As my partner pointed out, Ripley was a seasoned spacer. Very little of her competencies were out of step with what she was doing, albeit under a lot more stress than the norm. Andy's "magic finger" being the keys to the kingdom for a top secret space lab doing all kinds of dangerous and nefarious stuff is probably not the silliest instance of an evil corporation having lousy OpSec but its up there.

I'm not inherently opposed to a through line of [redacted] being a MacGuffin with no clear rules because its inscrutable Clarketech and we are trampling in the garden of an angry god, but I feel like each attempt to utilize it in this fashion buries this subtext.

I don't necessarily approve of movies force feeding us their theme, so I'm prepared to take the word of characters providing exposition with massive does of salt. Yet the final act feels less like a story of hubris and more of an attempt to provide a crude logical substrate to lore that has gone a bit off the rails while, as mentioned, doing lots of callbacks in the process. Some of those callbacks are likely to be a bit controversial depending on where one stands on some of the entries into the franchise that are fashionable to hate on.

There's no particular reason for this film to act as an explicit retcon by virtue of being a direct sequel to Alien in the style of some of the other popular thriller - killer franchises out there that have rebooted themselves by returning to the beginning and starting over from there. However, it does introduce some potential plot holes with Aliens that need some hand waving.

Also the audio mix at the theater I attended was really bad. I do feel like I missed a lot of dialogue that might have tidied up things a bit more. I legitimately am still very confused by at least one major plot development.

[agentnico]

Alien: Romulus (2024) review

Mommy!!

Plot: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

No one can dispute that the first two entries in the Alien franchise, directed by Ridley Scott and James Cameron respectively, are fantastic pieces of horror action, and have had a major impact on how we see monsters in science fiction today. That being said, typical to the Hollywood blurt machine of milking every franchise to its limits until its stop making money, Alien has been redone so many times, and for the most part the endless sequels, prequels and spin-offs haven’t ever come close to reaching the heights of the original two installments. But hey ho, Hollywood never learns so here we have yet another chapter in the infamous xenomorph saga, with this one setting itself up as the movie that bridges the gap between the original two films, essentially creating the ultimate Alien trilogy. Coming to us from director Fede Alvarez who brought us the creepy Evil Dead remake and blind-man-fucks-shit-up horror Don’t Breathe, Romulus promises to be a gory and thrilling return to form for the franchise, bringing it back the basics of what made these films so special. As always the question is, does he succeed?

I guess kind of. It seems to be a common theme in 2024 with most films that I have watched having been passable at best. Entertaining enough for what they are but not films that will stand the test of time. Alien: Romulus fits perfectly into that faction. This is a solid studio effort, with great sound design, crisp cinematography and a good blend of CGI and practical effects, and I always respect the use of practical effects so kudos to the film crew for putting that extra effort in. The spirit of franchise’s creator Ridley Scott looms all over each scene, with the opening scene reminiscent of Blade Runner and later sequences imbued in that claustrophobic feel that the first movie did so well. The xenomorph creatures are as terrifying and thrilling as always, but I’d say it’s the dastardly face-huggers that get to shine more in this entry, as there are so so many of them this time with the two of the better set-pieces involving them. Though face-huggers have always been a stand out factor in these films, as there is naturally something unsettling and frightening in the idea of something so small attacking through something so intimate as the human’s mouth. So all the creature stuff was great, however with Alvarez’s involvement I was surprised at how tame this movie was. There is gore for sure, but noting that we haven’t seen before, and in fact at times it felt like they were holding back. Guess Mickey Mouse doesn’t allow much blood in his Playhouse.

The cast do their jobs best they could. Look, we’re not expecting any Academy Awards here, but as always the primary purpose of the characters in these films is to survive as long as they can before getting gruesomely killed off. I do wish the characters were given a bit more depth so that we could care a bit more about them, but aside from Cailee Spaeny who essentially plays Ripley but with daddy issues, no other human characters really leave an impression. David Jonsson is the one that provides the real star-making performance as the synthetic android who suffers with elements of autism, as he has to showcase a lot of emotion whilst still coming off robotic enough to fit his characters origins. He gets to do a lot in this movie and all I can say is that kid is going places.

I was never bored during my viewing of Alien: Romulus, but it very much panders to the nostalgia factor of the previous films, by literally copying and rehashing certain scenes and ideas, and even having certain callbacks to service the fans. You can also tell that Disney has now taken over the reigns, as similar to their treatment of Star Wars, this movie brings back a certain character from a previous installment through the magic of visual effects, since the actor that played that character had since passed, except there is no magic as the facial likeness is so jarring and dodgy. It felt really off, and again I’m sure the actor’s estate/family must have given their permission for using their likeness, but there is the moral ambiguity of is something like this should happen or not. But regardless of should they or shouldn’t they have, technology evidently is still not at that level to realistically replicate certain individuals’ expressions and mannerism, so in this movie it doesn’t work at all. The movie also utilises certain themes from Prometheus and Covenant, which I was fine with as it was nice seeing those films finally being connected with the primary storyline, but then the movie also references Alien: Resurrection. Yep, arguably the worst of the franchise, that entry is the inspiration for the final 20 minutes of Romulus. People will either love it or hate it.

It’s simple - if you enjoyed any of the Alien films you’ll have a solid time with Romulus, however it does not in any way reinvent the wheel, and in fact accepts the fact that it will always live in the shadows of its predecessors. Solid thrills and action scenes, and though it’s not that scary, the xenomorph design is as impressive as ever. But boy that Resurrection reference….oh boy.

Overall score: 6/10

[amesmonde]

Alien Romulus (2024) Review

When Rain Carradine’s work contract is unexpectedly extended by the Weyland company, she accepts an offer to visit a derelict spacecraft as a stopping point for a better life. However, it holds a horrifying and deadly secret, and she, her friends, and her synthetic companion must fight to survive. Director Fede Álvarez delivers a terrifying and atmospheric Alien installment with fantastic…

[superectojazzmage]

Just back from Alien Romulus and hoooo boy oh boy. Review/analysis.

Easily the best Alien movie since the first two, which isn't saying much, yeah, but it is legit a really cool and well-made movie, competing with Late Night With The Devil, Longlegs, and Cuckoo for title of my favorite horror movie this year.

In a lot of ways it's about harvesting the few good ideas from the post-2 movies that were squandered and doing them right, plus getting the series back to it's healthier roots, kinda the movie equivalent of someone doing physical therapy to get back in the saddle after an injury. This means it's not quite brand new ground like some may hope for and I've heard some people feel it gets a little derivative at points because of it. I can kinda agree and certainly understand that criticism, but I feel it does what it's aiming for really well and sets things up for future works to go in even crazier directions. Furthermore, it takes a lot of time to try and weld together the disparate post-2 movies in a way that brings the series back to a little coherency.

The atmosphere is really intense and cool, swinging between lovecraftian dread and build-up and high-energy chaos. The aesthetics and special effects are gorgeous, taking full advantage of the progress that technology has made since 2 plus really digging in to the used cassette future vibe of the older films. The characters are likable and actually intelligent (or at least understandable) in behavior like in the first two movies, so you care about what's happening to them instead of just waiting for them to get munched. The action and kills were really cool and creative, the cinematography in general was off-kilter in an awesome way - there's a definite attempt to make the movie feel claustrophobic and intimate. Fede Alvarez did a fantastic job in general, I'd love to see him do more with the series.

It REALLY cranks up the series' psychosexual, freudian, and sexual assault subtext, arguably to a point where it's just plain text. So if you're sensitive to stuff like that or if this is your first go at Alien, be warned for that.

More specific notes go under the header for spoilers. Highly recommend you go in as blind as you can.

Andy and Rain were wonderful leads, their dynamic was fantastic and Calie Spaeny and David Jonsson both turned in great performances. I direly hope they join the first two films' casts as "major" characters for the series going forward.

The effects to make Daniel Betts look like Ian Holms were quite possibly the one and only time the special effects failed. It looks very wonky, which is sad because Betts does a really good job copying Holms' mannerisms for Ash while still making Rook feel like a distinct character.

In addition to the usual themes of sexual unease, genetics, and parenthood, this movie adds in some really interesting themes of familial legacy, the rise of new generations, foundations, etc.. Andy and Rain are like Romulus and Remus of myth, orphaned and left to fend for themselves but growing into founders of a new age - both in-story with their carrying the XX121 substance and evidence of Weyland-Yutani's misdeeds to Yvaga and out-of-story with them being the protagonists of a new era for Alien. Likewise, the Offspring is the first example of an entirely new species, neither human nor alien but taking from the lineages of both through Kay and Big Chap, a Romulus-like founder of it's breed that will later bear fruit in Resurrection with the Ripley clone and Newborn.

I'm really not kidding when I say above that the psychosexual undercurrents are taken to the extreme here. This movie basically sees the ways the original film subtly pin-pricked at those themes, says "fuck that", and deliberately rubs it in your face in a way designed to make sure you can't ignore it. It wants you to be grossed out and to squirm in your chair and it knows exactly how to make it happen.

Alvarez noted in the lead-up to release that he took a lot of influence from Isolation and you can definitely see that in how he depicts the Xenomorphs and the general aura of the film. He further described it as a kind of halfway point between the first and second movies and you can also see that; it has the Lovecraft-style tension and horror of the first, balanced with the energy and action of the second, and it does a really good job finding a middle ground between Ridley Scott and James Cameron's styles while also doing it's own dance.

I mentioned way back at the start how the movie basically harvests the good ideas from 3, Resurrection, Prometheus, and Covenant and gives them the room they deserve while dumping the bad. It does that in both terms of themes/style and continuity/lore. Concepts that those movies bungled like xeno-human hybridism, the black goo, genetic engineering as a focus, and so on are done here more creatively and competently. Themes that those films tried and failed to tackle are handled with significantly more grace. It has the atmosphere and characterization of 3 but none of it's baggage and needlessly depressive tone. It has the body horror and weirdness of Resurrection without taking it to the zany, embarrassing areas that movie went. The effects and creativity of Prometheus and Covenant without any of their awful writing and clumsy messages. Alvarez takes on kind of an Al Ewing-esque "repairman" writing style here.

The Xenomorphs are absolutely deranged in behavior compared to most portrayals, attacking like either cruel sadists or raging chimps and rarely bothering to take hosts. I'm not sure if such a reading was intended, but I got the vibe that the idea is Xenos raised without a queen or hive grow to be basically sociopathic like how real world predatory animals grown without parental figures become feral and dysfunctional. Which would also explain a lot about how the Xeno in the original movie, Big Chap, acts there.

The Offspring's design is fucking wicked and I love it.

One of my few major criticisms is that Big Chap died off-screen instead of getting more to do. What was the point of having him be alive at the start if he wasn't gonna be used beyond a backstory point to set up the main story?

All in all, a very impressive effort and a great return to form for the series that I recommend highly.

[rainedreams]

Saw Alien Romulus Cailee Spaeny give me a chance

[archibaldtuttle]

Alien : Romulus - a 7/10 reason to stop making Alien films

This review will be spoiler-free

When I came out of the theater yesterday, after having gone through a viewing of Alien Romulus, I caught myself agreeing with my friends - this was pretty good!

And I am beyond poisoned about the Alien franchise since Ridley Scott got his grubby paws all over it with Prometheus. The only reason I made the effort to move my ass to the theater to see this one was because he wasn't directing (and also I didn't have to pay for it) (thanks sib).

I knew Alvarez from two of his previous films, the 2013 remake of Evil Dead and Don't Breathe. I am pretty mixed on both - they demonstrate solid filmmaking abilities and (in the case of Evil Dead), a deep respect for franchises he's adding to. However they are also a little heavy on the jumpscares for my taste, and in the case of Don't Breathe I just can't praise the film without having to mention that the third act twist is gross in an entirely unnecessary, shock-value way, that does nothing for the film thematically.

That did give me some hope for Romulus however, because that third act twist told me Alvarez likes talking about rape and impregnation. And contrary to Don't Breathe... that's right at home in Alien.

So what about the film then? It's good. Solid premise, I like that we're finally, finally, seven films in, seeing the planet-side society that births all those rundown spaceships. Good pair of main characters with on one side a demonstrably resourceful Rain and on the other a very nuanced look at the franchise's synthetics with Andy. The others are more forgettable but I can't blame that too much on the film - they're well characterized in a few short scenes and that's all I can expect really. The build-up is solid, the various ticking clocks and sources of tensions well established.

What I find particularly notable is the really good setpieces and the use of facehuggers in a way I've wanted to see for a long time. Very good physical effects supplemented by good to ok-ish CGI. The writing is very heavy-handed - I wish more people looked at what O'Bannon did with exposition before they write their own Alien scripts. I do give credit to Alvarez and his co-writer Sayagues for the cool concepts explored and the way they thread Andy's character exploration through them.

The editing is mostly blameless - I wouldn't call it great or even that good, especially with how hectic it gets during some more action-ey scenes, but you can tell Roberts isn't specialized or even used to horror films. I guess he took from his experience on Pressure which would explain a lot... The score is really good, one of the highlights of the film in my opinion - I've liked almost all I've heard from Wallfisch so I wasn't surprised to find out he did this one.

So why did I give this review a very baitey title. It became clear as I was watching the fourth, then the inevitable fifth act unfold, that we were, collectively, scraping the barrel on what can be done with Alien. Prometheus and Covenant, beyond the fact that they were garbage movies, were already trying desperately to find new things to do with the concept. Romulus succeeded, for the most part, in finding new ways to twist it into something interesting, something we hadn't seen before (or at least not entirely). And I'm pretty sure that's it.

I don't want more directors to spend months racking their brains to try and find three or more scene setups that haven't already been done in seven main films, two AVP films and countless video games, in order to string them together into a coherent 2 and a half hour flick. I don't think it's impossible, Alvarez clearly demonstrated that he could do it and I'm pretty sure other people could. But why waste so much time, talent and energy on a series that objectively does not need expanding upon?

I know why, it's because the current studio system is allergic to anything that doesn't have brand recognition. But I think it's sad. And I think it would be a lot more gracious to put an end to a franchise after a pretty good film that did all it could to honor its predecessors rather than try to keep squeezing more out of it until it turns into the horror version of Star Wars.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Finished watching “Alien Romulus”. I’ll work on a full length review later but my immediate thoughts are:

1) Fede Alvarez should make a Resident Evil movie, the same way Ari Aster needs to make a Silent Hill movie.

2) It’s the 3rd best Alien movie I’ve seen. Aliens 1986 is still king, followed by Alien 1979.

3) While I respect the effort…it felt like a reskinned, updated version of the first movie. The two complainers, the captain, the synthetic, the person who cries all the time, the Ripley. It’s like how Evil Dead 2013 felt like a reskinned, updated version of the 1st Evil Dead (also another Fede Alvarez effort).

4) I feel like they tried so hard to make Cailee Spaeny’s character the new Ripley, but forgot the part that Ellen Ripley was a 3-dimensional character who could be both fun and serious. Cailee did fine, but her character’s writing felt pretty flat and dull. She was the least interesting character in the cast, especially since everyone else got more distinct personalities.

5) Andy was the true protagonist. He actually had an arc and he had the most interesting character development. And honestly, I think Fede Alvarez recognized that Andy would be more liked than Rain. He gave Andy the big hero moment, as well as Ellen Ripley’s, “Get away from her you bitch!” line. Andy, the MVP of the movie.

Overall…solid 7/10. It’s nice to actually enjoy an Alien movie, especially considering the state of the franchise.

[rainkays]

my SPOILER FREE review of alien: romulus (reposted by fede álvarez on twt) <3333

[alarming-prism]

she xeno on my morph til i caustic pussy juice

[kat-movies]

Alien: Romulus

I am a gigantic fan of the Alien franchise, and something about me is that I am actually a giant fan of Prometheus (which got a lot of unnecessary hate in my opinion). Anyway, when I was watching this movie, I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it was a great addition to the Alien franchise that added a lot to the universe, while also keeping the classic "Alien movie vibe" that everyone loves.

First of all, it had some great moments individually, but I loved the references to each and every one of the alien movies. I love when a franchise realizes that they should probably try and cater to the fans when they are creating something new. Adding those moments just makes the movie way more enjoyable to die-hard fans like me. It also adds a lot to the franchise because you can start to think about how this might connect to the other movies, since they referenced those movies in it.

Not only did this movie cater to the fans by adding all these references, but they also added something new that we haven't really seen before. This might be a spoiler so be prepared if you still haven't seen it, but the humanoid alien at the end of the movie (similar to the alien in Alien: Resurrection) was probably one of the scariest designs I've seen in this franchise in years. Now the xenomorphs have never really freaked me out, and when you watch all the movies you sort of get used to them, but this weird freaky thing was FREAKY. I did not want to look at it any longer, and it had one of the craziest jump scares that I just wasn't prepared for. Anyway, I loved this movie, and I wouldn't mind seeing more Alien movies with this storyline.

-kat <3

[granitefilmreviews]

[atxsubpunk]

A Quiet Place: Day One

I've seen all three of the "Quiet Place" films, and while I don't remember much of the first two my instinct is to say that "Day One" is the best of the lot. It's certainly the bleakest. I appreciate post-apocalyptic films that focus on characters managing the new world order (Nausicaä / Mad Max) instead of showing characters trying to put the world to rights (I Am Legend). The two leads are great. I expected that from Lupita Nyong'o but Joseph Quinn was very much her equal. It was actually his character that had my attention as the movie progressed. Can he be trusted? Why is he doing the things he's doing? What does it say about me that when I see simple kindness and decency in a stranger that my suspicions rise and I start surveying the landscape for a melee weapon? Joseph Quinn's traumatized facial expressions made for some of the most memorable images of the film. It's rare to see a man terrified without screaming, demolished but still functioning. It reminded me of David Johnson's performance in "Alien: Romulus." Not because Johnson's character was terrified, but because 99% of said performance came entirely from his face and communicated more any amount of dialog could. I also want to give props for the 99 minute runtime. That may sound like a backhanded compliment but it isn't. The secret to making a good movie is knowing exactly what kind of movie you should be making, and these filmmakers understood that. That's an accomplishment.