Alien: Romulus

Alien Romulus, Stunning to Look At, Easy to Forget

Alien: Romulus (2024) is the seventh installment in the Alien film series and it takes place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). The movie opens with a short but very strong prologue where we revisit the "crash site" of the Nostromo. From the wreckage, a charred lump containing the alien is recovered and extracted. It is a simple opening, but it immediately tells you what kind of movie this is going to be.

The visuals hit right away. The lighting looks sharp and very clean, the atmosphere works instantly, and for most of the movie it does not feel like heavy CGI. That alone already puts it above a lot of modern sci fi. Unfortunately, the further the movie goes, the more the CGI starts to become obvious, especially near the end.

The acting feels a little rough from the beginning. Nothing completely terrible, but definitely uneven. What is done well, however, is the presence of the Weyland Yutani corporation. They are exactly what they always were, manipulative and ruthless. Workers are pushed to the point of death and promised a vacation that will never happen. That part feels very authentic to the Alien universe.

The main character treats the defective Weyland Yutani android as a brother. He is too human, therefore considered faulty and discarded. He shows signs of a deeper autistic like behavior, but at the same time he is still a machine created by the company, which makes him extremely important to the crew. This relationship is easily one of the more interesting parts of the story.

The crew meets very quickly and the movie does not waste time. Their goal is simple, leave the mining planet, visit what they believe is a ship detected by scanners, steal cryo equipment, and escape to finally reach their dream vacation. What they discover instead is a station, not a ship. That twist works well and the pacing at this point feels natural.

One very nice detail is the lack of sound during the space shots. It is a small thing, but it adds a lot. Another positive point is that the movie does not rely on extreme darkness. You can actually see what is happening, which is refreshing for a horror movie.

The station is divided into Romulus and Remus, two parts of the Renaissance research facility. At one point an android is activated and explains how everything led to this situation, again mentioning the perfect organism. This removes a bit of the mystery, but at the same time it clearly establishes the ground zero of the story for the survivors.

Some new mechanics are introduced, like the temperature trick used to stay invisible to the facehuggers. The skin shedding appears again, which works as foreshadowing for the extremely fast growth of the alien. There is also a very detailed scene where acid blood slowly kills one of the characters. The death is painful and slow, but the acid burn ends it quickly. It is a strong horror moment and easily one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.

Unfortunately, the characters themselves follow the usual trope of the Alien series. They are naive, careless, and often completely unable to connect obvious things. The acid death happens exactly in the middle of the movie, and from that point the pacing finally improves and the movie becomes more interesting. Still, even when the tension should be there, it never truly reaches the level it wants.

One thing that surprised me in a positive way is the casting. Even though it is obvious that modern studios try to check certain boxes, this time it actually feels natural and not forced at all. It simply works and does not distract from the story. Whether it is the need to put a woman in the lead role or the need to cast different ethnics, it never felt pushed on the audience and it blended in naturally.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the movie completely avoids the heavy religionistic symbolism that was forced into Prometheus. It feels like the authors understood that it was not necessary and not really wanted. This movie never tries to push any of that and instead stays focused on atmosphere and survival horror, which works much better for this kind of story.

The movie uses a lot of CGI. Most of the time it is acceptable, but towards the very end some of it looks rushed. The final alien design itself is actually very well done and visually closer to the alien race from Prometheus, which suggests how the creature came to exist. The very last space scene, however, looks unfinished and clearly rushed, probably because of time pressure before release.

The plot overall feels like a filler. It does not feel like a necessary sequel. At the same time, it does introduce some interesting twists and small narrative branches that feel fresh compared to the more predictable parts of the series.

The music is average and forgettable, but the sound design is genuinely good. Especially the space scenes sound excellent. When combined with the camera work and the strong visuals, the movie becomes absolutely stunning at times.

The biggest weakness of the movie is the cast and the way the characters are written. Most of them are weak and not very convincing. The only character that truly stands out is the android Andy. His role is not easy at all and David Jonsson handles it perfectly. Looking back, it almost feels like the characters were killed in the order of acting quality, with the weakest disappearing very early.

In the end, Alien Romulus is not a necessary movie in the series, but it is not completely pointless either. It looks amazing, sounds great, and has a few really strong horror moments. Unfortunately, weak characters, uneven acting, and rushed CGI at the end stop it from being something much better. It is a filler entry with a few surprisingly good ideas hidden inside it. It must be said, the writers obviously had a hard time to think of some new themes. The previous iterations of Alien are simply a trope in this series now and it's extremely difficult not to become repetitive, which unfortunately, this film did not manage and the themes are very repetitive, if you are not new to the series.