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Alien: Romulus Review
In the expansive Alien franchise, which has thrived for over five decades, Alien: Romulus feels like an underdog among the lineup. For the first time, it lacks an all-star cast and instead features a group of young, relatively unknown actors as its leads.
Although Sigourney Weaver, who skyrocketed to fame alongside the original Alien films, was largely an unfamiliar face at the time (notably appearing for only six seconds in Annie Hall), she was in her late twenties and played a high-ranking officer. This added credibility and gravitas to the survival-horror narrative and lent depth to the ambitious franchise debut.
Fast forward to today, when teen-centric horror movies are often plagued by illogical decisions, leading audiences to preemptively lower expectations. Franchises like The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent have become synonymous with grand hype but little payoff. Against this backdrop, Alien: Romulus commendably shatters stereotypes and delivers a billion-dollar success.
This means that whether it’s scares, action, innovation, or emotional depth, the film offers something—if not in abundance, at least sufficiently.
A Franchise Without Rules
One fascinating aspect of the Alien series is its refusal to adhere to a fixed formula. Across four mainline films and two prequels, each entry explores different tones and themes, guided by the director’s vision. Critical reception often depends on how well these films align with audience expectations and their place in cinematic history.This unpredictability is part of the series’ charm. The Alien franchise is, at its core, like an elaborate blind box: you’ll find familiar elements, but your enjoyment depends on personal taste. The reception of Alien: Romulus, with an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.5 IMDb score, and a 64 on Metacritic, reflects its polarizing yet intriguing nature.
Defying the “Young and Foolish” Trope
In many ways, Romulus transcends the pitfalls of youth-driven horror films. Its cast may consist of young, inexperienced characters, but the script avoids reducing them to mindless victims. Considering the competition in the horror genre, especially within China’s summer box office, the film’s solid execution makes it a standout.Viewing an Alien film always involves an expectation of monstrous creatures. From their horrifying births to their grotesque deaths, Xenomorphs have consistently been a source of visceral terror. Every film navigates the familiar beats of discovery, survival, and carnage, yet each iteration tweaks the scale, speed, and evolutionary traits of the monsters to keep the adrenaline pumping.
Frights and Finesse
The scares in Romulus are more than adequate. As expected, its visual effects are top-notch, showcasing the franchise’s trademark industrial precision. Beyond the visuals, however, the film deserves special mention for its sound design.Director Fede Álvarez, known for the Don’t Breathe series, effectively applies his expertise here, integrating elements reminiscent of A Quiet Place. One standout sequence involves the crew navigating a Xenomorph-infested corridor in near silence, creating an immersive tension through auditory restraint. This contrasts with the rest of the film, where music and sound effects amplify the terror.
No Mercy for the Youth
Despite its youthful cast, the film doesn’t shy away from brutal deaths. From the moment the crew boards the ship, they face unrelenting danger. Much like the characters, viewers are offered little reprieve, ensuring that tension remains high throughout the runtime.The climax is particularly memorable. In a chilling twist, the seemingly safe cryo-sleep chambers become the birthplace of a new hybrid Xenomorph, blending human and alien DNA. This grotesque evolution propels the film’s terror to new heights, echoing the shocking finales of earlier entries.
Much like in Alien, where Ripley discovers a Xenomorph stowed away in her escape pod, or Aliens, where the Queen infiltrates the dropship, and even Alien: Resurrection, where Ripley’s “child” boards the spacecraft, Romulus delivers an equally unsettling twist to close its narrative.
Paying Homage While Carving Its Path
As a direct continuation of the Alien timeline, Romulus is set 20 years after Ripley jettisoned the original Xenomorph into space. Once again, the greed of the Weyland Corporation unleashes chaos, turning the creature into a weapon of mass destruction.The film embraces the franchise’s legacy of showcasing spectacular deaths. Adhering to the unwritten rule that "those who talk too much die painfully," Romulus spares no one from gruesome fates. Whether it’s Bjorn’s horrifying acid-induced death or the Xenomorphs’ various acts of dismemberment and decapitation, the gore remains a staple.
A New Final Girl
Lead protagonist Rain mirrors Ripley’s resilience, embodying the franchise’s tradition of strong female heroes. Like Ripley, Rain serves as both a narrative tool for audience immersion and a symbol of empowerment.While female action leads have become more common since Ripley’s debut, they remain underrepresented. Rain’s ingenuity, showcased in a zero-gravity battle against the Xenomorphs, highlights her intelligence and physical prowess while contributing to the film’s visual spectacle.
Evolving Themes
From Alien to Romulus, the franchise has gradually shifted away from exploitative tropes. Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal in the original films, while groundbreaking, also catered to a predominantly male audience with elements of soft eroticism.In Romulus, the younger cast and broader commercial considerations reduce this aspect. However, the film compensates by emphasizing physicality, especially in its female lead.
The Eternal Struggle
The Alien franchise has always explored themes of survival and humanity’s darker impulses. In Alien: Resurrection, Ripley’s cloning introduces a poignant conflict: she becomes both the mother and destroyer of her own hybrid child. This layered narrative, where she faces a creature with whom she shares DNA, adds emotional depth to the saga.While Romulus doesn’t delve as deeply into such philosophical territory, it effectively explores the primal terror of birth and death. Its graphic depictions of the Xenomorph lifecycle, from grotesque “births” to violent deaths, underline the series’ enduring fascination with the body as both a battleground and a mystery.
In the end, Alien: Romulus succeeds not by reinventing the wheel but by fine-tuning the franchise’s strengths. It pays homage to its predecessors while confidently asserting its place in the pantheon of survival-horror cinema.
