‘Alien: Romulus’ Review: Fede Álvarez redoes ‘Don’t Breathe’ in Xenomorph clothing
Fede Álvarez is using franchises to terrorize a generation of people. Over ten years ago, Álvarez opened the Necronomicon to torture millennials. After that successful bloodbath, he got the keys to the Alien spaceship where Xenomorphs and face-huggers run amok. With his newfound power, Álvarez pointed at the TikTok crowd and said, "You're next." It's like a boomer's wet dream. However, it’s one of the scariest movies I've seen this year, despite being a “just decent” Alien entry.
Photos courtesy of 20th Century Studios
R: Bloody violent content and language
Runtime: 1 Hr and 59 Minutes
Production Companies: Scott Free Productions, Brandywine Productions
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Director: Fede Álvarez
Writer: Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
Release Date: August 16, 2024
Set in the year 2142, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her defective bionic brother Andy (David Jonsson) want a way off the dump of a planet they live on. Rain's boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) informs them of an abandoned space colony containing cryo chambers and a ship capable of transporting them to a paradisiacal planet. The crew of scavengers, comprised of Tyler's sister Kay (Isabela Merced), their fiery cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and his pilot girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu), embark on a flight to the outpost. But Rain didn’t tell her bot bro that they were planning to leave without him. When they arrive at the station, they discover it’s one of the few places that housed face-huggers and Xenomorphs. Before the ship crashes into the belt, they face the threat of countless aliens.
Before Romulus, I was inclined to rewatch Álvarez's Don’t Breathe, to familiarize myself with his style. It remains a well-crafted and intense survival thriller. Romulus is essentially Don't Breathe with an Alien coat of paint, not only in style and ambiance but also in story and character. The plot involves an impoverished woman conducting a heist in an isolated space (haha) with other like-minded folks (including one dude with an anger problem). They're then hunted by a killer force they can't escape. Apart from that, there are set pieces that require stealth, with the movie zeroing in on its technical aspects (sound mixing, camerawork, and editing). Hey, if it ain't broke, just apply it to another franchise.
If you're not yet exhausted by the fan service in all the summer blockbusters, Álvarez plays a "Now That's What I Call Alien" compilation, utilizing all the greatest hits from Alien and Aliens but with his modern flair. He also incorporates several gnarly visual cues, remixing some of the most familiar "been there, done that” beats that manage to be effective.
Compared to other major blockbusters I endured this summer, such as Borderlands and Deadpool & Wolverine, Romulus looks like an actual movie. The largely scaled Romulus that Rain & Co. must navigate and survive features exceptional, breathtaking lighting and artistic direction. There are countless exciting, crazy scenes as terrifying as every other Alien movie. The practical effects and animatronics for the new Xenomorphs provide a classic flair that looks natural whenever the cast and those darn killer aliens interact. The special effects for the outer space shots also look cool.
As the Xeno situation worsens and bodies on the ship start dropping, Romulus becomes the Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson show. Their acting prowess underscores why they’re two of the best young performers acting in Hollywood today.
What can be said about Spaeny that hasn't been said before? She's a star. Her performance gives weight to the tension between her and Andy as they escape death.
I was mostly fascinated by David Jonsson's Andy. Andy is a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who exhibits a degree of deficiency, akin to a wounded puppy, exhibiting speech stammering and unsteady posture. Jonsson evokes pure emotion in Andy's expression, nervous tick, and body language. As the story progresses and Andy is compelled to "lock in," Jonsson chillingly plays his hands in confidence. It’s a remarkable and impressive display of acting.
For a franchise essentially about the sins of a capitalistic megacorporation, the first Alien entry under the most powerful capitalistic megacorporation in America does some sinful shit. In the case of Romulus, it's continuing the gross Hollywood trend of CG-ing a dead person for thankless fan service that grinds the film to a halt, souring its value tenfold. Following CG Peter Cushing in Rogue One, CG Harold Ramis doing a grandfather-granddaughter Kamehameha in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and the DC multiverse sequence in The Flash, Romulus features a familiar robotic face – but the character has a different name – spouting exposition to remind you that Ridley Scott's Alien exists. It’s completely needless, unnecessary, and quite ghoulish.
It doesn't help its case that the entry does nothing new with its premise and plotting. You can retitle the entry "Fede Álvarez does an Alien" and that's all you get. While certainly well crafted, as the story exercises in franchise nostalgia, you become nostalgic for the weakest mainline entries that tried to incorporate new ideas. That also applies to the subdued kills, which have a lot of build-up because of the unique shot composition, but the executions are poor.
The familial dynamic between Andy and Rain is well-developed, and you feel their connection throughout. Yet, because Spaeny and Jonsson are remarkable performers, it comes off as romantic. Even though they’re technically siblings, he’s an adopted robot programmed to make her happy. However, they possess an intimate connection further fueled by their equally grounded performances. That makes the signals for romantic tension ring loudly. I haven't seen a step-sibling relationship like this since Life With Derek.
Who keeps making it mandatory for every Alien movie to be 2 hours long? Frankly, there’s no reason for this film to be as long as it is. The moment you think it's close to wrapping up the climax, the plot chest-bursts another climax. While fun and exhilarating, you can feel the film stretching itself thin to meet the prerequisite two-hour Alien runtime criteria.
Alien: Romulus, or “Don't Breathe in Space,” is a thrilling summer blockbuster that doesn’t add anything new to the franchise other than the lofty performances by Spaeny and Jonsson and stellar production quality in every facet.
Rating: 3.5/5 | 70%
