The Best Alien Movie Since 1986
Summary
Alien: Romulus is the best entry in the franchise since Aliens with some imaginative ideas, genuine scares and killer moments of gore. It could have used less nostalgia bait and tried to stand more on its own, but it’s still visually stunning and a movie I’ll happily watch again.
Plot: Space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life-form in the universe while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station.
Review: I’ve been looking forward to Alien: Romulus as the trailers looked like it might be a return to form for the franchise which hasn’t had much luck with the past few entries. Thankfully this is a vast improvement and is arguably the best Alien film since 1986.
Directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead remake) Alien: Romulus has some truly mind-blowing visuals and a real sense of scale. There is a creepy atmosphere right from the start and this feels like a true sequel to the first film.
Like previous movies in the franchise, it is slow burn in the first half and takes a while before the actual xenomorphs show up, but its worth the wait and they are as terrifying as ever. There are some imaginative set-pieces including one involving gravity and it has some wonderfully squirm-including moments of gore.
Where the film falls down for me is the nostalgia-bait; it references the earlier films just a little too much at times with a line of dialogue that had the audience groan a little. Can no one come up with iconic lines anymore that they have to rehash the classics?
I also found that aside from Rain and Andy none of the characters were memorable or appealing and no one will make the cultural impact that Ripley did.
The music score includes some throwbacks to Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic Alien soundtrack while also adding some new, creepy choral elements which help ratchet up the dread.
In terms of action, it’s really the second half where things pick up and some weapons are found on the Romulus, so it’s mostly shooting at xenomorphs and lots of things exploding.
Overall, Alien: Romulus is arguably the best Alien film since Aliens with some quality moments of gore, genuine scares and imaginative set-pieces. It could have done without the nostalgia bait and done more to stand on its own which is a shame as this was very nearly amazing.