Alien: Romulus Review: This Occasionally Effective Sequel Plays Things Too Safe

I'm on record as saying there are no bad "Alien" movies (we're excluding the "Alien vs. Predator" films for this particular hot take, because, c'mon, they don't count). Ridley Scott's "Alien" is a masterpiece of sci-fi horror; an elegant, terrifying nightmare just as good today as it was when it hit theaters in 1979. James Cameron's "Aliens" is a pulse-pounding action extravaganza, overflowing with iconic moments of badassery. Even in its compromised form due to studio meddling, David Fincher's "Alien 3" is a dark, fascinating horror show, unafraid to go to the bleakest of places. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection" is highly flawed yet so unapologetically weird that I can't help but appreciate it. And Scott's two prequels, "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant," take the franchise into strange, exciting new directions, suggesting a cold, cruel universe where humanity's god-like creators exist — and they absolutely hate us. 

All of these films vary in quality (and none of them successfully capture what makes Scott's original picture so damn good), but they're a remarkable collection of stories that each go off in their own unique directions. Perhaps the most commendable thing about these movies is that while they all feel connected, no two are exactly the same. They each feel like they forge their own paths.

This is why Fede Álvarez's new entry into the series, the sequel-prequel "Alien: Romulus," is ultimately so disappointing. This is by no means a bad film — it's a triumph of production design, handsomely mounted and loaded with plenty of icky thrills and chills. And yet, "Romulus" has no aspirations. It's less of a new entry in a long-running series and more of a collection of greatest hits moments. It's like a cover band that knows how to play all the right notes but is too afraid to add anything fresh to them. It's "The Force Awakens" of the "Alien" franchise, a film drowning in unchallenging over-familiarity. Álvarez is so obsessed with referencing "cool" moments from the previous films that "Romulus" ends up having no identity of its own. There are multiple moments here where it feels like the characters actually watched the previous "Alien" movies and are quoting lines directly from them. I suspect this won't bother most moviegoers, who will revel in all the callbacks and Easter eggs. But in a franchise that has never been afraid to take risks, "Alien: Romulus" plays things frustratingly safe. 

Set 20 years after the first "Alien," "Alien: Romulus" opens on a dreary mining planet where the sun never rises. It looks like Mordor from "Lord of the Rings" meets the constantly raining futuristic Los Angeles from a different Ridley Scott movie, "Blade Runner." A person could go crazy living like this, and Rain (Cailee Spaeny) wants nothing more than to get away to a place with some sunlight. Unfortunately, like everyone else trapped on the mining planet, Rain works for the infamous Weyland-Yutani corporation, and they have final say whether she can leave or not. And just when Rain thinks she's finally earned enough credits to get the hell out of here, she's informed that she has to work an additional six more years in the mines. That's space capitalism for ya. 

Hope arrives in the form of an abandoned space station suddenly orbiting above the planet. Rain is recruited by her friend Tyler (Archie Renaux) to help pull of a little space heist: blast off the space station and steal some cryosleep pods aboard. You see, the planet everyone wants to escape to takes about 9 years to get to, which means the only reasonable way to travel there is for everyone to be sleeping. Along for the ride are Tyler's sister Kay (Isabela Merced), miserable jerk Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and cool pilot Navarro (Aileen Wu). Why do these people need Rain for their mission? The truth is, they don't. They actually need Rain's brother, a child-like android named Andy (David Jonsson). Since Andy is officially a piece of Weyland-Yutani tech, he's like a walking key — he has the ability to hack into the space station with just a touch of his finger. Convenient. 

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the space station, which is divided into two sections named Romulus and Remus, was home to some questionable science experiments involving those pesky, ooey-gooey Xenomorphs, which means everyone is in serious danger. And so the stage is set for a video game-like saga in which the characters end up in seperate groups and have to move from point A to point B while trying not to become alien food. 

Álvarez, who helmed the gory "Evil Dead" remake and the home invasion thriller "Don't Breathe," knows how to create tension, and there are moments in "Romulus" that quicken your heartbeat and make you deliberately uncomfortable. The fact that the filmmaker seems to be using practical effects as often as possible — from creepy-crawly facehuggers to slimy Xenomorphs contorting their anatomy — aids in the atmosphere. That said, "Romulus" also employs one particular (and spoiler-heavy) bit of digital VFX work that's so ghastly and wrong-headed that it essentially ruins whatever goodwill the filmmaker has seemingly earned with his practical details.

Still, "Romulus" is scary and effective when it needs to be, aided by Galo Olivares' ominous cinematography and Benjamin Wallfisch's frightening score. As a feat of production work, "Romulus" is top-notch. I particularly liked how all the technology the characters use has a retro vibe to match it with what we saw in the '79 "Alien." But there's a distinct lack of life to the proceedings, multiplied by the fact that Álvarez and company are seemingly obsessed with referencing stuff from previous "Alien" movies. Entire shots are lifted directly from what came before, and there are numerous cases where characters repeat lines from the other movies verbatim. Why? Why is modern franchise filmmaking so obsessed with familiarity? Why must we be continually reminded of what came before in winking, obvious fashion? Is it so much to ask for something fresh?

Right about now I can sense some readers groaning. "This is the ninth entry in the franchise, you're asking too much!" these folks are saying. "Who cares if the movie is loaded with Easter eggs? This is a back-to-basics sequel!" Fine! Fair enough! But even on these terms, "Romulus" struggles to connect. The characters are interchangeable and often forgettable. Spaeny is a good actor, but her Rain is almost completely blank as a character; she's given nothing to work with. Only Jonsson, as the android Andy, truly makes a mark and creates a memorable character in the process. 

Álvarez clearly wanted to replicate the brutal simplicity of the original "Alien" here, but "Romulus" is so beholden to playing it safe that the results are often tepid. I don't need every "Alien" movie to take big, weird swings. Sometimes it's fine to shut up and play the hits. But if you're going to take that approach, you better make damn sure you create something solid in the process. I'm not saying "Romulus" needed to be as strange and unique as the previous two "Alien" prequels, but I sure would've liked it more if it felt like it had something, anything to add to the conversation. 

To be fair, Álvarez, who co-wrote the film with Rodo Sayagues, does manage to inject a fresh kind of twisted energy in the film's final act, but by this point, "Romulus" has remained so rigid in its paint-by-numbers approach that it feels like too little too late. None of this is to say "Romulus" is completely devoid of merit. Those craving a well-put-together monster movie with creepy creature effects and sturdy set-pieces will probably find plenty to like here. But it shouldn't be controversial to want better results. As I said at the start of this review, there are no bad "Alien" movies. But with "Alien: Romulus," there's definitely a disappointing one. 

/Film Rating: 5.5 out of 10

"Alien: Romulus" opens in theaters on August 16, 2024.