Alien: Romulus (2024)

Alien was rare movie where the sequel was the equal of the original.  Aliens was quite different, with the original being a haunted house movie in space and the second being pure action, but being completely different types of movies helped, as well as doubling down on Ripley as a strong female protagonist.  Both movies were successful and influential enough that Predator 2 ended up placing itself in the same universe, thus spawning a number of comics and attempts to make movies showing the two species fighting each other.

That, after years in limbo, failed miserably at the hands of Paul W. S. Anderson.  Unfortunately, the main series didn't do so well either.  Alien 3 was filled with production problems to the point where David Fincher was filming without a set script and, despite having renowned French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Alien Resurrection, that movie also failed to renew interest in the series.  Original director Ridley Scott returned from the prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, but they just served to further drive home the point that no one knew what to do with the franchise. 

Then along came Fede Alvarez, a horror director known largely for Don't Breathe and a remake/reboot of another series, Evil Dead.  It was a bold, but needed, move.  As a fan Alvarez could pinpoint why the other movies were failing, which was mainly due to convoluted plots that were made worse by studio interference.  As a horror director he also knew that it was important to return to those roots

Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) is an orphan living in a mining colony with her android "brother" Andy (David Jonsson) on a planet orbiting Jackson's Star in 2142, 20 years after the events on the Nostromo.  Denied the right to leave the colony by Weyland-Yutani and facing a lifetime of working in the mines she hatches a plan with her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) and her other acquaintances to get off the planet by stealing stasis pods from a derelict ship that has entered the planet's orbit and is due to collide with the planet's rings in 36 hours.

When they arrive they encounter the facehuggers and a damaged android who they use to upgrade Andy's clearance.  It turns out that it's not a ship, but a space station called Renaissance, with two research halves called Romulus and Remus.  The station, owned by Weyland-Yutani, was used to study the xenomorph that was retrieved from the site of the Nostromo's wreckage, and soon the group is attacked by facehuggers, resulting in the birth of a new xenomorph.  However, the station has other secrets, and Andy's upgrade comes with a price. 

Fede Alvarez did a good job with the atmosphere.  This feels more like an Alien film that most of the previous sequels and prequels, and it even does some needed worldbuilding, since we've never seen humans outside of ships and prisons in these films, save for the beginning of Aliens when Ripley is settling into the station orbiting Earth.  There is no one with any major film credits behind them, the most recognizable being Ian Holm's likeness being used on the android Rook, which is an animatronic made to be similar to Ash from the original.  

None of the young actors are as memorable as the then largely unknown cast of Alien.  Alvarez cuts between scenes of them on different parts of the station, and making it from one end to another is an essential part of the middle of the movie, but the tension never builds.  The sound mix is bad enough that Renaux is often hard to understand, seemingly mumbling his lines, and everyone else feels like one-dimensional creature fodder.  The exception is David Jonsson who stands out as Andy, although even he is undercut by unnecessary fan service in having him repeat Ripley's most famous line from Aliens.  There are additional references to the other movies, none of which are needed.  Alien: Romulus could have had enough going on to stand on its own.

It is still an enjoyable action flick and is the best sequel since Aliens.  It is unfortunate that Alvarez didn't trust his instincts more and concentrate on making his movie different enough that the audience didn't feel like it was a retread but still not head off into unnecessary tangents like the prequels.  In his effort to make a good Alien film he has tarried too often in over familiar territory.

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Time: 119 minutes

Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced

Director: Fede Alvarez