Was this a Teen Horror?
Yes, the cast is young. A lot younger than we’re used to for a crew. Typically the cast is in the 30’s to 40’s, and older but the Romulus cast are all mainly in their 20’s and look about 22-24 years old. Yes, that doesn’t make them teenagers but that’s the vibe I got from this entourage. All the signs were there, the romantic couple, the siblings, the pregnancy, the couple were on and off, the cocky best friend/ass hole, the hunky lead, the romantically confused female lead. There’s so many chase scenes and trying to be quiet in the dark whilst trying not to get caught which is classic teen horror code. There’s also two facehugger scenes, which felt quite sexualised.
Homage to the Original
There’s a few nods to the original Alien movies, including iconic lines. As soon as they were used, it did feel slightly cringy. The formula is still the same for the Alien franchise. A crew goes to an unknown Alien infested planet/ship, one crew member gets a facehugger and implants a egg which bursts out of their chest, evolves quickly to an alien and kills everyone. Yes, it’s a franchise but was really hoping for some changes to mix things up in the storyline. Unfortunately, it made the movie very predictable!
It’s all in the Trailer
As this movie follows the same formula to the originals and all the bst bits are in the trailer, it made the movie less scary. You know what was going to happen as quite a lot of the scary bits were in the trailer. I felt the suspense for the first encounter on the ship, then the enter a room and you recognize it from the trailer which dampens the thrill. You also know who is going to die from the trailer too. Most of the mystery from the movie is killed off before you enter the cinema.
Visually Spectacular
Where the movie lacks in story telling, the visuals of this movie are quite marvelous. From the set design of the mining planet to the Xenomorphs aliens themselves. I appreciated the movie went back to te old technology on the ships which was more of a nod to Alien and Aliens, where Prometheus and Covenant were more high tech. The space scenes were Interstellar good and the scenes at the end of the movie were fascinating to watch. The Xenomorphs were visually scarier than they ever have been and the details to the synthetic’s made everything feel more realistic.
A New Ripley?
Every movie that doesn’t feature Sigourney Weaver, feels like they’re trying to replace her. All the leading females are white, smart, strong with brown hair and Cailee Spaeny is no different. One thing that does make Spaeny stand out amougst them is that she’s younger and does bare some similarities to a younger Weaver. Spaeny is an incredible actress, there’s no denying that. But is she apart of the franchises way to replace Ripley with a younger version of her? Is Rain the new Rilpey?You can’t replace an icon!
Aliens were Scarier but Tamer
Visually the Xenomorphs and Facehuggers look scarier than ever. I applaud the choice to use more practical effects instead of using VFX for this to make it feel more realistic. When the characters get up close and personal with these creatures, you can see the detial and combines with the slime/acid substance, it makes a striking terrifying visual. The close ups on the implantation are also some of the disgusting scenes I’ve watched in an Alien movie. However, the aliens moved differently in this movie. They were slower and stalking like a Lion. There was lots of camouflage moments for sure, but slower on the pounce or not at all.
Perfect Choice of Director
Where I didn’t enjoy some of the choice made, I did enjoy the cinematic, and artistic choice made by the director. If this movie needed anything, it needed someone who understood horror movies and that’s Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe). Alvarez created some tense, thrilling scenes and made revived the franchise horror element. He made moments that kept you at the edge of your seat and captured the beauty of the space. I don’t think the fault lies with the director why I didn’t feel scared or the movie felt predictable. It was the trailer and this being 7th in the franchise.
That Ending?
Point blank, I’m not a fan. That ending was horrendous. It was very Evil Dead and not aligning with the Alien origins. Were they trying to make an original shocking ending that no one saw coming, sure. But no one wanted that. It reminds me the ending of “Men”. I hated that too.
Is Alien Romulus Worth Watching?
The movie starts off with originality. A new younger crew, a new story, interesting back stories and not in space! But after the first facehugger falls off, we know how this story is going to go. We’ve seen this same formula time and time again. As much as the director makes a visual masterpiece, the suspense fades and the aliens we used to have nightmares about became less of a concern. The movie ends with a weird twist that is a different type of horror to the franchise, which is not what the fans came to see.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
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WILL YOU BE WATCHING “ALIEN: ROMULUS”? IF YOU’VE SEEN IT, WHAT DID YOU THINK?
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