The first two Alien films—Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien and James Cameron’s 1986 Aliens—represented very different great movies. Since then, they’ve kept right on churning out new ones to varying degrees of success. The movies come in twos each decade. Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection were further sequels at both ends of the 1990s; both had muted receptions. However, David Fincher’s Alien 3 has gotten something of a critical reappraisal that its successor never has. In the aughts, there were the two Alien vs. Predator franchise mashups.
Scott returned in his 70s to direct two prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, in 2012 and 2017. Both are best remembered for Michael Fassbender’s android character, David.
Now we have the next generation of the franchise, Alien: Romulus, which is set chronologically between the first two films. It’s also the first new Alien movie since Disney purchased what used to be Fox. Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez, who resurrected the Evil Dead franchise in 2013, has made a well-constructed homage to the original Alien, with various references to other parts of the series. The film features a female protagonist who is Ripley-like and ships, modules, and creatures that resemble H.R. Geiger’s creations from the original.
Romulus isn’t close to the achievement of the first two films in the series, but it’s better than most others. Despite getting off to a slow start, it’s a fine adventure with some legit scares and exciting ideas. And like Scott’s prequels, the most interesting character in the film is the robot.
Alien: Romulus, as usual, has a small crew on a ship dealing with xenomorphs, “face-huggers,” and the multi-generational evil of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. While the film relies largely on practical effects in a refreshing way, you’ll see some of the things you’re used to from this franchise before, including some signature shots and dialogue. After a 15-minute opening that’s weighed down with exposition, the story finally gets going. Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) is the Ripley stand-in, essentially a corporate indentured servant. She’s accompanied by Andy (David Jonsson), a synthetic android who was raised as her brother. They end up teaming up on an escape plan with Tyler (Archie Renaux), his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), his cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu). And if you’re wondering why this English chav who sounds like a 1980s soccer hooligan could possibly have the extremely Swedish first name “Bjorn,” you’re not the only one. (One actor, who was in the early films and is deceased, returns to give a “performance,” which is technically impressive if ethically suspect; his estate, at least, is thanked.)
David Jonsson, the British actor best known for the movie Rye Lane and the TV series Industry, steals the show as the android who starts as meek but undergoes a personality transplant when his “module” chip is changed. The action is generally well-presented, especially in a late sequence involving gravity being turned on and off, although the final twist is ridiculous. If franchise tradition is any guide, we’ll likely get one more Alien film as part of the current sequence, even though its place in the chronology doesn’t leave that much room.