The buzz around the seventh installment of the Alien franchise had me excited to see how director Fede Alvarez would reinvent this iconic series. So, what went wrong?
A year ago, when details were leaked about the project, I had serious reservations. But, before watching Alien Romulus in theaters, I started to get on board with the hype surrounding the project. What I expected was something new yet in the same vein of the originals. What I got was a direct replica of what I’d seen many, many times before.
While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
And it’s exactly that — the most terrifying life form in the universe. The blueprint for the nightmarish creature was already instated, but what Alvarez did was some serious copycat BS; a trend many directors/writers are using to tap into nostalgia.
Alien Romulus takes place between the movies Alien and Aliens. The film’s production design draws heavily not only on the previous films in the series, but also the Alien: Isolation (2014) video game, including the “Emergency” communication stations which served as save points in the game.
The idea of an Alien film centering on younger characters was inspired by a deleted scene from Aliens (1986) that was later restored in the Special Edition. Fede Alvarez explained, “There’s a moment where you see a bunch of kids running around the corridors of this colony. And I thought, ‘Wow, what would it be like for those kids to grow up in a colony that still needs another 50 years to terraform?’ So, I remember thinking, ‘If I ever tell a story in that world, I would definitely be interested in those kids when they reach their early twenties.'”
Unfortunately, with such an incredibly unique perspective, I found myself very disappointed, and here’s why:
The movie highlights the many nuances of each of the six installments of the Alien franchise – Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, and Alien Covenant. Instead of paying homage to the previous films, it felt like Alvarez directly copied the best elements without bringing an ounce of originality to the film. From nuanced details in the set design to direct lines from previous scripts, what the F is this supposed to do for me? And don’t get me started on the AI character they bring back in this movie. It was majorly cringe. A big no from me on that one.
As a mega fan of the entire franchise, I’ve seen the previous movies a zillion times, have written articles on each one, and I even noted that Alien3 was misunderstood, and Alien Resurrection is wildly underrated. The reason I was so onboard with the previous films had to do majorly with the actors, specifically Sigourney Weaver. Cailey Spaeny had massive shoes to fill, and while I didn’t expect her to match Ripley, I did expect her to create a character worthy of the franchise. Sadly, another huge miss for me; I found her character (along with the other characters) largely forgettable with little meat to chew on.
Another gripe I had was the movie was incredibly boring; too many corridors to run through with few surprises behind each door. With that being said, the set designs were great, I appreciated the score (although I wish I’d been able to hear it in IMAX or Dolby…my mistake there), but these elements couldn’t save this movie for me.
If this was considered a movie for the fans, or even a love letter to Alien’s original director, Ridley Scott, it’s lost on me. As I’ve always said, when it comes to sci-fi/horror, less is always more. But, with countless face huggers and Xenomorphs bouncing around, it felt like Alvarez thought more is more.
Unlike the previous films, these young actors didn’t hit the marks. I don’t even remember their names, and they pale in comparison to the likes of even some minor supporting cast from Alien3 and even Alien Resurrection…both wildly misunderstood movies; I’m sorry, but it’s facts.
I’m curious to hear what a new generation will think of Alien Romulus. If you want my real opinion, watch the original movies instead, because they’re packed with the meat of originality, supreme acting, and an entire sense of something new that Alien Romulus lacked entirely.
On the Screen Reviews 