Despite the general aura surrounding the Alien series as being Ridley Scottโs protected baby, we, as viewers, would do well to remember that a different filmmaker helmed each of the four original entries in this franchise. Of course, Scottโs return to the fray beginning with “Prometheus” marked a distinct shift in narrative directionโone that more firmly cemented this universe as the Britโs sandbox to share with othersโbut once more, heโs found the room in his heart to pass off directing duties to a fresh face.
That fresh face is incoming horror aficionado Fede รlvarez, and with “Alien: Romulus,” the Uruguayan director has brought his own bloody sensibilities into the fold. That isnโt, however, to say that รlvarez has strayed too far from his predecessorโon the contrary, “Romulus” brings with it one crucial tenet not only of Ridley Scottโs entire oeuvre but of this particular series of films as a whole: glaring inconsistency.
Rather than (directly) continuing on the path set forth with the philosophically ambitious but massively foolish “Alien: Covenant,” Romulus finds itself placed squarely between the events of the first two films and follows an entirely new crew. Most of these faces, naturally, are generic xenomorph fodder. Still, the ones worth remembering are Rain (Cailee Spaeny, having a banner year for promising projects that turn to dust in her fingers) and her android companion Andy (David Jonsson). To get the ball rolling with some inconsequential preamble leading into the horrors coated in blood and acid, these two have joined a small contingent of colony workers who wish to commandeer equipment from an abandoned space station in order to facilitate an off-world escape from their menial lives mining for the ever-popular Weyland-Yutani Corporation.
Naturally, this is all a formality offered by รlvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues for the sake of narrative progression, as the real meat of “Romulus” comes with the iconic face-hugging extraterrestrial monstrosities. But with that in mind, the filmmaker does lend a surprising amount of time to the motivations of these young space colonizers (or at least, the two weโre meant to care about), cultivating a genuine sense of dread and longing for a life outside the only soul-sucking corporate labor theyโve always known.
While the quality of the dialogue employed to communicate this anguish isโฆ unpolished, to say the least, “Romulus” does manage to create a sense of sincerity thanks primarily to Spaeny and Jonssonโs committed turn and the overarching sentiment bludgeoned by those abysmal lines. To keep things in the Alien family, if weโre willing to give James Cameron a break for some of the absolute dreck heโs written to come out of his charactersโ mouths, thereโs no reason not to extend รlvarez and Sayagues the same courtesy if the heart is still there.
That sincerity, of course, flies out the window as soon as “Romulus” gets to the real heart of what itโs trying to be, and all the shameless โreverenceโ (read: rehashing) of Ridley Scottโs original film comes to the fore. Right from the font used for the opening credits, รlvarez is showing his hand with just how reverential heโs going to be towards his mentor. Still, little can prepare for just how blatantly and blandly uninspired his vision actually is.
With its constant nudging reminders to the audience about the existence of the preceding Alienโincluding one crucial and annoyingly recurring element that will no doubt inspire think-pieces for monthsโ”Romulus” writes itself into a corner because those of us with Scottโs film on the brain (a state of mind which this film actively nourishes at every turn) are constantly left to remember how much of this weโve seen before.
The issue isnโt even necessarily the fact that “Alien: Romulus” canโt help but dance so aggressively in the shadow of “Alien” and call our attention to its lack of original moves, but rather the fact that รlvarez simply doesnโt do a very good job of imitating his idol. The xenomorphs themselves, barely a presence here, arenโt afforded the same mysterious air as they were in the first film, mainly because we all know what these things look like by nowโthis film canโt stop reminding us of the first time we saw these things, in fact. So the fleeting glimpses and half-assed kills that compose the alien screen-time in the film feel more like obligatory checkpoints than anything รlvarez actually felt compelled to incorporate in his โDonโt Breathe in Spaceโโworth noting that “Donโt Breathe,” for all intents and purposes, was essentially โAlien in a house.โ
While “Alien: Resurrection” and “Alien: Covenant” were arguably missteps in this franchise, at least their failings came from an interest in exploring unconventional avenues; even David Fincherโs “Alien 3,” maligned by everyone, including Fincher himself, provided something in terms of a uniquely nihilistic perspective to be introduced into the increasingly stale mold. Meanwhile, “Alien: Romulus” tries to reconfigure its goals to establish that the Alien framework can once more be repeated competently.
In an oblique sense, you can argue that Fede รlvarez accomplished that mission, but at this point, would such a mission not be better off abandoned altogether? Thereโs an endless vacuum of space to explore, and one semi-inspired nod to “Prometheus” in the final act will hardly convince us that “Romulus” is charting unmined territory. Once weโre sent back into that cold vacuum again, weโre left to wonder how much of รlvarezโs efforts were the result of venerated enthusiasm rather than trepidatious obligation.