Film Review- Alien: Romulus

 

In some ways a review of an Alien film is superfluous. You wouldn’t write a thousand words about a ride on a Big Dipper for instance; the only way you know what its like is to experience it. This seventh entry in the long running saga is everything you'd expect from an Alien movie yet this is a good thing. Despite the familiarity it still generates so many thrills that you will be exhausted by the end. It’s a very loud film punctuated by metal clangs, steam, smoke, acid and a lot of running. Combining the close quarters jeopardy of Alien with some of the wider scope of Aliens it may not always be that original but it works exceedingly well.

 Warning- deadly spoilers beyond this point!

 

I suppose the biggest difference with the other films is that the cast here are twenty somethings rather than professional scientists or soldiers. They live and toil in a dusty, dirty, sulphurous frontier mining colony called Jackson’s Star where their future seems depressingly mapped out. An early scene shows main character Rain Carradine's enquiries as to when she might get a pass to leave this place rebuffed by the news that the quota of hours she needs to have accrued has increased. Her friends seems similarly stick and as their parents died prematurely due to exposure to toxic dust that’s not a promising prospect. Faced with this grim collective future, they decide on a daring mission to escape in their large metal craft to a nearby space station from which they can go somewhere better. Its a journey that for them is the only way out but due to the fact their departure goes un- noticed we know there will be no rescue mission to find them. They are on their own. Only the audience know that this station, belonging to the Weyland corporation, contains some frozen surprises. So long as nobody needs to turn up the temperature they’ll be fine…

From the start the movie strives for a realistic, organic approach. The station was the one that investigated the wreckage of the Nostromo and this film is set two decades after Alien, so the white panels, clunky switches and curved monitors from that film that were what the late 70s designers imagined the future would look like have been reproduced. Elsewhere there  station is composed of very solid looking distressed  metal which will later serve as the hunting ground. The place’s history researching the xenomorphs is well sign posted with nods to the past like shots of  an appendage or floors that have been melted away by acid. I didn’t check but I reckon its at least thirty minutes before we see any alien and that is the perfect moment. The film relies on audience expectations - it’s not what will happen but how will it happen! So there’s plenty of jump scares and false alarms before things get out of control.

While the film’s lean running time and sharp editing benefit the tension it is at the expense of some of the characters which with a relatively small cast shouldn’t be the case. As lead character Rain, Cailee  Spaeny (on a roll after Priscilla and Civil War) gets the most attention as someone who is caught up in things and is also protective of her `brother` Andy who is actually a synthetic. Her character avoids any Ripley comparisons even when it comes to her hero moments. Also David Jonsson as Andy is excellent, subtly changing his demeanour as a different chipset is inserted into his head; a performance that is unsettling at times and warm at other times. The two of them work so well together making a very human connection ironically considering what Andy is.  

Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone) gets the more conventional heroic role as Tyler (also Rain’s ex)  whose practical solutions drive the plot and who also has increasing guilt over the fact that the escapade was his idea as well as concern for his  sister Kay.  Outside these three however, the others are more thinly sketched, especially Navarro about whom we know little and who’s fate is already clear to anyone who has seen the promo posters. Still the impetuousness of the young characters creates its own chaos so that they become the instruments of their own misfortune and this does play well. The narrative also introduces some nasty genetic issues that suggest the  people who ran this station can only be trusted more marginally than the aliens themselves; this comes into view courtesy of the surviving synthetic Rook who has a familiar face.

One aspect of the film that has caused a controversy comes early on when the characters meet the severed top half of the synthetic Rook and he looks like Ian Holm, Ash from the original.  At first this seems like it’s a one off moment, and quite a shock one too but once this character, begins to take a more prominent role in the story raises questions about recreating likenesses of deceased actors using AI. This is not a typical case in that it’s something the actor was already part of and presumably has the consent of his estate to happen however there is also no reason why a different actor could not play the role. Would it make any difference if the synthetic did not look like Ian Holm? That something like this can be achieved with reasonably good results- its not totally convincing, there’s something odd about the lips- also creates wider concerns about faked footage being used for all kinds of sinister reasons.

Once it becomes clear that the characters are trapped on the station and to get more fuel for cryo pods need to travel through it’s infrastructure the stage is set for a harrowing cat and mouse game. One scene where some of the characters have to pass through a room full of alien face huggers without changing their body temperature is nail biting especially when someone's communicator rings.  Two thirds of the film is totally packed with narrow escapes, doors that either won’t open or won’t close soon enough, daring journeys, gross sequences of sheer horror that provide taut scenes to test your resolve not to look away. Its brutal at times and the narrative is constantly rug pulling just when you think they are ok. Admittedly some of the escapes are so a bit far fetched notably a sequence near the end involving a lift shaft. Yet its all presented so swiftly with such weight and skill that you let it pass. There are some weapons but being civilians the group doesn’t really know how to use them properly and of course if an alien bleeds it is acidic and liable to burn through anything. Director Fede Alvarez seems able to imbue even the most familiar peril with a fresh eye and some of his shots are exceptional.

As if all that were not enough the tension is further ratcheted up when a development means the station’s forthcoming obliteration in the asteroid belt of a nearby planet is brought considerably closer. Its at this point that you forget about the science or the logic and becomes absorbed. It is genuinely thrilling despite all we know and the number of physical effects means there’s none of that digital sheen you often get. This is as real as it can be. There is also a startling final section that benefits from its even more closed environment.

Even after all this time the sight of that alien head, dripping saliva and hissing remains a chilling cinematic triumph and when it is in full effect you don’t need much else! Alien- Romulus is a disturbingly effective piece of work that plays on the primary senses with a tenacity that never lets go.