Alien: Romulus Review: Fede Alvarez Restores the Saga’s Best and Bloodiest

saga Stranger It’s a fundamental phenomenon in modern science fiction. But that doesn’t make it any less irregular. With an increasingly broad and rich story that explores its own universe on several different levels, the franchise has delved into several areas at once. On the one hand, the face of a ruthless monster with no name and no eyes, who has become perhaps the most dangerous creature ever imagined in cinema. On the other, its characters and their context. This ranges from iconic figures to bioethics and corporate conspiracy. And this in an atmosphere of claustrophobia and increasingly brutal violence.

None of this is missing in Alien: Romuluswhich manages to combine the franchise’s greatest obsessions into one story from the very first scenes. Soon, what begins as a familiar exploration of a team unsure of what they’ll find turns into a nightmare. But it’s not done in the disorganized and forced way that other parts of the saga do. On the contrary, The script by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues is much more compact and captures the essence. Once again, exploration is the beginning of a brutal story. However, this time it is a group of settlers who have little hope for the future other than survival. This takes the film to an interesting place, although it is not entirely new.

This is no longer a struggle between the interests of a dark corporation – although there are some key points on that topic in the third section – and not simply victims seeking to avoid violent death. One of the great moments Alien: Romulus is to create a believable context for your characters. Furthermore, take care of details such as the need to explore and mistakes that, of course, lead him to face a xenomorph more brutal and sinister than ever.

A story independent of the rest

Alien: Romulus It’s set chronologically between what happened in the 1979 film and its 1986 sequel, so the xenomorph isn’t a threat to be taken into account right away. But yeah, and with the prequels Prometheus And Alien: Convenantis of considerable interest to Weyland CorpThis allows the script to reveal some of the mystery surrounding its main character.

The film once again explores the mystery of a wild creature with perfect biology, as unstoppable as its existence is inexplicable to scientific eyes. But much more, and just as Dan O’Bannon did, in that it is a synthesis of cruel and organic, invincible evil. At the same time, a resource that the corporation could use for its own purposes.

Terror is the main character in the film Alien: Romulus.

The action starts immediately and from the first scene tests the visual proposal of Galo Olivares. Thanks to its decrepit, brutal and bloody look, the film moves quickly. And indeed, the introduction facehuggers To establish the general idea of ​​terror through some sort of visual hook, it works because of the premise of hidden terror. Which allows the film to take up a lot of components of horror movie codes to tell your story.

At the same time, the film’s treatment of its characters is intriguing. They are a group of young people who have no hope other than to find reusable space junk somewhere in space. So while there are all sorts of hints at corporate dilemmas, that is not the focus of the plot. In fact, their quality as miners, once again under the enterprising and brutal hand of Weyland, He makes his dilemmas more organic and relatable than other characters in previous parts.

They are also inexperienced, and the novelty of their discoveries is approached by the plot with a certain gloomy enthusiasm. For this crew, led by Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny, from Priscilla) and his adopted brother, the synthetic Andy (David Johnson), all of space is a field of discovery. Which takes the film to a new level. An interesting element in Alien: Romulus This is the idea that the universe is populated by dead worlds.

Not only the planets that the film hints at in one of its most intriguing moments and in which it directly mentions Prometheusfor its final part — but space stations and drifting ships. Much of the first part of the film delves into this idea, and seems to connect to some of the broader premises about industrialization and pessimism that surround the central dystopia. But perhaps too early, the plot abandons these themes to focus on what really matters. The real horrors lurking in the middle of space.

The Hidden Monster

The Xenomorph has never been more inexplicable, devoid of any human qualities and brutal than in the film. Alien: Romulus. This, despite the fact that relatively little appears, and the argument is more interested in facehuggerThe physical size of the film is larger than any other in the franchise, and its look is terrifying, detailed, and precise. This allows Fede Alvarez, an expert in claustrophobic and ominous spaces, to play with the ability to hunt a lurking, terrifying creature. among the debris of the space station.

One of the film’s most interesting twists is to explore, now almost obsessively, the xenomorph’s hunting nature. Where other films have treated the creature as a wild beast bent on killing, this time there’s a subtext that hints at the power of its predatory instincts. For this occasion, Alvarez turns the entire film into a dark, gothic exploration. in which every shadow and corridor is a mortal element.

And that’s without forgetting the action. The group will try to defend themselves, and in fact, in the second half of the film, it’s obvious that the film is shamelessly paying homage to Alien: Return. In particular, creating the sense that the survivors will use every resource at their disposal to confront what lies hidden among the rusty wreckage and the immense loneliness of the structure that the xenomorphs consider their own.

The last stretch in the history of horror cinema

But it’s the last fifteen minutes that make Alien: Romulus an outstanding horror film. Fede Alvarez carefully uses his knowledge of terror codes to make the xenomorph more than just a menacing enemy. He also explores the idea of ​​violence, fear and evil through his creature. This time it is almost entirely done for practical effect and, no doubt for that reason, it looks the best it has looked in years. All of the above in a script that features imaginative science fiction. Ridley Scott in 1979 from a more grounded and complex perspective.

Alien: Remulos explores the idea of ​​terror mixed with violence. To the point of brutality that at times it turns the film into a series of shocking scenes. But the director is skillful enough to resist the obvious temptation to turn the film into a series of violent scenes. So even in the most difficult moments, the subtext remains. It is a terrifying story in which a handful of unsuspecting creatures They are watched, destroyed and used by a cruel creature.

Unnecessary nostalgic wink

Perhaps the most controversial element is the slight nostalgia that a character from other parts uses to explore several different approaches. In particular, to recover information through the idea of ​​androids that can benefit the current plot. Of course, it’s an excuse like any other to connect. Alien: Romulus with the rest of the franchise. But this resource is unnecessary and can be the lowest, if not the worst, point of a well-organized and still tense and brilliant in itself.

Overall, thanks to its unusual ending, the film is perhaps the most interesting addition to the saga since its first part. A new vision of the creature, as well as the ability to connect all the pieces of information from the films, which They precede this chronologically, which is an interesting point in the mythology of the saga.

Even so, it uses the capsule story quality—you can enjoy it without seeing anything else—to its advantage when it comes to the pace of innovation. But especially in how to tell a familiar story in a new, twisted tone. What makes Alien: Remulos in the promise: The saga is regaining its lost luster with new projects like this one.