Alien: Romulus
Like Denis Villeneuve before him, Fede Alvarez has found his calling making a sequel to a decades-old Ridley Scott sci-fi classic.
Though the director’s Alien: Romulus doesn’t quite reach the operatic heights of Blade Runner 2049, it packs a ton of action and suspense into less than two hours. Beginning with the groan-inducing (in a good way) recovery of an item from the floating wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo and its examination in a mysterious lab, during which its xenomorph contents are revealed, the film then moves to the depressing, sunless mining colony of Jackson's Star, off of which orphan Rain (Cailee Spaeny, Civil War) seeks to gain passage for brighter skies.
While beaurocratic red tape keeps this likable young woman rooted, her friends see a potential escape via a newly discovered decomissioned ship in the planet’s orbit that their eensors show houses cryogenic chambers necessary to reach dream destination Yvaga. But beyond stitching together the basic plan, it’s difficult to understand what Tyler (Archie Renaux, Voyagers) and Bjorn (Spike Fearn, Back to Black) are saying through their thick British accents.
Mere access outside the atmosphere seems a bit dodgy, but up they go in a mining hauler. Once there, in textbook Alien series fashion, they discover that their mission isn’t quite as easy as it seemed and are soon contending with a whole mess of face-huggers — one of several ticking timebomb situations onboard that also includes the eventual collision with the unforgiving rings that surround Jackson’s Star.
The human characters, which also include Navarro (Aileen Wu) and Tyler’s sister Kay (Isabela Merced, Madame Web), are sufficiently appealing, but every Alien film needs a great synthetic character, and David Jonsson’s Andy more than checks that box. Programmed to be Rain’s brother by her late father — complete with an arsenal of adorably corny dad jokes — Andy is needed to communicate with the MU/TH/UR operating system aboard the orbiting vessel and quickly becomes by far the film’s most engaging figure as well as a terrific one-two punch with Rain.
However, a callback from a past Alien synthetic proves less satisfying. Rendered through special effects that make one wonder if the team that put Dwayne Johnson’s face on a giant scorpion in The Mummy Returns was hired for this assignment, this creation sends the mind racing in confusion, sure that better examples of human face CGI have arisen in the past decade.
This unfortunate element aside, Alvarez and his go-to co-writer Rodo Sayagues keep Alien: Romulus cooking, putting the team through increasingly tense situations amidst impressive production design. In addition to reverential yet exciting uses of the classic xenomorph creature look, they also weave in some truly freaky imagery, the likes of which this series has yet to feature thus far.
As with the best Alien films, it’s easy to care about these corpses-to-be, particularly Rain, Andy, and flesh-and-blood siblings Tyler and Kay, and the scenarios they encounter instantly earn spots among the most memorable of the series. In that vein, Spaeny likewise excels in the Ellen Ripley role and even strikes a few iconic, wind-strewn poses that are both reminiscent of her predecessor/peer and undoubtedly her own.
Go ahead and green-light the sequel. I could take 10 more of these interstellar thrill rides with Spaeny.
Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Murray Close/20th Century Studios)
