Good taste is difficult to define but easy to point out; Alien: Romulusfrom Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez (who is known for his fantastic performances) evil Dead film from over a decade ago), offers a strange combination of the two. It’s clear that Alvarez wanted to hearken back to the analog, tactile sci-fi vibe of the original alien The flick, with plenty of satisfying twists on the knobs and lo-fi computer screens, will delight any old-school fan. The cast is strong and young, including civil warKelly Spaeny and the last of us Isabella Merced, Romulus It feels like I’m chasing the original alien Lovers and a younger, fresher potential fan base. And it’s fast, too – the two-hour runtime flies by without any filler, a perfectly paced buildup leading up to a third act that will almost have your heart racing.
But the biggest weakness is Romulus”’s shell is its reliance on winks, nods, and nostalgia—including a cameo in bad taste that made me cringe every time the character appeared on screen. Although I think any casual alien Fans will love this movie and miss the many Easter eggs, but there are some shocking references sprinkled throughout that made my eyes roll in my head. Nostalgia is a very poisonous drug.
Alien: Romulus looks great
Alvarez reportedly told What 2024 San Diego Comic-Con attendees saw Romulus No prior knowledge required alien movie, and “Member Berries Can’t Become a Dinner” (ref. south park joke about nostalgia), but I’m not so sure that’s true. from that moment on Romulus Opening up, there are references aplenty – the opening shot shows the wreckage of the Nostromo, the ship from the first film, floating in the vacuum for the Engineer’s sake.
But after that, Alvarez quickly (and smartly) turned his attention to Alien: RomulusA group of young men live and work in a dreary, depressing mining community called “Jackson Star” where it always rains and everyone gets sick. Ryan Carradine (Spany) and her “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) are a damaged Wayland-Yutani composite reprogrammed by Ryan’s late father , living a life of indentured servitude to protect her at all costs—Ryan was forced to work in the hope that she would earn enough time to leave Jackson’s Star for Iwaga II, a less miserable terraformed planet.
After a Weyland-Yutani employee rejects Rain’s request to leave Earth, she seizes a chance to change her destiny: a ragtag group of teenagers (and her friends) discover a “Weyu” ship drifting in the planet’s atmosphere. Want to fly up and steal its cryopod so they can venture to Iwaga themselves. question? They need Andy, who has access to all the ship’s systems, although his strange gait and stutter suggest he’s not in perfect working order.
Andy and Wren’s relationship is at the heart of the story Romulusplayed to perfection by Spaeny and Jonson – from the moment his big sad eyes appeared on screen, I knew Andy was going to break my heart. Andy’s love of puns, which is difficult to say due to his stutter, you quickly warm to him, while Wren’s good-natured annoyance at his bad jokes further defines their endearing relationship. Romulus Try to fill in the rest of the character tropes as before alien The film features a rude Englishman, his cold, no-nonsense partner, a kind-hearted heartthrob, and a sweet (and newly pregnant) best friend, all played brilliantly by the young actors. Well, even their characters aren’t fully fleshed out. But what about Wren and Andy? I would die for them.
Visually, Romulus This is a near perfect sci-fi horror film. As the space shuttle carrying the teenagers arrives at the derelict Weyu ship (which is actually a decommissioned outpost and, as you might suspect, filled with facehuggers) and ascends into Earth’s upper atmosphere, the visuals are stunning It was dazzling: rain pounded against the hull, lightning flashed around it, and strange veins of orange-red light shot through the clouds. As it broke through the clouds, Wren saw the Earth’s sun for the first time, and I felt a similar sense of awe in my heart.
Romulus From the cinematography to the set design to the look of the iconic alien, it’s truly beautiful. Alvarez’s impressive and effective use of color, light, and texture (wisps of gray smoke, white-hot steam, tar-black blood), and a seamless blend of practical and digital effects combine to create iconic effects alien Images with impressive modern technology. Then there’s the elephant in the room with digital reconstruction.
Romulus and references
As I mentioned, there are a lot of easter eggs in Alien: Romulus. The decommissioned outpost (divided into two huge sections called Remus and Romulus) is powered by a computer called the MU/TH/UR 9000, an updated version of the 1979 computer that ran Nostromo alien. When a ragtag crew member bullies and slanders Andy, he stutters out a retort from aliensaid he preferred the term “cyborg,” as Bishop told Ripley at the time. The outpost’s door mechanics are identical to those in the 2014 survival horror game Alien: Isolation. Hell, even the original Alien, the one Ripley blew out of the Nostromo airlock door, was haunted Romulus– Its corpse hung from the ceiling of the abandoned ship, its acid blood burning several floors and destroying the place.
But the most shocking Easter egg is a rotten one: a digital recreation of Ian Holm, who played a secret synth, Weyland-Yutani, in the original film ) placed on Nostromo to aid the Corporation in further attempts to secure humanity’s fate in the stars by any means necessary. The digital incarnation of Holm, who died in 2020, looks terrible and uncanny almost every time he appears on screen, and the damaged robot (in Romulus) is just a torso that keeps leaking the synthetic’s signature white diagnostic fluid, which makes it even worse. His appearance is so weird and unnecessary (and so prevalent since Rooker has so much screen time) that it makes his appearance so sour. Romulus Delightful.
From the moment Rook was introduced, I watched the rest Romulus I squinted my eyes suspiciously, waiting for another Easter egg (maybe unintentional, maybe not) to puncture the fourth wall and hit me on the nose with a “see what I did there?” Thankfully, the cast’s incredible performances and the film’s perfectly paced action effectively distracted me from my fear of another reference lurking in the dark hallway. There are several truly gruesome scenes – fingers being burned by acid, a facehugger having his lungs artificially suctioned while attached to someone, ribs and vertebrae being gnarly cracked, and some completely new perspectives Iconic chest bursting scene– something that will delight body horror fans. All of this action is driven by Spaeny and Jonson, the latter’s character doing an impressive 180 that left me speechless. Romulus It also added more lore to the series, specifically surrounding a certain stage of the alien’s evolution, which gave Alvarez an excuse to place a giant, wet, heaving vagina in the movie, like HR Giger is interested.
But just when I forgot about Holm’s torso lurking in the dim corners, when I was just delighted with the zero-gravity action sequence involving floating, spiraling acid blood, Wren and Andy must Sidestepping while suspended mid-air, I realized that Alvarez had timed the outpost’s countdown timer almost perfectly until it collided with the planet’s icy ring for the duration of the movie’s runtime. Romulus Back to references. Prototype pulse rifle alienRooker gushed, quoting Holm in alienSpaeny wears frozen underwear and brandishes a gun like Ripley, Andy stammers “Get away from her, you bastard”, a human/alien hybrid that gives you goosebumps, a face-to-face moments like memes.
Fortunately, Romulus The ending was intense, emotionally powerful, and the final scene was so sickening and sickening that I nearly peed myself. I just wish it had a little more confidence to stand on its own rather than wryly nodding and repeating lines. However, whether you are a fan of the series or not, I believe Alien: Romulus Worth a look – maybe some fans will appreciate these references, while those who know nothing about Ridley Scott’s legendary sci-fi world can be blissfully unaware and just enjoy the fast pace, beautiful shots, and excellent acting of hilarity. In that respect, it’s a win-win.
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