Our full spoiler discussion for Alien: Romulus can be found here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2235582/episodes/16164205
I wasn’t sure what to think when Alien: Romulus was announced. I would rather them finish the third movie to bridge the gap between Alien: Covenant and the original Alien, but with Fede Alvarez on board I thought maybe it would take the series in more of a horror direction instead of getting caught up in the science fiction elements Ridley Scott was exploring in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Alien: Romulus does some new things. It adds to the lore of the Xenomorph and face huggers and even uses elements from previous films to create the story line in Romulus. I won’t get into details to avoid spoilers for the movie. Not all of the pieces they used from previous films makes sense, and a couple of them are just bad. The one part of the story they used was the one that made the least sense, but you can’t always get caught up in details I guess.
The characters were pretty solid, we get a little bit of background on a few of them and some tension that comes from the situation they find themselves in. I was worried with the young cast that they would go more of an 80’s slasher route but they all did a good job with what they were given.
About halfway through the film it drastically changes in tone and direction, but not in a good way. We get more elements from previous films and the most egregious completely took me out of the movie. It wasn’t a good choice. They add a fair amount of fan service, so much so that I found myself rolling my eyes with how bad it was. We don’t always have to go back to the previous films, do something new and fresh. Create new moments instead of living on the past. I get the nostalgia factor, but when it’s done this poorly and so on the nose it cheapens the moments from the other films.
I was not a fan of the third act or the final enemies that have to be defeated. It once again goes back to the well for previous story beats and uses them poorly. If you’re going to use past ideas at least use them in a clever way and don’t pick story elements that are almost universally disliked. It is bloodier and more violent than some of the previous films, which was nice to see.
Did this movie need to be made? Probably not. Could it have been better? Yes. Was it still fun watching it and getting more Alien goodness? Also yes. Overall I’d suggest watching it even if you aren’t a fan of the franchise, but temper your expectations.
