Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) directs this new installment in the Alien sci-fi horror franchise. In this go-around, a group of young space colonizers—Rain (Cailee Spaeny), Andy (David Jonsson), Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu)—encounter the universe’s most terrifying and deadly life-form while scavenging on an abandoned space station. (119 min.)
Glen: This seventh installment in the Alien franchise (excluding the two silly Alien vs. Predator tangents) has all the tension, gore, and claustrophobia of the original Alien (1979), but none of the films in the series will ever have the same shocking originality. If you have a passing knowledge of the first film, you know going into the sequels that a crab-like parasite is going to lay something nasty in its host, leading to a terrifying creature bursting out of the host’s chest and growing into a giant insect-like Xenomorph with acid for blood that wreaks havoc on puny humans. Unlike some of the sequels, this one is interested in following the original’s formula—an android programed to help “The Company” (the Weyland-Yutani Corporation that represents corporate greed over human safety) and a strong and resourceful female lead who’s a real survivor. If that’s the rehashing you’re looking for, this film fits the bill with amazing set pieces and special effects. After a slow start, I was glued to the screen.
Anna: I do like the original Alien and I love a creature feature, but I can’t say I’m enchanted by a series that beat these poor monsters to death. Some are hits and some are misses, but luckily the filmmakers of Romulus didn’t do us dirty—this is a genuinely fun flick and a great nod to its origin. The creature seems to be continuously popping out of goo/birth-canals/weird eggs, and those metallic teeth and little heads popping out of bigger heads and heat sensing spidey-senses all make for a great and frightening enemy. It shifts forms from the crab-like little babies to the big-headed gangly monster to a new form for this flick—I won’t spoil the surprise, but the new rendition is even more disconcerting. I have to say, for this not being “my kind of movie,” I was pleasantly surprised—it kept me riveted and gave me characters to care about. Well done, Romulus!
Glen: Spaeny is certainly on a successful run. She was great as the naïve but inspiring war photographer in Civil War. Her turn as Elvis’ wife in Priscilla was a compelling characterization. I also loved her in the TV series Mare of Easttown. I think the first thing I saw her in was the excellent Bad Times at the El Royale. She’s solid here, too, as a scrappy orphan trying to do right by her “brother,” Andy, played with great nuance by Jonsson. His character becomes central to the plot. We also get a CGI cameo by Ian Holm, who played Ash, an android, in the 1979 original. It’s another nod to this film’s forebear. If sci-fi horror is your jam, this is some tasty business.
Anna: Andy definitely started and finished as my favorite character, but Spaeny did a wonderful job of driving the story forward and keeping us invested. She’s a trapped animal, desperate to escape even if the consequences question her morals. Romulus isn’t the kind of movie I’ll pick to watch, but sitting in that dark theater immersed in the crushing claustrophobia was truly satisfying. It’s worth a watch on the big screen and away from distractions—just how this type of movie is meant to be seen.
New Times Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at [email protected].
Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.
