A desolate space station is floating around in the cold, dark void of space. Hope for a new life is held there, but death lays dormant, waiting for its moment.
On the Alien Franchise timeline, Alien Romulus takes place after Alien (1979) and before Aliens (1986). It was directed by no other than Fede Álvarez, who also directed movies such as Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016).
In this story, the main character, Rain, who has a similar character structure as the main character in Alien (1979), Ellen Ripley, is stuck on a miserable mining planet where people are nothing but tools that are simply discarded and replaced, having no other purpose. However, she has hope for a new life for herself and her “brother,” when she meets her quota for work hours but out of nowhere her quota is increased. With her dreams crushed, her friends found another way to leave the planet called Yvaga. The problem was that it was too far to travel, too but they found a ship called Romulus in space that was abandoned and held cryopods for their escape.
Many of the references from the movie are very enjoyable, such as the ship’s interior being similar to the ship in Alien (1979), and even the main control system for both ships is called “Mother.” Some weapons, such as the stun baton that was used by Bjorn, are from the game, “Alien: Isolation.” Scenes and locations were also inspired by both Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986).
One of the most interesting choices made for the movie was the use of practical effects. Director Álvarez wanted to incorporate practical effects as much as possible. In a report, he said, “Bring it to a new generation and bring it to life in a way that has never been brought to life before and it’s such a realistic and almost documentary way.” The practical effects added so much personality and life to the aliens making it more atmospheric and terrifying. It was honestly amazing to see the exoskeleton of the alien itself and extremely interesting to see how it was puppeteered.
The most horrifying part of this movie was the final hybrid xenomorph’s design. Instead of using CGI, The Romanian basketball player, Robert Bobroczkyi was cast. He was cast for his physique and unique way of moving since he was a total of 7 feet 7 inches. This made the hybrid uncomfortable to look at and because of his strange movements, the character was blood-curdling. It frequently had a strange smile on its face yet it showed no emotion when killing. Its slinky body glided across the roof, still having the same physical capabilities as the xenomorph. It was the horror of all horrors.
The film definitely holds its own against the other Alien films, possibly even surpassing them. It stuck to its roots and did it in a way that many films forgot how to do. The story was enthralling, the practical effects were astonishing, and the scenes were unnerving, it definitely is an Alien film.
