Alien: Romulus

Everyone have a favourite film that they can rewatch over and over again. A film that have a very special meaning for you, doesn´t matter what the reason is but you simply love that specific film. Some people love old classics such as the 1972 drama known as The Godfather from Francis Ford Coppola while others love more violent classics such as the 1976 masterpiece known as Taxi Driver from legendary director Martin Scorsese. Now i will admit that Taxi Driver is one of my absolute favourite films of all time and i can´t remember how many times i have seen it. I do remember the first time i saw this film and i must have been 12 years old at that time in 1989. My school friend Nicklas ( who collected all of Clint Eastwoods films on VHS mostly ) bought Taxi Driver on VHS so i borrowed it from him. It´s one of those rare films that have a very powerful story and absoutely fantastic characters. Not only that but this film have some brilliant acting performances as well included, especially Robert De Niro as the insane taxi driver Travis Bickle. If you for some reason have not seen Taxi Driver i highly recommend this film no matter if you watch it on streaming or physical media. One of my other favourite films of all time is the 1986 sci fi horror action film Aliens from director James Cameron. This is honestly one of the films i never get tired of and watch it every year. I really do enjoy the original film from 1979 but to me Aliens is the best film in this franchise. This film have spectacular action scenes, the alien costume design looks fantastic, so many great characters that get screen time and of course Ripley ( played by Sigourney Weaver ) is one of the greatest female characters of all time. I have seen every single Alien film so far in this franchise and most of them i enjoy, while Alien 3 was honestly disappointing. Director Ridley Scott returned to the Alien franchise with 2 films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Even though i enjoy these films for different reasons it felt like the Alien franchise needed a different director to give us a different look into this legendary sci fi horror universe. So here we are with the latest film in the franchise known as Alien: Romulus who this time is directed by Fede Álvarez ( director of the really good Evil Dead remake from 2013, a must see ). Since i am always curious  what a new film in this franchise would give the audience of course i had to give Alien: Romulus a chance. Is this a surprisingly good sequel or does this film prove that it is time to stop making more film in this franchise and do something more creative instead?

In 2142, a Weyland-Yutani prob recovers a large cocoon from the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo. Months later, at the rundown Jackson´s Star colony on the perpeturally dark LV -410. orphaned colonist Rain Carradine ( Cailee Spaeny ) learns that her work has been forcibly extended by Weyland-Yutani. Determined to escape, she joins a plan with her brother Andy ( David Jonsson ) - a malfunctioning android reprogrammed by her father - her ex boyfriend Tyler Harrison ( Archie Renaux ) with a group of other young people. The group commandeers the hauler Corbean IV to reach Renaissance, a Weyland-Yutani  split into the modules Romulus and Remus to steal cryostais equipment. Once they go onboard the Renaissance they will soon find out this station is not abandoned.

I have to say that there is especially three details that we really should appreciate with Alien: Romulus. First of all the set design of all the futuristic buildings. I get the feeling that director Fede Álvarez might have been inspired by the 1982 sci fi classic Blade Runner in some ways, while you can tell he is clearly inspired by James Cameron´s Aliens rather than the original Alien film. The futuristic look of certain locations match well with the story that Alien: Romulus is trying to tell us. I think if you are going to make a film such as this then this is exactly one of the details you should think about, make the spaceship look cool as well as the futuristic buildings. The chemistry between the main characters Rain ( played by actress Cailee Spaeny ) and Andy ( played by actor David Jonsson ) is surprisingly good. Their scenes together give these characters some charming scenes while they also go through rough times together like family members. I especially think David Jonsson manage to act quite well as an adroid. The space scenes are really beautiful and capture the right environment surrounding this spaceshift crew in a very stylish way. Ok so i have to mention some negative details specifically one character i did not like at all. And that is the annoying character known as Bjorn ( played by actor Spike Fearn ), I understand he attacks Andy because his mother was killed by an Android in the past, but the way this character deliver dialouge and show off his personality just don´t work for me. Every time he showed up i just felt annoyed and wished he wasn´t in the crew. I also feel that the story is very similar to other Alien films in the past and i kind of wished they would try something more original with this film like an unexpected twist. With that said this is a great looking action horror film and the practical effects is of course something i really appreciate. The alien design is quite effective as well and reminds me more of the 80´s design. I would probably say that Alien: Romulus is one of the better sequels compared to Alien 3 and Alien: Covenant considering there is a lot of details to appreciate about this film, especially if you love the 1986 film Aliens. Director Fede Álvarez shows once more he knows how to make great horror films and he definetely proves he have passion for this specific genre. If you are a true fan of Alien in general i think you will have a good time with Alien: Romulus.

Rating: DDD