I still vividly remember sneaking into a cinema screening of Ridley Scott’s “Alien” in 1979. The famous chest buster scene both terrified and fascinated me, showing just how chilling sci-fi can be. Now, 45 years later, Fede Alvarez has given us “Alien: Romulus,” a film that bridges the gap between “Alien” (1979) and James Cameron’s “Aliens” (1986).
The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots. While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers face the most terrifying life form in the universe.
I’d heard quite a few mixed reviews about this latest movie in the franchise being a fan of both the Alien franchise and Alvarez’s work I couldn’t wait to see Alien: Romulus in IMAX at my local Cineworld, but due to some time constraints it took me up Tuesday after its initial release to see the movie.
I tried not to watch the trailers before the release and so I went it not knowing that much about the movie other than it is set 20 years after Alien and 37 years before Aliens so a big gap was being filled in between the movies.
Alien: Romulus starts with the company looking for what has been lost after Ripley blew the original Alien out of the airlock in the first movie, we are treated to an opening sequence that is silent and rather unnerving before we are given a glimpse of the Nostromo’s wreckage which is the first connection that we have to Scott’s sci-fi/horror masterpiece from 1979.
We are introduced to a new “crew” on a mining colony that is looking to get off-world and make a new life somewhere that is better, they discover that there is a ship in orbit that has what they need. They set plans in motion to head to the ship to salvage what they need but you just know that they are going to be taking on more than just a salvage mission!
Alien: Romulus has plenty of Easter Eggs, or should that be Alien Eggs, that pay homage to the franchise such as the “dunking bird”, Geiger’s Necronomicon, Rain in a spacesuit similar to Ripley’s and so much more. These all add nice touches to the movie although some give you the feeling that they were slotted in to please die-hard fans (look out for a character called Rook) and there are a couple that you see/hear and think, “Really, why would you add that?”.
For me, Alien: Romulus is a film that has to be seen in IMAX, it’s shot in a 1.90:1 ratio using the entire screen to immerse you in the movie, the film also brings back the FX team from ALIENS (1986), so we get some truly brilliant creatures in this feature that sit somewhere between throwback and update.
The IMAX screen brings out all the details of the superb cinematography by Galo Olivares and the colours and depth are crystal clear, even in the moments of the darkness you can pick up on things in the background that are just out of full sight but give you an uneasy feeling that you may be picking on something that could be there. This works brilliantly throughout Alien: Romulus and makes the movie feel more like the first movie than its predecessors.
The sound in IMAX works well, from the opening with the silence to the loud explosions and sound effects of the ship’s systems, the IMAX sound system brings the movie to life much more than your standard screen. You get the feeling that you are smack bang in the middle of everything that is going on.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (“Don’t Breathe 2”) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. “Alien: Romulus” is produced by Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”), who directed the original “Alien” and produced and directed the series’ entries “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” Michael Pruss (“Boston Strangler”), and Walter Hill (“Alien”), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (“Charlie’s Angels”), Brent O’Connor (“Bullet Train”), and Tom Moran (“Unstoppable”) serving as executive producers.
Being a fan of the franchise I enjoyed Alien: Romulus, yes it has some moments that did seem to be forced to bring all the franchise together, but the film is a fun ride. I found myself being pulled in from the start and unlike the later movies in the franchise, this one gave me chills similar to the ones I still get every time I watch Alien.
Alien: Romulus in IMAX is certainly the way to see the movie on a big screen, it looks and sounds great and has some nice Easter eggs pointing to other films in the Alien franchise.