- Director: Fede Alvarez
- Screenplay: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
- Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
- Cinematographer: Galo Olivares
- Editing: Jake Roberts
- Score: Benjamin Wallfisch
- Genre: Science fiction horror
- Runtime: 119 minutes
Several years on from the commercial bust ‘Alien: Covenant‘ comes ‘Alien: Romulus‘, the latest in the iconic film series. With original ‘Alien‘ director Ridley Scott presumably too busy with ‘Gladiator II‘, this semi-standalone interquel (set between the first two movies) is left in the capable hands of Fede Alvarez (2013’s ‘Evil Dead‘ remake, ‘Don’t Breathe‘).
A group of young people trapped in dead-end jobs on a mining colony decide to scavenge a decommissioned spaceship floating in the planet’s orbit so they have the necessary equipment (including cryonic stasis chambers) to begin a new life someplace else. The standout performances are David Jonsson (HBO’s ‘Industry‘) as ‘synthetic human’ Andy and Cailee Spaeny, holding her own as the surrogate Ripley figure Rain Carradine.
I felt it was slightly unnecessary to link the movie to the original installment, it perhaps would’ve worked better if it had been truly standalone; it could’ve acted as a much-needed fresh start in this decades-old franchise. I had a real issue with the use of the late Ian Holm’s likeness (he played the android Ash in the first film). He’d be spinning in his grave if he saw the creepy, ‘uncanny valley’ animation they used to reanimate him. That’s one of the things we could actually see – the lighting quality was poor, with action sequences too dimly lit to navigate what was going on. I get that we’re on an abandoned spacecraft but someone please turn the lights on?
However, I liked the gruesome death scenes, the top-class CGI (when you were able to see what was happening) and the score by Benjamin Wallfisch. What’s next: Alien: Remus?
My rating: 6 / 10
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