The problem with ALIEN: ROMULUS | SPOILER FREE Review/Discussion

My spoiler free thoughts on Alien: Romulus, the latest take on the Alien franchise from Fede Álvarez, starring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, and Isabela Merced. What are your thoughts on Alien: Romulus and the state of the Alien franchise as a whole?

TIME CODES:
Intro - 00:00
Premise - 0:46
Technical - 1:17
Cast - 2:29
As an Alien film - 3:12
Fan Service - 4:07
Third Act - 6:08
Overall thoughts/rating - 7:32

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[jordan]

You have great energy and you can tell that you love the Alien series! Found your channel through Letterboxd, keep up the great work!

[martin]

Been rewatching all the ALIEN films and I will say that while they vary in terms of storytelling quality and direction of the lore, each entry feels distinctly unique (Cameron’s space marine, Fincher’s bleak gothic horror, Jeunet’s schlocky French extremism, and even Scott’s philosophically existentialism) and what disappointed me was it seemed Alvarez was more interested in harkening back to those visuals and aesthetics than attaching his gross, grimy, unapologetic style. It does have hints of it in the third act but by that point it’s too little and doesn’t fit with the grounded fear and dread of the second act.

It looks beautiful. I’ve always loved the production design and cinematography of these films and ROMULUS is no different. I enjoyed Spaeny but again, it seems they’re doing you many visual references of Ripley and not letting Rain feel her own self that doesn’t involve Andy. David Johnson was my favorite aspect. I’ve always loved how they incorporate robotic synthetics and he’s certainly understated but prominent throughout.

Overall it’s a mixed bag. Outside of our two lead performances everyone else felt inconsequential and didn’t leave any impression. The supporting casts of previous films have always felt memorable and uniquely drawn by great actors, and while I won’t say the actors here are bad, they’re sadly relegated to playing archetypes and cliches (oh look, we have the dick head of the group, oh look, the thief with a heart of gold, there’s the one that’s meant to scream her head off constantly). I enjoyed it. But man, this might be a case where I placed too much stock in the marketing and felt we were gonna get something unique and different.

Fan service is fine but it can’t be crutch to your narrative or visual language, because then it feels cheap and unearned. It’s a delicate balance that can make fans passionate about the film but too much or too blunt makes it inauthentic and kind of insufferable.

In terms of names for your face hugger, my vote is Mr. Hyde, and you’re his Dr. Jekyll!

[DamnFineCupOfCoffee]

Couldn’t get on board with the young cast. They were either too Hollywood or too annoying

[CalvinCrack]

Great review. I have to remember to watch your reviews more, you do a great job of giving me what I need to decide if/when I'll see something.

[mashedpots]

came here from your letterboxd review & wow i really agree with ur take. very interesting video

[Ficctional]

100% agreed with you here! Definitely held back. Although, I actually didn't mind the first fan service subject you mentioned. It made sense with the timeline of the movie and ties in well with the first film. It's the second fan service subject with the quote that made me cringe. Especially the way it was delivered too. One thing I did really appreciate was the logic with the acid blood that was accounted for in this one, thought that was neat!

[eddieanderson]

The difference between her review and mine is that I liked this movie a lot. The CGI issue wasn't an issue for me cause I was engrossed in the story too much to care negatively about it.

[victorvolpe]

Great video Syd! You know how much of an Alien fan I am, so I'm going to enjoy this despite the misses. And, I'm really excited about the ranking video!

[andersonkyle]

What I took away from the trailer was that I’ve seen a much better version of this movie before and there doesn’t appear to be any new ground broken here. So I’m not in a rush to see it.

[myrandomcents]

Two 3rds of it were good(eye rolling MCUish callbacks aside)
However by the ending
The movie fails to trust it's titular creature to be a believable threat and goes the Jurassic World and The Predator route and creates a "bigger and badder" new creature to carry the climax, making the xenomorph an extra in it's own film, ignoring the lesson that Alien 3 left us: "to improve the xenomorph don't make a new creature, change the host"
How you feel about this movie depends on wether or not you like Prometheus

[jakedcolman]

Just got home from seeing it. The entire point was to bring it back to the basics and make alien a horror film. The first hour and a half do this while the 3rd act is where it becomes its own thing. So I think it executes what it was trying to accomplish pretty well. Overall I had a really good time with it. 3 stars for the movie, plus another star for Cailee Spaeny. She’s that girl. Love her

[NathanielAhart]

Still excited to see this one, hope it rips (literally!!) Thanks for the review Sydney!

[WouldYouDieShow]

Name ideas for your lil facehugger buddy:
Buddy
Mr. Cuddles
Pablo
Sandra
David
Ozymandias
Mikey

Also welcome back (xenomorph) QUEEN! I really liked Alien: Romulus, but I agree with you on certain things that are keeping me from giving this the 5 stars I so badly wanted to give it. Still, so much I did like (LOVED the 3rd act) and I know it’s going to rock hard on my second viewing. I have so many thoughts... I might take a page from you and make my own video! You rock my friend, can't wait for your next video 😊

[AnthonyAPerez]

As always, great to hear your take, even if we disagree on parts of this one. I enjoyed it a lot more than you, but you always make such solid points! Great review, Sydney!

[co]

I couldn't agree more. The constant tie-ins, out of character horse-shoeing of old lines, and bad CGI to bring back a character, all made me want to yell "Make your own movie!" at the screen.

[gckoizlethal]

Yeah, the film is a mixed bag and ultimately, I was disappointed. It literally does seem to be a film thats stuck between Alien and Aliens and sadly, doesnt try to push any creative/narrative liberties, forward. It just felt held back and kinda bankrupt. There was no need to use all of those elements seen in other Alien films (such as the iconic dialogue and other plot points). Too many unnecessary callbacks and fan service.

Also, the third act was just like a previous Alien sequel and I was very disappointed they went that route.

[baileytate]

I know a lot of people will see it as a soulless cash grab but watching interviews with Fede you can tell just how much he loves this franchise. While every callback doesn't hit you can tell they come from a place of reverence.

The fact that he even had several nods to the videogame Alien Isolation Isolation was really cool to me. The emergency phones that were save points in the game actually appear in the background in the movie before something bad happens. I love touches like that

[sndrs]

Honesty playing it super simple and safe might have been a good idea. Get people thinking and talking about Alien again. I hope the next one will have more sauce

[huwwackman]

Good honest review. Most are just geeking out and not being honest.

[volts]

Name your pet: "Clingon". Great review. Thank you.