ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)

Studio:   20th Century Studios
Director: Fede Alvarez
Writer:   Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Producer: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Walter Hill
Stars:    Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu

Review Score:

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Summary:

Looking to escape to another planet, a group of indentured miners makes a deadly discovery aboard a damaged space station.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

In 2142, a Weyland-Yutani Corp. space probe recovers a cocoon from the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo. Scientists collect a xenomorph from the cocoon and send it to the Renaissance space station, which has two halves named Romulus and Remus, for research.

Several months later at Jackson's Star Mining Colony, orphaned farmer Rain Carradine is dismayed to learn her expiring work contract was unexpectedly extended, forcing her to continue indentured mining for another five to six years. Rain's ex-boyfriend Tyler invites Rain to escape with him, his pregnant sister Kay, his abrasive cousin Bjorn, and their friend Navarro by stealing cryostasis chambers that will allow them to travel to the planet Yvaga III. Rain learns Tyler's group actually wants to use her android Andy, whom Rain regards as a brother, to interface with Weyland-Yutani's computer systems, but she still agrees to join them and bring Andy with her.

Rain, Andy, Tyler, Bjorn, Kay, and Navarro take a ship to the Renaissance space station, which now sits derelict with only hours remaining until it crashes into the planet below, to collect its cryostasis chambers. After Rain, Kay, and Navarro load five pods into their ship's cargo hold, Tyler, Andy, and Bjorn return to the station to search for more cryo fuel. Angry about androids because he blames artificial humans for the deaths of his parents, Bjorn needles Andy by revealing androids are not allowed on the planet that are escaping to, but Rain was too afraid to tell Andy he wouldn't be coming with them.

Tyler, Andy, and Bjorn become locked in a cryo chamber room where captured facehuggers begin emerging from stasis. Rain and Navarro leave Kay on the ship while they go help the men.

Rain recovers a module from a disabled android aboard the Renaissance and passes it to Tyler through a small opening in the cryo chamber door. Tyler reboots Andy with the module so he can access the station's systems and open the door, but the chip unexpectedly overrides Rain's programming and alters Andy to behave like a Weyland-Yutani operative.

The men escape the room, but with freed facehuggers in pursuit. One of the facehuggers attacks Navarro, causing her to fall unconscious to the floor.

With alien-related information now installed in his memory, Andy advises everyone to reboot the disabled Renaissance android, named Rook, to determine how to save Navarro. Rook explains a parasite is planting its seed inside Navarro to grow a deadly xenomorph alien. He adds that the organism was recovered from the Nostromo and brought to Renaissance for research, but it wreaked havoc and destroyed the outpost. Rook warns that the best course of action is to either flee or euthanize Navarro.

Tyler forcibly pulls the facehugger off Navarro. Based on Rook's warning that the organism may have completed implantation already, Andy tries to prevent the group from leaving. Bjorn attacks Andy so he can rush Navarro back to the ship, leaving Rain and Tyler behind with both androids.

As Bjorn launches the ship, Kay watches a chestburster tear its way out of Navarro's torso, killing her. The chaos causes the ship to crash back into the space station's docking bay, which in turn speeds up the outpost's descent into the planet below.

Rook reprograms Andy to finish his mission by giving Andy the prime directive to do what's best for Weyland-Yutani Corp. Meanwhile, the chestburster gestates into a full-sized xenomorph that kills Bjorn with its acidic blood.

Rain, Tyler, and Andy escape a hallway full of facehuggers. Having escaped the alien on the ship, Kay makes it to the others aboard the station, but they are separated by a door. Unable to convince Andy to open the door to save Kay, Rain helplessly watches as the xenomorph catches up to Kay and pulls her away.

Rain, Tyler, and Andy make their way to a lab. There, Rook explains how the xenomorph is considered a perfect organism, and Weyland-Yutani has been experimenting with its DNA to hybridize humans for more sustainable space colonization. Rook produces samples of an experimental compound he calls "a gift for humanity," which Andy collects to take back to Jackson's Star.

After Rain arms herself with a colonial marine assault rifle, she and Tyler rescue Kay from an alien cocoon. Afraid of administering the hybrid DNA compound to save her life, Rain and Tyler decide to rush Kay back to the ship to put her in cryostasis instead. However, a xenomorph suddenly appears. The alien kills Tyler with its tail and incapacitates Andy.

Rain and Kay escape in an elevator. Feeling guilty about leaving Andy behind, Rain has Kay continue on to the ship while she returns for the injured android. Concerned for her unborn child, Kay chooses to inject herself with the compound after Rain leaves her alone. Kay makes it back to the ship, although Rook takes over the autopilot controls to ensure it returns to the mining colony.

Rain offers to repair Andy, but only if he allows her to remove the Weyland-Yutani module. Andy reluctantly consents. Removing the chip returns Andy to his original demeanor.

On the run from a horde of xenomorphs, Rain disables the station's gravity generator to disorient the aggressive aliens, which allows her to destroy them with the colonial marine rifle. Rain and Andy subsequently ascend an elevator shaft where Andy rescues Rain from another xenomorph attack. Rain and Andy make it back to the ship as the station finally crashes and explodes.

Rain disables Rook's autopilot to redirect the ship. Kay suddenly gives birth to a creature that rapidly morphs into a human-xenomorph hybrid. The creature kills Kay and disables Andy. Forced to flee, Kay dons a spacesuit that protects her when alien acid opens a hole in the hull. Following a struggle, Rain manages to save herself while the creature is sucked into space. Once safe, Rain vows to eventually repair Andy before entering her cryostasis pod for the long journey to Yvaga III.

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Review:

Bringing the "Alien" franchise back to the roots of the first film from 1979 is both a blessing and a curse for "Alien: Romulus." It's a blessing in the sense that the fiction no longer links to the burdensome theological allegories that divided audiences on "Prometheus" (review here), or the philosophical complexities that overshadowed action in "Alien: Covenant" (review here). It's concurrently a curse because the return to a familiar formula focused on fan service puts the film in a fight against creative freedom to stamp a standout mark in the series with truly unique frights or unexpected ideas.

"Alien: Romulus" doesn't take a single second more than absolutely necessary to deliver essential exposition, creating clearly defined core characters in a matter of minutes. An orphan as well as an indentured worker, Rain is immediately set up for sympathy when she walks into a Weyland-Yutani office expecting to finally be released from her labor contract, only to learn it's been unceremoniously extended for another six years. Andy, an affable android Rain regards as a brother, receives similarly terrible treatment from the offworld colony, where his programming prevents retaliation against bigoted bullies who beat him, yet empathy from appreciative viewers, whom he endears himself to by regularly reciting "dad" jokes. Right off the bat, "Alien: Romulus" gifts itself a highly likable battery to propel its straightforward premise.

No longer just dreaming of escaping her situation, but now desperate to do so, Rain receives a serendipitous summons from fellow miner Tyler. He, his sister Kay, his cousin Bjorn, and their friend Navarro have a plan to flee to another planet, but they need Rain's android Andy to help steal the cryo-chambers necessary to get them there. Once their crew assembles, the sextet sets off for a decommissioned space station where a certain something that's already wreaked havoc on the outpost is ready to restart its splattery killing spree.

Director Fede Alvarez and his cowriter Rodo Sayagues structure their story for simplicity, although in doing so, they force the characters to play precise parts built solely to fulfill a specific plot point's need. Bjorn comes with an android-hating attitude that immediately puts him at odds with Andy while establishing him as the bad boy everyone can't wait to see slaughtered. Kay happens to be pregnant, so "Alien: Romulus" can have that motherhood angle essential for the subject of incubation. And if I told you Tyler is Rain's ex, where do you think that would place him in the pecking order of domino-line deaths? It really is remarkable how this exact collection of people came together, and how the aliens know who to pick off and when for maximum emotional impact.

Since we're on the subject of characters, let's touch on the topic of artificially recreating Ian Holm for the role of an android named Rook. Enough has been discussed elsewhere about the ethical quandaries that come with resurrecting a deceased actor to do something they cannot consent to, even if their estate did. Personally, I'm not particularly bothered by Holm being brought back from the dead. I'm bothered by Rook becoming a glaring distraction because his computer-generated appearance looks like what it is: something generated by a computer.

"Alien: Romulus" doesn't have any other distractions on that level, which fortunately permits entranced eyes to home in on terrific production design while ears soak up a sumptuously cinematic score. Undoubtedly, the sci-fi sights and scary sounds are appropriately atmospheric, collectively creating an escapist environment perfectly fitted for the "Alien" universe.

Story-wise, "Alien: Romulus" is too tidy. Set between "Alien" and "Aliens," the movie slots neatly in between the two most revered entries in the series so it can call back to those touchstone moods and moments. The problem this presents is "Alien: Romulus" can't risk any continuity ripples that might upset the established timeline, which prevents the film from daring to do its own thing. Instead of meaningfully adding to "Alien" mythology, "Alien: Romulus" merely repurposes the standard stages of a xenomorph life cycle to make a "new" movie. Facehuggers scurry around before implanting an egg in one of the crewmembers. That egg becomes a chestburster that violently tears through a torso. The chestburster gestates into a full alien, dripping acidic fluids while snarling and stalking its way through a spacecraft. Rinse. Repeat. Redundant.

Not that "Alien: Romulus" isn't enjoyable in spite of its deja vu drawbacks. Scaling things down to six actors in a single location strips away the baggage brought by Ripley's ongoing saga, musings from Michael, or any other elements that have spread "Alien" thin in varying directions with diminishing returns, allowing the movie to fashion itself more simply as an entertaining standalone adventure. It's just that by repackaging some of the series' best bits instead of inventing fresh ones, the movie also ends up covered by a cloud of cliches, as both a horror film and an "Alien" film, that diminishes its resonance.

Review Score: 60

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