It has been seven years since Alien: Covenant came out in theaters and although I liked it, it was not exactly a commercial success. Nevertheless, the Foreigner Franchise is a machine at this point as it markets and promotes itself thanks to its core fan base. In addition, it serves as a playground for different filmmakers to take the series in a certain direction. Even when Ridley Scott with Prometheus And Alien: Covenantthese films did not feel like copies of the original. So how Alien: Romulus continue the series trend of hiring talented directors? Here’s how: Grab Fede Alvarez, the guy who evil Dead Series with 2013’s evil Deadand let him do what he wants. Luckily for everyone, “what he wants” led to one of the best parts of the franchise.
Alien: Romulus follows Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her brother Andy (David Jonsson). In a colony filled with disease, death, and poverty, Rain wants to go to Yagar VIII, a colony where you can see the sun. She gets a chance call from some of her buddies Tyler, Kay, Bjorn, and Navarro. They’ve come across a decommissioned ship hovering above their mining colony, and plan to steal the cryosleep machine to get to Yagar VIII. They board the ship and discover a much darker and more sinister place than they ever imagined in the colony. With the ship full of facehuggers, the crew of young workers must now find a way to get off Romulus safely. And if the earlier films were any indication, the chances of survival for everyone are next to zero.
The slow tempo is a feature of all Foreigner Films and Romulus only continues the trend. Even if you know what is coming, the tension comes from traveling to these moments. Given that Alvarez’s previous films Don’t breathe And evil Deadthat shouldn’t be a surprise. Yet he knows how to capture an audience’s attention and build on it. He knows how to build fear in the viewer and make them wonder or wonder when “it” will happen.
Cinematographer Galo Olivares also deserves a lot of praise, as the deliberate camera movements made the film even more terrifying. There are some incredible shots in this film, and some are reminiscent of Hitchcock films like Dizziness. It’s fun to watch cinematographers and directors put their own style and touch on things and to see their influences. Alvarez and Olivares give us some very scary shots, but they’re there for a reason.
The Facehuggers and Xenomorphs in this film are what Giger dreamed of. His creatures will always be legendary and it is great to see the legacy live on. The colony that was Aliensand the movement of these beasts is something he could only dream of. It is fantastic to see his vision in different ways. HR Giger created the perfect being and engineers and he is the reason we are afraid Foreigner. He deserves all the praise because all these years later his designs still terrify audiences about what could be in space. Much like HG Wells and his designs, Giger left a legacy that many can only dream of.
Of course not Foreigner The film would be complete without a remarkable ensemble, and Romulus follows this example again. Spaeny and Jonsson showed their talent in shows like developer And industry and they show even more insane skills in Alien: Romulus. Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu and Spike Fearn also gave great performances. The chemistry of this cast was really good and certain aspects of their interaction made the film more interesting. As someone who believes that Generation V and the youngest Scream Films have featured the best young ensembles of recent times, I am more than happy Romulus in this conversation.
The Foreigner Franchise has a legacy of very strong female characters, be it an old classic like Ripley or a newer face like Daniels in Federal. Romulus continues this with Rain. She is a shy character who is thrown into the fray and basically has to be the strong figure for everyone. In addition, she is more shy and compassionate than all previous Foreigner When she says she cares about others, you really believe her. To some extent, this is due to Spaeny’s youthfulness, a trait not common in actresses like Sigourney Weaver or Katherine Waterston. But if you take physicality out of the equation, it’s still obvious that Rain is characterized as kinder than Ripley or Daniels.
To say that a Foreigner The film is exciting and thrilling, it’s a broken record at this point, so hats off to Alvarez for making this broken record as fresh and watchable as possible. Alien: Romulus continues his string of amazing horror films and cements him as someone you can count on every Foreigner films in the future. If Ridley Scott decides never to make another one of these films, he can be sure that capable people like Alvarez are there to hold the fort.
Rating: 10/10
Alien: Romulus will be in cinemas on 16.08.24!
