Alien: Romulus

Ever since Ridley Scott's "Alien" premiered in 1979, we have seen a plethora of sequels, prequels and the like. None of them match the original, but are interesting in their own way. And if you must see any of them, it's got to be on the large screen. Unless I miss my count, "Alien: Romulus" is the 12th film within this franchise. If anyone had told me back in 1979 that there would be 11 more installments of the original, I would've said they were insane. Well, here we are. 

While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers including Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), Andy (David Jonsson), Tyler (Archie Renaux0, Navarro (Aileen Wu), Kay (Isabella Merced), and Bjorn (Spike Fearn) ultimately come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. As in the original "Alien", these are space miners to report to a remote abandoned space station only to realize that everyone has been killed or missing, except one science officer Rook (voice of Ian Holm)--he is a synthetic humanoid like in the original. From this point all hell breaks loose while the visiting crew is only attempting to survive. 

Others to round out the cast are Rosie Ede as WY officer, Robert Bobroczkyi as Offspring, Daniel Betts as facial and voice of Rook, and Trevor Newlin as Xenomorph. 

This was intensely directed with grit and grandeur by Fede Alvarez ("Evil Dead" '13, "Don't Breathe" '16, "The Girl in the Spider's Web" '18) plus TV and shorts. By his very resume, this filmmaker knows his way around a film that is horrific. His actors were staged and paced in just the most strategic way. The photography and editing were both amazing in keeping that scary effect to the film and that is effective directing. Alvarez's "Don't Breathe" was incredible in that it showcased the intense build up within the story that simply kept the audience on the edge of their seat. It was equally penned well by writers Fede Alvarez ("Evil Dead" '13, "Don't Breathe" '16, "The Girl in the Spider's Web" '18, "Don't Breathe 2" '21, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (story) '22) plus TV and shorts, and Rodo Sayagues ("Evil Dead" '13, "Don't Breathe" '16, "Don't Breathe 2" '21, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (story) '22) plus TV and shorts, based on characters created by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. The two writers are obviously a team which can be effective when creating a script or premise. When I saw the trailer on this film, it actually didn't sell it--I basically figured that I had to review something, so since it would look great on the large screen, it being grandiose, I decided to give it a shot, and I was pleasantly pleased. It had all the elements needed for an effective 'Alien' film. There were some areas that were a homage to its original and I loved those features. Other than a couple of very small places of slowness (believe it or not), the script was tight, cohesive, sequenced well and the creative, obviously patterned off of H.R. Giger's designs were presented well and represented that monster as we all know him. The visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), Weta Digital and Weta FX were seamless, but look at the companies and you'll realize why.

Assuming that one is an 'Alien' fan automatically concludes you'll love this, but even if not, the effects and the sheer factor of scaring you out of your theater seat is enough to get you to the multiplex. Even though Ridley Scott doesn't direct, he is one of the producers, so we know the film will be handled the way it should. Prepare to be scared! As the original tagline went: "In space, no one can hear you scream."

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated: R                                          119mins.