We’ve heard it all before, and will probably continue to hear it until society collapses; if you so much as think about telling stories based on a pre-existing IP or building upon popular stories of the past, you have basically admitted to the world that you despise the concept of creativity, and that you specifically are eager to see the world of cinema polluted beyond redemption.
Except, you haven’t, and you especially haven’t if your name is Fede Álvarez, director and co-writer of beefy summer blockbuster Alien: Romulus. Álvarez, you see, harbors a well-kept secret about filmmaking — it’s okay to make franchise films, legacy sequels, and even franchise legacy sequels so long as they don’t suck. And now, the denizens of Disney Plus can take full advantage of that lack of suck.
Per FlixPatrol, Alien: Romulus has found itself swimming in ninth place on the Disney Plus worldwide film charts, squaring up against the likes of fellow summertime theatrical juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine in third place, Top 10 favorite Moana in first place, and quintessential Disney classic The Lion King in eighth place, the latter two of which likely have Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King to thank for their success.
Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson as Rain and Andy, a human and an android who share a sibling bond and live out their days on the Jackson Star mining colony in the year 2142. They’re recruited by a ragtag group of young adults to join them on an expedition to an abandoned Weyland-Yutani station, where they hope to use the base’s resources to explore the galaxy and find a new home. The only problem? A pack of hyperviolent aliens have been living on this base for some time now, and they’re not especially keen on visitors.
Alien: Romulus‘ technical competence, just on its own, makes for one of the better watches in the Alien pantheon, and Jonsson’s mind-bogglingly elite performance as Andy is the asset of every director’s dreams. And while some may be quick to turn their noses down at the number of references to past Alien media, it’s easy to forgive Romulus precisely because it doesn’t try to play this nostalgic tic as a substitute for a good story.
The film’s narrative is thematic in nature, using its band of luckless youth to unfurl such ideas as freedom, responsibility, and the ever-crucial task of balancing these things with compassion. Character deaths are largely correlated with traits and decisions that indicate an inability to be truly free, which is the literal goal of the group, while the film’s protagonists are defined by their ability to take control and enable their allies. The aforementioned Andy plays host to an especially remarkable arc in this vein, and it’s his capacity for love that ends up being the driving force of Romulus‘ emotional and cerebral core.
Indeed, it’s not quite up there with Ridley Scott’s legendary tension masterclass and James Cameron’s mythological actioner, but Romulus is nevertheless a decidedly mighty pillar of the Alien franchise, and one can only hope that Alien: Earth, Noah Hawley’s FX series due sometime in 2025, can follow it up the way it deserves.
Published: Dec 2, 2024 09:19 am