Summary
Alien: Romuluscurrently has an 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with most reviews agreeing it is the bestAlienmovie since the franchise’s first two installments. WhiletheAlienmoviesmake for one of the most popular sci-fi franchises of all time, it has struggled for over 30 years when it comes to recapturing the essence of the first two films. David Fincher’sAlien 3was the first of many divisive attempts at bringing the saga back to the big screen, with Ridley Scott’sAlienprequels being the most recent ones. Now,Alienis “back to basics”withFede Álvarez’sAlien: Romulus.
There is no debate that Scott’sAlienand James Cameron’sAliensare the best movies in the franchise by a large margin.Alienhas tried to course-correct a couple of times, with ideas ranging from Ripley clones to an epic prequel saga about the origins of not only the Xenomorph but the human race itself. AfterAlien: Covenant’s disappointing box office, added to the divisive reception to Scott’sPrometheusstory, it was clear thatAlienneeded a fresh start.Álvarez’s film promised to bring the series back to its horror roots, and it has delivered according to theAlien: Romulusreviews.
Alien: Romulus Review - Horrifying Sci-Fi Actioner Has The Best (& Worst) Of The Alien Franchise
Somewhere between Alien & Aliens — fitting given its place in the timeline — Romulus serves up blockbuster-level action & visceral horror all in one.
8Alien: Romulus Delivers On Its Horror Promise
Alien: Romulus Is Truly A Horror Movie
Alien: Romulushas been marketed as a horror moviesince the project was first announced. The fact that Fede Álvarez, who directedDon’t Breathe, was chosen to helm Disney’sAlienfilm made it clear that the studio was aiming at bringingAlienback to its horror roots.Aliennever stopped being a horror franchise, but it did start leaning more into its sci-fi aspects. ThefirstAlienmovieused androids and space exploration as a backdrop for a slasher in which the killer happened to be the most advanced life form of all time, but it was a horror film by all means.
Critics are pointing out thatAlien: Romulusis a genuinely scary movie that makes the most of its R-rating. Álvarez has combined his signature style with the tone and aesthetic one would expect from a classicAlienfilm, and the result seems to have been incredible.Alien: Romulus’ reviews point out that the film is scary throughout instead of just having a couple of gruesome moments likeAlien: Covenant. The sci-fi elements of theAlienmovies are back, butRomulusseems to be a horror film first and foremost.
7Alien: Romulus Is A Love Letter To The Franchise But Brings New Ideas
Alien: Romulus Doesn’t Rely On Nostalgia Only
Hollywood has a problem with reboots and legacy sequels that focus on nothing but nostalgia. The term “love letter to the franchise” has become infamously associated with uninspired reboots that do nothing but revisit characters and storylines audiences are already familiar with instead of doing something new. Fortunately, most oftheAlien: Romulusreviews have pointed out that the movie, while very nostalgic, brings fresh new ideasand does not limit itself to what the previous films have done.
Noah Hawley is currently working onAlien: Earth, the firstAlienTV show, for FX.
Adding something new and exciting to a saga that has been going on since the 1970s is not easy, especially considering how complicatedAlienlore can be. Between scenes that were never made into the actual movies, directors fighting for their creative visions, countless retcons, and expanded material from comics and video games, there is arguably no such thing as a definitiveAliencanon. Fortunately, it seems likeAlien: Romulusused that in its favor, combining nostalgia over the Ripley films with new concepts.
6Alien: Romulus Is Not Overly Complicated Like Prometheus & Covenant
Alien: Romulus’ Story Is Simpler Compared To AvP Or The Prequels
Alien: Romulusis described as a more straightforward film compared toPrometheusandAlien: Covenant, which is positive given how those two prequels were received. While Scott was telling a very interesting story with David and the Engineers,Prometheusdid not even need to be anAlienmovie. The prequels contradicted some aspects oftheAlientimelineand introduced overly complicated concepts that required a lot of exposition and left many questions unanswered.Alien: Romulus, on the other hand, is being reviewed as a complete experience.
Whether there will be anAlien: Romulussequel remains to be seen, but the fact is that the Fede Álvarez film stands on its own instead of trying to set a much larger story in motion. Interestingly, the same could have been said about Scott’sAlien, even though it ended up receiving multiple sequels and prequels.Alien: Romulushaving a more straightforward story does not mean it is not a bold film, though. Quite the contrary, most critics were actually surprised at how Álvarez was not afraid of swinging for the fences.
5Alien: Romulus Is A Bold Addition To The Franchise
Alien: Romulus Is Not Afraid Of Doing New Things
One major concern regardingAlien: Romulusis that it could have been just a modern version ofAlienorAliens. Fortunately, while the new film does resemble the franchise’s first two films in many ways according to critics, it is also a bold addition to theAliensaga.Alien: Romulusseems to have shocked critics in many ways, not just in terms of jump scares or deaths.The third act ofAlien: Romulusis particularly impressivein that regard per most reviews.
Why Alien: Romulus Is Rated R: How Scary & Violent The Movie Is
Alien: Romulus is the latest entry in the classic sci-fi/horror series, and the violence in the film easily justifies the R-rating it recieved.
Álvarez’s career, particularly his horror work, was an indicator that hisAlienfilm was not going to play safe. WhileAlien: Romuluswas set to be a return to form, it was also going to be the firstAlienfilm in seven years. Therefore, it could not be just more of the same. Finding that balance is not easy, but according to the first wave ofAlien: Romulusreviews, Álvarez has succeeded at it.
4Alien: Romulus’ Cast Delivers Strong Performances
Cailee Spaeny Lives Up To Sigourney Weaver
The bestAlienmovies were the ones that made us care about the characters, even though it was easy to assume that most of them were going to die anyway. Although part of it comes from the writing, the performances are also important when it comes to connecting with the characters, especially in a horror film.Alien: Romulus’ castis receiving a lot of praise, withcritics particularly pointing out how great Cailee Spaeny is in the film.
It can be unfair to compareAlien’s newest lead actor to Sigourney Weaver, namely because not everyAlienprotagonist needs to be a copy of Ripley. That said, it is impossible not to think of Weaver’s iconic performance in fourAlienfilms while looking at the newest installment. Many reviews have highlighted Spaeny’s performance, with some labeling it as the perfect spiritual successor to what Weaver did as Ripley.
3Alien: Romulus’ Horror Tone Doesn’t Get In The Way Of Sci-Fi Spectacle
Alien: Romulus Is Still A Fun Movie Despite All The Horror Aspects
TheAlienfranchise includes claustrophobic slashes like the first film but also action-packed epics like Cameron’sAlien, not to mention the larger-than-life scope of Scott’s prequels.Alien: Romulusleaning so heavily into horror could have indicated that the movie was not going to have as much sci-fi spectacle as some of the other installments. However, several reviews have pointed out thatAlien: Romulusgoes big and delivers impressive action scenes.
The word“entertaining”has appeared in quite a lot of theAlien: Romulusreviews, with critics acknowledging that the film is as fun as it is scary. It seems that those who likeAlienfor its rich sci-fi lore will have a blast withAlien: Romulusjust as much as horror aficionados who like the slasher aspect of the saga.PrometheusandCovenantstruggled to find that balance, which makesAlien: Romulusall that more impressive.
2Alien: Romulus Feels Like A True Alien Movie
Alien: Romulus’ “Return To Form” Marketing Was Accurate
Nearly everyAlien: Romulusreview so far has described the film as a trueAlienmovie, which is exactly what it had promised to be. Given that there have been eightAlienmovies already as well as several comic books and video games, defining what a “realAlienfilm” is can be difficult. That said, looking back at the inception of the franchise with Ridley Scott’s all-time classic and its perfect sequel,Aliendoes have a signature identity that was lost with time.It’s consensus thatAlien: Romulushas brought it back.
MostAlien: Romulusreviews agree it is the bestAlienfilm since 1986.
Thesilliness ofAlien vs. Predatoror the ambition ofPrometheusdoesn’t make them any less important to the franchise. However, there is no denying thatAlienwas at its best when it combined horror, sci-fi, and action in a somewhat grounded story.Alienneeded a return to form just as much as Predator did, and like Prey,Alien: Romulushas delivered it. For those who missed the style ofAlienandAliens,Romulusis the film they’ve been waiting for.
1Alien: Romulus Is The Best Alien Movie Since Cameron’s Aliens
Alien: Romulus Is Now The Third Best Film In The Saga
Alien: Romulus’ Rotten Tomatoes score makes one thing clear – it is already the best-receivedAlienmovie sinceAliens. Considering thatAliennever achieved the same heights as the Cameron sequel, the reception toAlien: Romulusonly had two possible outcomes. Either the Fede Álvarez film was going to be positively compared to the titans of the franchise, or it was going to be yet another disappointing entry that could not live up toAlienandAliens. Fortunately, it was the former. MostAlien: Romulusreviews agree it is the bestAlienfilm since 1986.
94
93
83
73
65
55
44
22
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
12
AssumingAlien: Romulus’ will not drop drastically once more reviews come in, the film should go down inAlienhistory as the best movie in the franchise after the first two. It would be unfair to expectAlien: Romulusor any other sci-fi film to be better than Ridley Scott’sAlienand James Cameron’sAliens, but the fact that Álvarez’ movie is now being brought up in the same conversation as those two is impressive.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
