Introduction
Basic movie information
- Directed by: Fede Álvarez
- Full name: Alien Romulus
- Release date: 2024
- What to expect: A return to the Alien universe with familiar Xenomorphs and new characters, but with some pacing issues and uneven character development.
- Additional information: The film is a continuation of the iconic Alien franchise, introducing a new setting and cast to the deadly Xenomorph threat.
- Budget: $80 million
- Box office: $289 million
Initial thoughts
My wife and I have always enjoyed the Alien movies, but it had been a while since we revisited the franchise. When Alien Romulus popped up on our radar, we were excited to see where this new chapter would take the series. While it had its moments, it didn’t quite capture the magic of the originals.
Enjoyment
Plot summary
The film follows a group of space travelers who accidentally bring Xenomorphs aboard their ship. Despite some initial tension, the infection spreads too quickly, leaving little time for the characters to react or develop. The focus quickly shifts from survival to a chaotic battle with the alien menace.
Was the movie fun?
While the movie had some fun elements, particularly seeing the Xenomorphs in action, it felt like the iconic facehuggers appeared too late, and the actual Xenomorphs showed up almost too soon. The pacing threw off the tension, and not enough time was spent developing many of the characters. Still, it was fun to see the aliens do what they do best—hunting and killing in brutal fashion.
Emotional impact
Not much emotional depth. The characters were largely forgettable, and the movie leaned more on spectacle than emotional investment.
Rating for Enjoyment
After thinking about all the aspects this movie has to give for enjoyment, emotional impact, and other factors, I decided to give the enjoyment section of this movie review, an 6.0.
Yes, it is fun to see people get killed by the Xenomorphs, but they also make bad decision after bad decision. First there are no Xenomorphs, and without a good explanation apart from, this was a space lab, there are suddenly fifty of them. Where were they when they boarded the ship? Sleeping?
Pacing and audience
Pacing of the movie
The pacing felt uneven. In the first half of the film, the crew encounters no Xenomorphs, and only one person becomes infected. But then, suddenly, the whole ship is overwhelmed in what feels like a rushed sequence of events. The final alien design also looked strangely uncanny and less menacing than expected, which hurt the climax. They tried to mimic the alien from Alien 4.
The pacing starts slow, with a gradual buildup of tension, but it ramps up too quickly in the second half, leaving everyone feeling like they missed a significant chunk of the action.
What audience is targeted?
Fans of the Alien franchise and sci-fi horror enthusiasts, though it might not fully satisfy long-time fans of the series.
Script and dialogue
The script was serviceable, with a few tense moments, but the dialogue lacked the memorable punch of earlier Alien films. They also tried to cram in random favorite lines of the Alien franchise for no reason at all.
What message does this movie instill?
Survival in the face of overwhelming odds, though the execution lacked depth since they made every wrong decision.
Rating
After some consideration, thinking over the dialogue and the scenes, I give the pacing and audience section a rating of 5.
We all know by now, the main character survives and the others die in the Alien movies.
Graphic style
Quality of graphics and art direction
The visual style was solid, with some impressive set design and a return to the dark, industrial atmosphere the franchise is known for. The CGI was mostly good, but there were moments, especially during the final confrontation, where the alien effects felt off, almost too polished and unnatural. One other thing which is what put me off, in the first movie, Ash, is an android played by Ian Holm. He passed away, but using A.I., and some trickery, they put a young version of a dead actor in this movie. I immediately knew he was the bad guy, but while watching the movie, the question plagued me, he is dead, how can he be in the movie? I mean, this crosses a line for me, don’t use dead actors with A.I. in a movie!
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style of this movie a good rating. But after considering a lot, I decided to give it a 1.
I give it a low rating for casting a dead actor using A.I.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the movie
The sound design was appropriately horrifying, with the music score contributing to the eerie, tense atmosphere. The screeches of the Xenomorphs and the mechanical noises of the ship helped with immersing you in the setting. The acting, however, was hit or miss, with some performances feeling flat, especially given the high stakes.
Acting and lines
Mixed performances, with a few standout moments but generally forgettable. It goes the same as in many horror movies, oh no, someone died. Except very hollow by most of the actors.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 6
While the Xenomorphs carried the movie, the cast killed it, but not in a good way.
Personal experiences favorite scene
My favorite scene was when blood couldn’t reach the ground due to the ship’s antigravity system. Seeing it float midair was visually cool, but it made little sense in the context of the film. Additionally, the moment when the aliens just vaporized due to what appeared to be bad CGI took me out of the experience. It was a moment that could’ve been visually iconic but fell flat due to poor execution.
I will give the movie a higher rating in the personal section since I am a sucker for horror movies, like, I get scared easily but not by video horror games. I did enjoy the movie, but it made numerous mistakes.
Rating
My own personal rating of this movie is a 7.5
The movie was fun to watch with my wife and I did think most of it was scary. But I usually don’t watch horror movies, but I make an exception for the Alien franchise as I saw the first movie in my teenage years!
Last words
Pros
- Solid atmosphere and set design
- Exciting alien action sequences
- Effective sound design and music
- Return of the facehuggers and Xenomorphs
Cons
- Uneven pacing
- Underdeveloped characters
- Uncanny and disappointing final alien design
- Some bad CGI moments
- Rushed second half
- Used A.I. to cast a dead actor
- Inconsistent tone between horror and action
- Weak dialogue that lacks memorable lines
- Limited suspense compared to earlier Alien films
Alien Romulus offers a fun but flawed entry into the Alien franchise. While it has some entertaining moments and solid visual design, it struggles with pacing, character development, and an underwhelming climax. It’s a decent watch for sci-fi horror fans, but it doesn’t quite live up to the legacy of its predecessors.
Final Rating
4.5
Please let me know what you think of the Alien Romulus review in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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emperoru
Holly molly didn`t expected 4,5 points. I have not watched it, but this movies had like hype wave in social medias, so I thought it was quite decent movie
emperoru
hope I will not forget to watch it
Myr
Watched the movie together with my girlfriend in the cinema. Compared to Prometheus and Covenant I liked the smaller scale of the whole story. Also I liked the interior and interface design very much. The AI actor was indeed not a nice thing to look at. He just seemed unreal. This has already beed done better in older movies. What I really liked (in Prometheus too) was the acting of the androids. The behavior and acting was very nice!
Myr
It felt closer than in the last films. The setting, the characters had some motivation other than their exploration mission/urge. Especially with Prometheus and Covernant I really had my problems with the characters and the occasional gaps in logic. I didn't notice any major gaps in logic here. It was certainly strange that at first everything is quiet and then it's swarming with beasts, but well ... Just an action build-up.
supersven
The problem is, it is never properly explained why the aliens never attack them, it is just bad pacing, recently rewatched Alien from 1979. The pacing and explanation is much better, but it also features the different facehugger, the slow breeding one. (Yes, I learned there are multiple breeds and this explains how fast a host is killed)
supersven
David creeps me out in Prometheus and Covenant, lol.
Silentrets
We wanted to go this movie with my aunt and cousins, instead of this we watched Deadpool: Wolverine. Then we didint miss not much. Actually, some sequel movies are not good movie. Especially after years that released ones. Except Saw 🙂
supersven
Some of the Alien movies are great, they should have focused on another main installment.
fano23
Haven't watched Alien movies yet, and doesn't look like the best to start with. Feels weird to have a movie with bad CGI nowadays.
supersven
You should start with Alien Versus Predator, this is set first in the timeline, followed by two, Prometheus and Covenant!
FranckCastle
AI? Are you sure it wasn't just human-made CGI? Princess Leia also looked a bit weird in later Star Wars movies... 🤔
I never watched any Alien movies, though I have enough pop culture knowledge to know what the Xenomorphs look like, lol. (also watched a friend play Alien: Isolation) That first screenshot you shared looks cool, but I find it a pity that they didn't leave enough place for emotional investment into the characters... Would have made it better, I think.
Nice review overall, keep making those movie reviews!
supersven
Like I said in Discord, they used A.I. and some deep trickery, but it was just uncanny. I am glad you liked this movie review!
Rezonono
Honestly, I had a great time watching it. The beginning of the film was not bad, with beautiful scenery. The rest is in the same style as the previous ones, no big surprises. It's not bad but nothing more.
supersven
Yeah, I did enjoy it as well, but I had to keep personal and objective very far apart from each other.
Blink
This movie trailer is pretty good, but I heard many people said that this was the worst alien series in the first day release, so I decided not to watch)
supersven
Yeah, they put the good stuff in the trailer!
Alamar
It is often now that sequels are not as good as originals. Not developed characters is big con indeed.
supersven
They did this better in the first movie which released in 1979....
ellemby
it’s aliens so nothing special.
supersven
Some of the franchise had great lore!
Nicole
I've never seen any of the Alien movies, but I do love the idea of alien-themed horror! I find a lot of horror movies sadly do this, the villian/monsters carry the whole film while all the other characters are made basic, oftentimes stupid and feel so flat! There's really nothing else to the movie except the monster! It makes you so much more invested when you feel personal connections to the story! When you make the characters dumb and one-dimensional it causes the monster to be less scary. If a character is fighting smart and making all the right choices but the monster is still at an advantage, that makes them so much scarier!
supersven
Some of the alien movies did great, for example, in Alien 1, Ripley is very smart and sensible, she is a likeable character. Keeps up with regulations and protocols like quarantine, the funny thing is, the other people react to emotional, since their friend is in danger. But Ripley keeps her calm, the android overrides her and, of course, everyone dies but Ripley, she tries to keep calm and actually survives.
wolfmaron999
can we an Alien story on military side of story please...like the comics?
wolfmaron999
*we have
supersven
Never read the comics, but a new alien movie is always welcome! I am hoping for AVP 3, or one that takes place after Resurrection, even after Covenant, there has to be an engineer who crashes on the first planet!
Vibe
Sad to see Ian Holm brought back in such a way but I suppose such "resurrections" will become commonplace in long running franchises 🙁
supersven
I hope not! They should have just used another actor!
twigalucie
Must admit I have never followed the franchise... I'm not into horror of any kind and the Alien franchise never caught on with me... Still sad to see that this installations hasn't been living up to the old movies.
supersven
Most of the Alien movies are hit or miss, the problem is that with this many movies, you can create plotholes too fast
Twigas_Hobbes
is there a point in doing him with A.I.?
Why couln't it be another Android? 🤷♂️
supersven
I have no idea, they wanted to connect it to the old movies. But, yes, they should have just used an android from that generation!
Delicious Bacon
Hmm, you gave it 1.0 in the graphics and art because of the A.I.-made character - but was it at least done properly or was it out of place?
You still gave it 7.5 as a personal rating, which seems you liked the movie overall. 😀
supersven
It was very out of place!
Yes, overall, I did enjoy the movie, for this review, I had to keep personal and objective far away from each other.
Vitalikboykiller
I like this review. I agree with points in Alien Romulus. I would like to watch this film.
supersven
Just don't mind the many plotholes and you will have fun!
Ladd
it's 4.5 didn't expect that, I think I will skip watching it at this point
supersven
It was fun, but there are just so many plotholes, and they use a dead actor with A.I.