The latest epic from the Alien franchise borrows freely from the storylines and style of the original classics from last century ... and it works a treat, writes BILL WATT
The first two Alien movies were my favourite films of all time. So, I reckon it was pretty smart on the part of the makers of the latest creation of the franchise - Alien: Romulus - to take a host of ingredients from those classics and re-bake them into a brand new cake.
And, it turns out to be a pretty tasty treat - for those who loved the original as well as for a potential new and younger audience.
No spoilers here regarding the new movie's plot - I hate when people do that! All I will say is that chronologically the new movie sits between Ellen Ripley's first and second encounters with the “xenomorph” monsters in Alien (released in 1979) and Aliens (1986).
In Romulus, horror movie maestro, Fede Álvarez, who directed the film, steers a course between the suspense and terror of the first Alien movie and the all-action, blood and guts of Aliens.
Along the way he borrows a heap of ingredients from both films, on top of the story which is obviously centred around a close encounter with the horrific "xenomorph" monsters. Take a look at a few of them:
FUTURE GRUNGE: The set designers have paid meticulous homage to the "steam-punk" feel of the future that pervades originals, so much so that even the cigarette smoking that seems so out of date when re-watching the first two films, is briefly the focus of attention in the new film.
GIRL POWER: The lead actor, like in the originals, is female. Cailee Spaeny's character Rain is no Ripley. She is barely out of her childhood. However, she evolves, much like Sigourney Weaver's character, into a hard as nails action hero.
CORPORATE EVIL: As in the first two films, the all-powerful company are the bad guys. Yes, humanity is essentially as much the enemy as the monsters from which our heroes are trying to escape.
TICKING CLOCK: There is a countdown to avoid total destruction independent of whether the aliens are going to kill our heroes or not - just like in Alien and Aliens;
ROBOT RASCALS: A "synthetic" (artificial person) plays a major part in Romulus. In fact, AI is used to re-animate the image of the android Ash from the original Alien (played by Ian Holm, who passed away in 2020). In Romulus the Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 synthetic is called Rook, and has a similar villainous role.
FAMILIAR PHRASES: Plus, there’s Romulus's dialogue "in-jokes" with lines straight out of its predecessors.
One high profile reviewer of Alien: Romulus thought it was all a bit tired and asked the question: "Did we need another Alien film?" Well, I get that this movie is not spectacularly original but it actually isn't meant to be. The intention is to reboot a well-worn and well-loved franchise. This it does by replicating all the drama, tension, action, fear and horror of the originals .
So, the answer to the reviewer's question "did we need another Alien film?", is a big, bold "yes", shouted loudly enough to be heard in space, where, we have been told before: "Nobody can hear you scream!"
Comments