Alien: Romulus – A Nostalgic Return to the Classic Alien Franchise
After several sequels and crossovers, the iconic Alien series is finally returning to its roots. Directed by Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez and produced by the original creator Ridley Scott himself, Alien: Romulus features a young cast including Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. With a budget of USD 80 million, what more could the latest Alien installment offer? Expectations were admittedly not high.
The story begins shortly after the events of Alien (1979), where the Nostromo spaceship was destroyed. Weyland Corporation’s mothership, Romulus, soon arrived at the scene and managed to take samples of the alien. As expected, the alien proceeded to eliminate the entire crew. Decades later, the mothership drifted in the orbit of a mineral-rich planet with thousands of workers.
Rain (Spaeny) and her android companion, Andy (Jonsson), are miners hoping to leave for their dream planet once their contract ends. Their request is denied by the company, prompting Rain to accept an offer from Tyler and his three friends to steal a company ship stranded in the planet’s orbit to escape. As expected, this ship is the Romulus mothership, containing the most dangerous specimen in the universe.
After two prequel films, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), while not bad, the series seemed to stagnate, with no more stories to tell. When Alien: Romulus was produced, there weren’t many expectations. The fact that the film was only screened in a few theaters (in Jogja) indicated that there were no longer many fans of this classic series. However, unexpectedly, Romulus attempts to rehash the basic formula, combining elements of the two previous films into its plot. The result is a thrilling action film that heavily adopts the classic series and holds sentimental value for fans.
Like the original two films, Romulus employs non-stop action without pause. From the transition of the second act to the end of the story, the tension continues to flow relentlessly, barely giving us a chance to rest. What can we expect from five miners and one android to escape the familiar “Aliens” situation? Even a fully armed special forces platoon couldn’t do it, so it’s certainly impossible for them to survive. However, the script cleverly utilizes the situation to allow them to survive naturally without forcing the plot.
The character of the android, Andy, serves as a balance to the story and connects this narrative to the Alien monster we already know. With an updated chip in his head, the kind and weak android suddenly transforms into a “minion” of the Weyland Corporation we’ve come to know. The “Ash” in Alien and the “Bishop” in Aliens. Even the “Ash” version of the android appears here. The human aspect becomes a strong factor in Andy’s transformation, simultaneously making Rain the replacement for the iconic protagonist, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Although she can’t be compared, Cailee Spaeny does a commendable job.
The plot clearly pays strong tribute to Alien and Aliens. The gloomy setting, along with the old-fashioned buttons and computer screens, perfectly captures the retro atmosphere. The small monsters (facehugger) that attach themselves to victims’ faces and burst out of their stomachs are already familiar to fans of the series. The transformation of the Xenomorph monster once again receives a special moment in one scene. The climactic moment when Rain returns to save Andy is similar to the plot of Aliens.
Meanwhile, the critical moment at the end, which serves as a bonus action, combines the climax of Alien and Aliens. Not to forget, the iconic line, “Stay away from her, you b****!” is also included. Alien: Romulus is a sequel and also “soft reboot” that is full of tributes to its original two films, which will undoubtedly satisfy fans of the series.
