DIRECTOR: Fede Alvarez
PRODUCERS: Ridley Scott & Michael Pruss & Walter Hill
WRITERS: Fede Alvarez & Royo Sayagues
PERFORMERS: Caliee Spaeny David Jonsson Archie Rennaux Isabella Merced Spike Fearn
Aileen Wu
"In space, no one can hear you scream."
Those words were the tagline for a little film called "ALIEN" and it all began in the year 1979. When filmmaker Ridley Scott made a film about a space crew of truckers who discover a deadly extraterrestrial species and come face to face with one of their kind. This was truly a film ahead of it's time and one of a kind, as it blended Sci-Fi, Suspense and Horror into one. Over the years, it evolved into a franchise with sequels and everything else you can think of. Now, in the latest of the entries, this one revisits those roots and remind us of just that famous tagline, only this time... it's a whole new ballgame. This is the review of ALIEN: Romulus where no one can hear you breathe!
ALIEN: Romulus takes place three decades after the Ridley Scott original and only twenty years before the classic James Cameron-directed sequel. What separates this one from the first is that this time, you have aspiring pilots and workers who are young and ambitious and will do anything to seek better lives for themselves. Unlike the original crew from the 1979 classic, the six main characters are like teens in space (despite one of them being an artificial person, as preferred). Different timeline, same premise, but new chapter, those memorable creatures make a vengeful comeback as our young heroes stumble upon an old and wrecked ship and unwittingly uncover it's darkest secret, leading to a race against time for survival (as in 1986's ALIENS) and breathtaking moments that will have you on the edge of your seats!
Director Fede Alvarez bring something completely new to the table with Romulus and not only that, but he doesn't overdo it either. Because this takes place between the first and second films from so many years ago, Alvarez makes Romulus look like a sprinting marathon from start to finish and stopping to breathe is not an option. Ridley Scott may not be directing this one, but any Alien film with his name attached to it is worth the view alone! His producing contribution really sells the film as a worthy view. Although the creatures are the real stars of the show, the players themselves are the ones we are rooting for. Cailey Spaeny really stands out as the main heroine, as she becomes the main girl in this story. But the performance of David Jonnson as her android companion sells like crazy. He's the one who goes through the most transition from being on the human's side, to the evil company's side and then last minute, programmed back to his former latter.
The elements brought to this entry were just unavoidable and impossible to pass up. When the terror begins, from there the thrills never let up. While Alien was considered a haunted house in space and Aliens being a rollercoaster ride, Romulus was a combination of both of them! Even the climax had you breathless until the end. You knew only one would survive and the other would go out space with a final bang. The young travelers got to get some gun action and only one moment in the film, stood out with so much suspense that you kept hoping against hope that they were going to make it. That was when a pool of the Xenomorph's acidic blood was flying around the ship that Jonnson and Spaeny had to navigate their way around the blood with the use of gravity. But the way these two stick together is what holds the film together, even in the middle of their struggle for survival.
After being on the rocks for a long time, the Alien franchise has come back with a vengeance. Who would have thought that something like this would one day come along and crush all expectations? Something about this you just can't get over. This film was so good, a second viewing just might be worth the time and money especially if you're a true fan of the franchise. But if not and you're only doing just for the heck of it, that's fine too. But of all the films this summer, this one was by far the best I've seen so far! If you haven't seen this yet, Highly Recommended fan or no fan. This has everything you're looking in the annals of Science-Fiction, Horror, Suspense and heart pounding moments. And remember, you can't scream in space because no one will hear you!
MY RATING: 5 out of 5
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