Sci-Fi Alien: Romulus (2024)

[blueharvest]

 

[Teelie]

I saw it this afternoon and it was... okay. If you've seen the previous movies, it is almost impossible to spoil it but I'll use tags anyways. Some of this is a retread but it's all the things going on that bugged me.

Spoiler

Using the black goo was stupid and reductive to making the Xenos just some messed up synthetic human's lab experiment. Scott injected his android obession into this franchise instead of sticking it with Blade Runner where it actually works.

The Newborn redux was just awful. Human/Engineer/Xenomorph hybrid? It looked awful. And there was no need to have yet another hybrid when it was a failure the last time and worse this time.

So, so many in your face callbacks, homages, references and just lazy rehashes. I get what they were doing but come on, put the previous six movies into a blender, set it to puree and this is what you'd get.

We really didn't need deepfake Holm. There was no reason to have Rook played by a "familar face" instead of doing what every prior movie did and have a unique synthetic play the role. Also, this one broke the lettering tradition. Rook or Andy should have their name start with an "E" if you want to be consistent.

Another major problem is the inconsistency in incubation. Is it 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days? Looking at Alien, that had to be at least a day if not more before Kane's popped. Aliens? We know it took at least several hours. Alien 3 it was several days with Ripley, queen or not. Then they do the AVP/Requiem nonsense where it implants and 5 minutes later, boom: chestburster.

And using the entirely intact body of the original xenomorph? The one that should have been all but destroyed by the thrusters or the Nostromo explosion 20 years prior? Which was somehow still alive? They are tough, they are not invincible or indestructable, obviously.

Where did all those facehuggers come from? Don't tell me they were grown or some nonsense from that crispy body. A flaw in the logic of using heat: the hive they are normally in is quite warm and humid. That would make sensing body heat harder to do, and a cocooned host isn't going to make a lot of noise necessarily if incapacitated.

The xenorat would have been something to see, or any of the other potential morphs they experimented with. Instead we got the OG Xeno and none of the sequel versions which could have cemented they further moult and/or specialize in some form.

Some of the lines were so cringy. Everyone knows, "Get away from her.... you *****" but the signing off was cringe too. Almost word for word lifted off Alien. We get it. This is an Alien movie. There are easter eggs and then there is what was going on here which felt like ripping off whole cloth scenes from other, (mostly) better movies.

The two best scenes were the most original: The zero-g acid and seeing the third phase of metamorphsis of the xeno (aka the vagina on the wall) even though that has never once been seen anywhere else in any of the other movies. Especially not Aliens where there should have been dozens of them. At least that was something new and not riffing on something prior. The wave of face huggers was cool too, but it all relied on ineptitude from the characters to even get to that point. Where were the adult xenomorphs during all this? Just snoozing?

Despite all that, I didn't think it was a terrible movie but it was disappointing it wasn't more original, or had a larger cast of potential victims, or more variety to it. I'd put it on par with Resurrection, above Prometheus and Covenant if only because not all the characters in this movie were inept scientists with the survival instincts of grapefruit.

 

[Sithborg]

I saw it this afternoon and it was... okay. If you've seen the previous movies, it is almost impossible to spoil it but I'll use tags anyways. Some of this is a retread but it's all the things going on that bugged me.

Spoiler

Using the black goo was stupid and reductive to making the Xenos just some messed up synthetic human's lab experiment. Scott injected his android obession into this franchise instead of sticking it with Blade Runner where it actually works.

The Newborn redux was just awful. Human/Engineer/Xenomorph hybrid? It looked awful. And there was no need to have yet another hybrid when it was a failure the last time and worse this time.

So, so many in your face callbacks, homages, references and just lazy rehashes. I get what they were doing but come on, put the previous six movies into a blender, set it to puree and this is what you'd get.

We really didn't need deepfake Holm. There was no reason to have Rook played by a "familar face" instead of doing what every prior movie did and have a unique synthetic play the role. Also, this one broke the lettering tradition. Rook or Andy should have their name start with an "E" if you want to be consistent.

Another major problem is the inconsistency in incubation. Is it 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days? Looking at Alien, that had to be at least a day if not more before Kane's popped. Aliens? We know it took at least several hours. Alien 3 it was several days with Ripley, queen or not. Then they do the AVP/Requiem nonsense where it implants and 5 minutes later, boom: chestburster.

And using the entirely intact body of the original xenomorph? The one that should have been all but destroyed by the thrusters or the Nostromo explosion 20 years prior? Which was somehow still alive? They are tough, they are not invincible or indestructable, obviously.

Where did all those facehuggers come from? Don't tell me they were grown or some nonsense from that crispy body. A flaw in the logic of using heat: the hive they are normally in is quite warm and humid. That would make sensing body heat harder to do, and a cocooned host isn't going to make a lot of noise necessarily if incapacitated.

The xenorat would have been something to see, or any of the other potential morphs they experimented with. Instead we got the OG Xeno and none of the sequel versions which could have cemented they further moult and/or specialize in some form.

Some of the lines were so cringy. Everyone knows, "Get away from her.... you *****" but the signing off was cringe too. Almost word for word lifted off Alien. We get it. This is an Alien movie. There are easter eggs and then there is what was going on here which felt like ripping off whole cloth scenes from other, (mostly) better movies.

The two best scenes were the most original: The zero-g acid and seeing the third phase of metamorphsis of the xeno (aka the vagina on the wall) even though that has never once been seen anywhere else in any of the other movies. Especially not Aliens where there should have been dozens of them. At least that was something new and not riffing on something prior. The wave of face huggers was cool too, but it all relied on ineptitude from the characters to even get to that point. Where were the adult xenomorphs during all this? Just snoozing?

Despite all that, I didn't think it was a terrible movie but it was disappointing it wasn't more original, or had a larger cast of potential victims, or more variety to it. I'd put it on par with Resurrection, above Prometheus and Covenant if only because not all the characters in this movie were inept scientists with the survival instincts of grapefruit.

Spoiler

Except, the Nostromo xenomorph wasn't blasted apart in Alien. It is clearly just blasted away intact by the shuttle's engines.

 

[Zantera]

Out of curiosity I went back to Covenant last night. Hadn't seen it since it came out and with Romulus fresh in mind I was curious how Covenant would hold up. It started off decent enough but man it somehow aged even worse than I thought.

Spoiler: Covenant talk

I can give some leeway to the beginning of when things go wrong. Yes they're not wearing space suits and if they did, we wouldn't get the first infected people, but they're there to check out if the planet is a suitable place to live so I can give some leeway on that stupidity. However as cool of an idea as the backbreaker scene is, the CGI looked a bit rough but that whole sequence is just slapstick. The one character locks the other one into the room with the birthing alien, both of them manage to mess up and slip on the same blood puddle and all you need to do is replace the music in that sequence with the Benny Hill theme and it plays like a comedy more than horror the way they manage to blow up the lander.

I don't mind some of the ideas of the film and the best part is after David has brought them to his sanctuary and we get some ideas of what he has been up to for 10 years. However once you start to get back into the movie again, we get some other stupid scenes like the captain following David down to his egg chamber and gladly sticking his face into an egg. There's no reason for him to trust David or go along with what he's saying and realistically he should have gathered the rest of the crew and said "we're out of this place". I know in general most of these movies probably have one or two characters dying because they made a bad decision but I feel like Covenant is responsible for most of the worst examples of that.

If we're doing Alien rankings I think mine would be something like this

Alien
Aliens
Alien 3 (Assembly Cut)
Alien Romulus
--
Alien Resurrection
Prometheus
Alien vs Predator
Alien Covenant
--
Alien vs Predator Requiem

Top category I really liked all of them and will happily rewatch. Middle category are flawed but I would rewatch them and I find things to like (in varying degrees) bottom one is the one i'd struggle to rewatch the most.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

Prometheus is a movie that I think could have used quite a bit of work on the human characters, but David is one of the best things in the franchise and I appreciate the nihilistic ambition of "what if god is disappointing/what if god just kinda hates you?"

Which is one of the better ideas it takes from At the Mountains of Madness. In that story humans were created as livestock by the Elder Things (Engineers) as a food source for their worker race, the Shoggoths (Xenos/black goo monsters), but the Shoggoths were uncontrollable and killed them all. It's just how it's done in Prometheus is really ham fisted and the characters are ****ing idiots. The Jesus stuff is really lame too.

 

[Captain Tired]

Move aside movie rankings, it's time for android rankings:

1. Bishop
2. Ash
3. Andy
4. David
5. Call
6. Samuels








7. Rook

We have basically the same ranking aside from swapping Ash and Bishop.

 

[Matt.S99]

I thought it was mostly decent. Some really cool scenes like the zero gravity acid blood scene.
But as others have said, the nostalgia baiting was a bit too much.
Those things work in small doses, but it seems like that’s all we get nowadays. If they really want to ride that wave, then find a way to bring Sigourney back. Give us that Blomkamp sequel.
Otherwise, everything else just feels like a cheap copy.

I thought the characters were okay but all pretty forgettable.

They need to go in a completely different direction/setting like with Prey.

I didn’t like that you could basically tell exactly which Alien films they plucked scenes and plot points from.

 

[Drizzle]

Move aside movie rankings, it's time for android rankings:

1. Bishop
2. Ash
3. Andy
4. David
5. Call
6. Samuels








7. Rook

It's been a while since I played Isolation and Samuels isn't fresh on my mind so I'll keep it to the movies for this one.

1. David - Maybe controversial but I put him at the top of my list is because he was the best character in Prometheus and Fassbender carried Covenant practically by himself. He's the main reason why those movies are worth watching.

2. Ash - The best part about watching Alien for the second time was going back and picking up on Ian Holm's brilliant acting in the first two thirds of the movie before the reveal and thinking, "Of COURSE he's an android!". Such a great character

3. Bishop - Bishop isn't that far behind David and Ash, only reason why I rank him third is because he's not quite as impactful to the plot as they are.

4. Andy - Honestly he's right up there with Bishop for me. Without going into spoilers, David Jonsson gave an incredible performance that really brought Andy to life. My only gripe with the character at all is that his name doesn't start with E. They broke the combo.

5. Call - It's been a long time since I actually sat down and watched Resurrection but it's Winona Ryder so Call will always get a pass in my book.

6. Walter - Good Guy David isn't as interesting but he was at least trying to be helpful, unlike most of the characters in Covenant.

7. Rook - On paper I like the concept but it needed a lot more work for the amount of screentime he had.

 

[Kane52630]

Solid pod plus it's got an interview with Fede where he does talk about those spoilery moments and why he brought back Ian Holm

 

[Kane52630]

Also I found out xeno/human/engineer hybrid baby was in fact a guy in a costume. They got Robert Bobroczkyi to play him.

Spoiler

 

[Gothamsknight]

Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson were obviously amazing in this, but Isabella Merced really deserves more props. She's got major scream queen potential, and I'd say she's already there. Can't wait to see what she does in Superman!

 

[Luigi]

It's been a while since I played Isolation and Samuels isn't fresh on my mind so I'll keep it to the movies for this one.

1. David - Maybe controversial but I put him at the top of my list is because he was the best character in Prometheus and Fassbender carried Covenant practically by himself. He's the main reason why those movies are worth watching.

2. Ash - The best part about watching Alien for the second time was going back and picking up on Ian Holm's brilliant acting in the first two thirds of the movie before the reveal and thinking, "Of COURSE he's an android!". Such a great character

3. Bishop - Bishop isn't that far behind David and Ash, only reason why I rank him third is because he's not quite as impactful to the plot as they are.

4. Andy - Honestly he's right up there with Bishop for me. Without going into spoilers, David Jonsson gave an incredible performance that really brought Andy to life. My only gripe with the character at all is that his name doesn't start with E. They broke the combo.

5. Call - It's been a long time since I actually sat down and watched Resurrection but it's Winona Ryder so Call will always get a pass in my book.

6. Walter - Good Guy David isn't as interesting but he was at least trying to be helpful, unlike most of the characters in Covenant.

7. Rook - On paper I like the concept but it needed a lot more work for the amount of screentime he had.

Totally forgot about Walter.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Gothamsknight]

 

[Punisher_MAX]

The movie essentially retcons and destroys the idea that David created the Xenos...so I dunno why people keep parroting this.

 

[Snow Queen]

Given the mural in Prometheus, I never got the impression David singularly created the xenomorph. I always took it more as a sense that David was achieving something by recreating what his god's gods designed/feared/worshipped (depending on interpretation), putting himself on that level or beyond even his god's gods. A sort of ascension via creation.

 

[Zantera]

It just hit me that the saddest part about that line callback is that considering when this movie takes place, it now means Ripley unknowingly stole that line from Andy.

 

[Teelie]

Spoiler

Except, the Nostromo xenomorph wasn't blasted apart in Alien. It is clearly just blasted away intact by the shuttle's engines.

Even accepting that, it still doesn't make sense to retrieve the body intact and alive after becoming a crispy critter.

 

[Captain Tired]

It just hit me that the saddest part about that line callback is that considering when this movie takes place, it now means Ripley unknowingly stole that line from Andy.

I'm resubmitting my request for a Regan McNeil projectile vomiting in disgust reaction

 

[Mysteryman]

It Could have been Worse.
" Step Away And Meet Your Maker, You, RUFFIAN!"

 

[Drizzle]

Even accepting that, it still doesn't make sense to retrieve the body intact and alive after becoming a crispy critter.

Spoiler

The protective cocoon it made around itself allowed it to survive and maybe heal from some of its injuries. It's been implied before that Xenomorphs can survive in space but I think the cocoon is a brand new element to the franchise that Romulus introduced

 

[Zantera]

Before the movie I came out I was definitely worried about those rumors of re-using

Spoiler: Spoiler

the Alien from the first movie and that it somehow was still alive

But I gotta say the way they handled it in Romulus, it didn't really bother me at all. I'm also happy we didn't really get to see it, that would have been easy fanservice for them and I'm happy they didn't do it in that scenario

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[antsman41]

Also, I loved this movie. One line was obviously too on the nose, and they maybe overused Rook… but the concept of Space Skins kids trying to Ocean 11 pods to live a better life getting picked off by Aliens is genius.



…us Prometheus freaks are with that ending.

I think my mouth was a gape and my arms were on my head for that whole 4th act.