After watching Alien: Covenant (2017) in the cinema and being quite disappointed, I swore I would stay away from any new releases in the franchise. It’s been eight years and over time my resolve has weakened. I had hoped the new TV series Alien: Earth (2025) on Disney+ would reignite my love, but I disliked it with a passion. Fortunately I didn’t want to give up just yet and decided to give Romulus a shot too.
It’s been a long time since I shared my thoughts about a movie in an in-depth post. I’m definitely rusty, but Alien: Romulus (2024) inspired me to sit down and reflect. I plan on sharing more personal reviews here at NERDSHOCK HQ. Stay tuned!
Please Note: This post contains spoilers, proceed with caution !
Plot
At the run-down Jackson’s Star colony on the perpetually dark planet LV-410, a group of young colonists devise a plan to escape to a new world. To make the nine-year journey, they need to steal cryo-pods from an apparently abandoned research station orbiting their planet. Once on the station, they find it is not empty.
Thoughts
I’ve been avoiding the Alien franchise since the release of Covenant and therefore didn’t look into Romulus at all. The opening sequence of Romulus, in which a Weyland-Yutani probe recovers a large cocoon from the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo, immediately managed to hook me and pull me back into the Alien lore. I was pleasantly surprised to learn Romulus takes place between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). I’m a huuuuge fan of the original trilogy!
Ever since Prometheus, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that the later movies and the new TV series lean heavily on people getting killed, because they’re doing dumb shit. Instead of simply not being able to escape their grizzly fates. I understand it’s an easy way to drive the plot forward, but it has irritated me to no end. I felt that key decisions in Romulus weren’t just dumb, but actually quite logical. To open a locked door, Rain upgrades Andy with a control chip. This of course overrides Andy’s loyalty from Rain to Weyland-Yutani. I’m very impressed with how David Jonsson portraited Andy. He has totally become my favorite synthetic of the franchise.
After Covenant I didn’t quite know how to feel about the Alien lore and the origin of the Xenomorphs. I loved how Prometheus (2012) introduced the Engineers and the black goo, but felt rather lost after watching its sequel. I appreciate how the events in Romulus are tied to Alien and Prometheus. Bringing a sense of cohesion back to the franchise. Even though Romulus feels pretty good to watch for a veteran, I’m a little sad it did not add to the Alien lore. I didn’t enjoy Alien: Earth, but I thought the addition of hybrids was very interesting and thought provoking. Watching Romulus felt like going on a great nostalgic trip, but it didn’t make me stop and reflect deeper themes.
Visually Romulus is stunning and I truly regret not watching it on the big screen. It really captures the ambiance of the first Alien movies. The sound effects were on point, especially love the epic heavy rifle sound, the soundtrack wasn’t very memorable. Sure, not every movie needs to have its very own The Beast by Jóhann Jóhannsson from Sicario (2015). I was still shocked to find my mind going blank trying to recall the soundtrack of Romulus. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 59 minutes, but keeps up the pace and has a pretty satisfying final battle. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Rain and Andy and I’m eager to find out what happens to the duo in the upcoming sequel.
Verdict
You can definitely say that Alien: Romulus (2024) has that good ol’ fashioned Alien movie feel. Even though quite enjoyable for veterans, in essence it doesn’t bring anything new to the franchise. I do believe Romulus can attract a new audience, due to its younger cast. It’s a great starting point for a newcomers to the franchise due staying true to the overall Alien feel and ties to all the previous movies. There’s so much for new fans to discover!
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Very enjoyable watch for longtime fans. Potential to attract a new audience to the Alien franchise. Great starting point for newcomers due to staying true to the overall Alien feel and ties to previous movies.
The Good
- Nostalgic
- Logical Dumb Decisions
- Good Pacing
The Bad
- Uncanny CGI Rook
- No Innovation
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Plot
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Visuals
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Soundtrack