I remember going to see Steppenwolf in concert and looking forward to the deep cuts. I had heard “Born to be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride” so many times on the radio, I don’t ever need to hear them again. Yet when the band would go into their biggest hits, the crowd went nuts, and it made me enjoy them a bit more.
That same thing happened when this latest in the Alien series had the creature on someone’s face, which we know is implanting the baby inside the human’s stomach, and leads to the inevitable moment when it bursts out. Yet when both those things happened, it was still thrilling to watch (even if not as shocking as when we saw it happen to John Hurt in the first movie and weren’t expecting it).
Yet the movie wasn’t just fan service giving us the greatest hits (although it was thrilling to hear one familiar line uttered, and see one familiar character’s face pop up).
As a frequent guest on “The Dave Rickards Podcast” we recently talked about our favorite movie involving an alien. My wife was furious I didn’t pick “Alien” and of course, Rickards picked “Alien” and “Aliens” (my only excuse for not picking those was that I was going for different alien movies people might not be familiar with). But “Alien: Romulus” will be the best alien movie this year, and the most fun you’ll have at a theater this summer.
I was a bit worried going into the movie, because it was directed by Fede Alvarez, who did the horror film “Evil Dead” and the disappointing “The Girl in the Spider’s Web.” But he also gave us the interesting “Don’t Breathe,” so who knows what he’d do with the Ridley Scott and James Cameron pictures. And I’m really picky when it comes to sci-fi/horror films (although I had lots of arguments with my friends, because I actually liked “Prometheus”).
This story takes place between “Alien” and “Aliens” and hardcore fans will like that it works well in that regard. There were times in the beginning, with the visuals on this mining town and the atmospheric score, that I was thinking of “Blade Runner.”
The member of the cast that will get all the attention will be Cailee Spaeny, because she was recently in “Civil War” (which was disappointing), and she played Priscilla Presley well. She’s good in this role (although it’s hard to even come close to how bad-ass Sigourney Weaver played Ripley). She’s an orphan who is being used as slave labor on a mining colony where her parents died.
There were two cast members I liked better. Aileen Wu as a tough girl piloting the ship that’s going to help this rag-tag group escape their life on this planet, all while a cigarette dangles from her mouth; and there’s David Jonsson, who gives a performance that is one of my favorites of the year. Last year he was in one of my favorite films, the criminally underseen “Rye Lane.” Here, Jonsson plays a robot that was programmed to protect Rain (Spaeny), and he’s a bit “slow” with interesting eye blinking when he’s confused or feels he’s not doing his job well. He’s prone to spewing dad jokes that she’s not so amused with anymore. But when sh** hits the fan (which isn’t a spoiler alert, as the movie poster shows an alien on someone's face), he gets re-programmed and becomes a ruthless warrior. It’s a blast watching him on screen. His transformation made me think of Cliff Robertson in “Charly” (1968).
Side note: I probably shouldn’t reference old movies nobody is going to remember, so…let’s move on.
So there’s a decommissioned spaceship that this group decides to use for their escape. They figure they can sleep in the crypopods for the 8 year journey it will take them to get to a safe planet (Rain dreams of seeing the sun there). Any guesses on what’s on this abandoned ship and why the crew is all dead?
It’s crazy that we know what to expect, yet it’s all done so well, with great jump-scares and incredible set pieces and sound design, that you’re still on the edge of your seat.
My wife and I watched “Aliens” the other day (the second of the series), because we had only seen it in the theaters when it came out in the mid-80s. I didn’t like it as much as I remembered (the story was weak, and the special effects bad). So I was surprised at just how incredible this movie looked visually.
Of course, because 85.7% of all films have a barf scene, this has one. And because the crowd goes nuts when they hear a line that was uttered in a previous film – this also gives you one of those.
I brought a friend that loves the “Alien” series and he loved it, as did my wife and I.
4 stars out of 5.