Alien: Romulus review – "Full of shocks and suspense but sometimes over-burdened"

GamesRadar+ VerdictAlvarez’s busy little creature is brash yet naggingly over-burdened. Come for the shocks, suspense and Spaeny/Jonsson; mind the franchise mytho-stodge. GamesRadar+ Verdict GamesRadar+ Verdict Alvarez’s busy little creature is brash yet naggingly over-burdened. Come for the shocks, suspense and Spaeny/Jonsson; mind the franchise mytho-stodge. Alvarez’s busy little creature is brash yet naggingly over-burdened. Come for the shocks, suspense and Spaeny/Jonsson; mind the franchise mytho-stodge. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Post-Deadpool and Wolverine, meet xenomorph Jesus. After various baggy saga entries,Alien: Romulusopens with a retrieval operation that hints at director Fede Alvarez’s (2013’s Evil Dead) back-to-basics, franchise-saving intentions, even before we see the salvage op’s spoilery find in a near-crucifixion pose. After the medieval-future prologue, Alvarez flaunts his fan cred further with a drinking bird, some cornbread, a visit to the Jackson’s Star mining colony… Here, young Rain (Cailee Spaeny), her synthetic ‘brother’/protector Andy (David Jonsson) and friends prepare to flee their grim environs via an illicit jaunt to decommissioned space station the Renaissance. Onboard, however, terrible truths about the ship’s salvage work and science experiments emerge. With plunging probosces and lashing tails… While a steady pace gives co-stars Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Archie Renaux and Spike Fearn breathing room, Alvarez’s skill with young actors (see Don’t Breathe) doesn’t quite translate to memorable characterisations here. Spaeny’s orphan is more persuasively rattled and resourceful, while Jonsson’s range impresses when his programming is altered following an encounter – in a questionable creative choice – with the station’s resident synthetic. Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe form is more palpably felt in the ship’s tight spaces, notably during facehugger lunges in cryo-chambers and elsewhere. He’s sturdy if not quite spectacular with the splatter, scares and psychosexual imagery, giving us viscous ’burster births and a satisfyingly disgusting acid-for-blood death. The practical effects are pleasingly tactile, too, while Benjamin Wallfisch’s score summons the eerie grandeur, scuttle and lunge of Goldsmith/Horner judiciously. Soon, our runaways are running and screaming to order. Less successfully, they’re also hellbent on quoting Alien films, to increasingly corny effect. The plot sometimes seems sculpted around such homages, rendering the pacing choppy. The set pieces suffer likewise, only occasionally gathering momentum, and Alvarez’s reach sometimes exceeds his grasp: notably, the lift-shaft scene defies gravity and conviction. The climax also proves uncertain, stumbling more than it strikes as it echoes an ill-remembered Alien film. Alvarez’s freaky vision improves on the aforementioned episode, true, but the umbilical connection is unmistakable and over-familiar. Sometimes bold, sometimes over-reverent, Romulus might have executed a cleaner lift-off had Alvarez ejected some of the series baggage more decisively. Alien: Romulus is released in US theaters and UK cinemas on August 16. For more, here are our guides to how to watch theAlien movies in orderand themovies and shows to watch before Alien: Romulus. 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Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 1 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show” 2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 2 Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie” 3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 3 Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 4The Lord of the Rings: The War 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