Alien: Romulus Release Marks New Chapter for Iconic Sci-Fi Franchise
Alien: Romulus. ‘Bring Out Yer Dead!’
It’s probably a little-known fact that the UK premiere of the original Alien movie was planned by the then director of the 1979 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Lynda Myles. The film both shocked and delighted the August EIFF audience at Edinburgh’s Caley Cinema (now a Wetherspoons). It was quite simply unlike any other Sci Fi film ever made. A rare phenomenon indeed. A secondary seldom told tale is that Alien almost never came out. Twentieth Century Fox’s ‘old guard’ remained unimpressed. They put the film into ‘turnaround’, meaning it was deemed to stay in their ownership, but hidden on a shelf somewhere in Hollywood, along with a vault full of scripts that would never ever see the light of day. A more perspicacious Twentieth Century Fox UK CEO, however, spotted it, read it, and ‘the rest is history’.
45 years later the Alien franchise remains a hugely bankable brand. A multi-million dollar commodity. London’s 16th August release of Alien: Romulus sees this as the ninth film in the current Alien series, including two earlier Ridley Scott prequels – Prometheus (2012), and Alien: Covenant (2017). These came out after the dual hybrid Alien movies Alien vs Predator (2004) and Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007). Alien: Romulus was directed by the Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez who made the 2013 remake of The Evil Dead and the 2022 the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
This begs the perennial question? Has any sequel ever bettered the original movie? Some people cite 1987’s sequel to The Omen (1976) as being better. Others claim 1987’s sequel to 1981’s, The Evil Dead. Both are ‘Horror’ genre classics. Perhaps ‘Horror’ leads the way with sequels? When it comes to Sci Fi, however, I can’t think of any. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) had Peter Hyams’ sequel 2010 (1984), which was truly awful. Alien, nevertheless, had Terminator director James Cameron’s 1986 production of Aliens as the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien. His cinematic inventions augmented and reinvigorated Scott’s original. Was it better than Alien? Some say so. It was certainly a great film. So too was James Cameron’s 1991 sequel to his 1984 movie Terminator. “I’ll be back!” threatened Schwarzenegger, knowing he’d better the original movie. Both he and Cameron delivered.
Alien: Romulus has a lot to live up to then? Like all movie franchises made in both Japanese and English speaking Cinema, the postmodern age is tied into ‘Gaming’, ‘Gamers’, and ‘Merchandising’. Added to the irredeemable scenario that all Sci Fi franchises have their nearest contemporary cousins in the shape of DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Star Wars’ franchises. I say this venturing as to whether they’ve had a laudable or pejorative effect on the future of Hollywood’s screenplays, operating within the usual corporate diktat?
This new Alien movie has a lot of big names cited in the credit list. So is the art of compromise, commercial cynicism, and executive interference, all just a whiff away? Yes! The pong begins from the get go. The bad smell of eclecticism starts in earnest and rolls on throughout this two hour film. Street scenes echo Blade Runner. Early soundtrack music almost plagiarises the Moon sequence’s score in Kubrick’s 2001; while Andy-The-Synthetic – the friendly android – recites poor jokes that even laddish Roadies don’t tell to geezer Rock Stars. All uttered here as terms of android endearment. We must all begin to ‘like’ the Synthetic in case he gets reprogrammed and changes his character. Savez?
The cast are all ‘young guns’. Each is set-up with a simple one dimensional character strapline: the girl who has had her previously ‘concluded contract’ extended by five years; a pregnant girl who gets stuck on the mission’s spacecraft with her ex, and his geezer mate. He hates Andy because his own family members were sacrificed by a similar Synthetic, while trying to save an endangered spaceship’s crew. So that’s the motivation sorted. Meanwhile, their dialogue is utterly dire. Almost as dire as the direst of Danny Dyer movies. We also have teenage banter as if heard on a London bus, played out here as Teens In Space. Is this what it takes to get the punters into watching the ninth Alien sequel? Apparently so!
Then there’s the ethos of ‘let’s just plagiarise the past Alien movies for the best and most inventive scenes’, and then recreate them all over again. Plonk them into a wholly predictable storyline. Done and dusted. Truly shameful. Why? Cites stunning visual effects, cleverly designed spacecraft mechanics, top notch cinematography, and exemplary audio design. These succeed a la the traditional Alien movie formula. Well done team. You’re certainly making-up for the worst Alien screenplay ever written. “Were there no surprises?” a friend enquired. Just one. The late Ian Holm, the Synthetic from Alien, who comes back to life. Even though he was originally killed off in 1979, prior to really dying in 2020 aged 88.
Kudos
“Bring Out Yer Dead!”
They did!
