So, we went to see Alien: Romulus this evening.
We'd both give it a 6 out of 10. It was good, but not great.
They nailed the look of the earlier movies, but the characters just never felt fleshed out, only there to say lines of dialogue that were as shallow as a politician's smile.
They were all so bland that the only name I could remember (even during the movie!) was Andy's. Yes, the most interesting character in the film was called Andy...
There were plenty of nods to the old movies, or if I'm totally… See More
honest, moments of pure plagiarism. Easter eggs are all well and good but, when you do a lot of things that closely resemble (or feel like a straight-up copy of) the movies you are trying to point to, it feels somewhat lazy and uninspired.
The sound was good, but I couldn't really recall any of the background music as being memorable, and the aliens sounded like they did in every alien movie, so at least that was consistent.
Visually, Alien: Romulus rocked, in the design sense. Some of the CGI (you'll know the bits I mean once you see it) was too uncanny valley for my taste, and the main aliens were just not as scary as they should've been. I think this is because they seemed much easier to kill than in every other Alien movie. The menace they exuded in the past was just not there, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it was because there was more focus on the film stars when the stars should've been the titular creatures themselves?
The film also felt like the gore level had been edited out in some places to give it a 15 rating, to the detriment of the overall horror atmosphere. When something was spectacular, it seemed to come in and out of focus, or get flashed onscreen for a split second, like an old MTV music video.
In the end, the final section of the film was a jumbled mess of darkness and confusing glints of space helmets in the dark. It felt neither epic, nor scary by that point. If anything, it ended with a bit of a whimper.
So, is it worth going to the cinema to see? I hate to say this, but I don't think so. It feels like it was shot for TV. The shots that were trying to be cinematic just didn't feel like they deserved a big screen.
That said, I'd love to see a video of John watching this film, because they were a few jump scares, once it gets started.
Just wait until it streams because, at your place, all your neighbours can hear you scream!
That's a bit disappointing but oh well. I haven't seen any movies in the past few years that I would call "great." And definitely not memorable. Such is the movie industry which seems more memorable as ultra-specific genres. Ex. Fighting, Sci-Fi, CGI, etc. Rarely anything truly memorable or with great acting.
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This is as I understand from reviews, not having watched it.
Trying too hard for the nostalgia and fan service.
References, nods to the previous movies etc where there didn't need to be, and they just don't fit.
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