“Alien: Romulus” is fucking AWESOME

They're tied for me and I while think the cinematography is better in Prometheus (can't beat those grandiose atmospheric shots on the planet), this one comes close in overall quality. I was so relieved that not only did it not suck, it was in fact good!

Have been watching David Jonsson on Industry since it premiered, so I knew he'd deliver. I wasn't feeling the aspie schtick towards the start, but when it was revealed he was an android, it all made sense and I unclenched. I do think the CG on the [SPOILER] android was unforgivably crappy, however. His lip movements didn't even align with the dialogue at times! A.I. is so advanced these days, I don't know how they managed to botch that so badly.

I really enjoyed this movie. That third act was bonkers. The biggest negative for me was I didn’t feel like I could root for anybody in this cast. Cailee Spaeny was meh. David Jonsson definitely the MVP here.

I liked it too, a very nice entry in the series.

I'd like to be railed by an Engineer, just not when it looks like THAT!

I’ve seen it twice already.

[quote] it all made sense and I unclenched

Pics please.

I STILL am here for Ripley in Alien 5......PLEASE! She needs a proper ending

Not understanding this at all. SOS

Generally loved this franchise and yet was somehow NOT excited for this-

However, the early preview reviews were fucking rapturous and now OP seals it for me.

I LOVE hearing about a great 3rd act, and that to me is the most exciting part- everyone says the 3rd act is brilliant.

Excited now!

Why did the hot guys have to die?

Did you watch it? Everyone died but Rain.

OP = Fede Alvarez.

Opens on Broadway in november.

Shill for 20th Century trying to manipulate opinion on the DL!!!

Cailee Spaeny actually sounds like a Star Wars name.

R14 says #51

R14 giving an opinion is trying to manipulate? You don’t know what manipulation is, huh? Ironic being that you use numerous accounts to manipulate narratives on here daily.

It was a solid film that drew from every installment in the "Alien" franchise, but at the same time felt fresh. Cailee did well as the lead, but David Jonsson was the standout. He essentially played two characters, and there was a clear division between both in not just speech but mannerisms. I really wish the other two male characters hadn't been played by actors with heavy British accents. I couldn't understand wot th' fok dey woz sayin' hof th' fokin toime.

Thanks to advances in special effects, the xenomorph cocoons can look more vaginal than ever. The third act mostly worked, but I couldn't help but feel like it was a retread of "Alien: Resurrection" with a better looking human/xenomorph hybrid.

The art direction/production design with the retro futuristic technology was excellent.

Obviously, the film tried really hard to use practical effects for the xenomorphs instead of CGI. But then it has that silly looking Ian Holm deep fake. Not once did that ever look right. There was also the retread of the "Get away from her" line that felt like a studio exec's script note.

R18 your lack of culture isn’t the actors fault. Neither actor had a heavy accent. They spoke clear English. If a slight accent keeps you from understanding English you should probably go meet different types of people.

Oh R13, I am SHO EXSHITED that Xzhenomorphs can do Jazzh handzh. I cannot wait to shee those on Broadway...

My only complaint is it was hard to understand some of the dialog. Actors today are directed to mumble and whisper, combined with the accents it was unintelligible. Otherwise I was happy!

It was a pretty good movie, better than I expected.

R21 I also had trouble hearing the dialogue. The surround sounds were too strong for the center speaker.

I’m never seen an obvious PR shill on Datalounge. It’s always someone who is excited about something and wants to share their excitement with others.

I'm not sure if it was the worst in the Alien series or if Covenant was the worst

R25 it was better than Covenant, Alien Resurrection, and Alien 3. It may have tied with Prometheus.

I liked ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. So sue me.

A teeny-bopper version of Alien? Where do I sign up?

I do believe they’re in their 20s, R28.

I simply don’t care about this franchise anymore. Maybe I’ve grown up. Perhaps if the xenomorphs evolved into characters from a Noel Coward play…

I'm sure they're supposed to be in their twenties but as I was watching the first ensemble scene I realized that all of them could have been cast in something like 13 Reasons Why, a high school drama. That's not A:R's fault, that's me noticing that Hollywood always gets away casting 20-something actors as if they're 16 or 17 and then suddenly it feels like we're watching a high school students drama where Valerie Malone has been replaced by a xenomorph. BOOH!

This looks and feels like a requel of Alien tailored to Gen Z. Pass.

I haven't read any of the replies on here to avoid spoilers. Can you watch this one after seeing the first 3 or do you need to watch some of the others?

You don't need to watch the other Alien movies, Romulus is a stand-alone movie and you don't have to know any of the history to follow the story.

All of them suck hard except the first one. Walked out of Prometheus.

R34 Thanks for that info.

R30 “perhaps I’ve grown up”

Alien is very much an adult franchise. You watched Alien, Covenant and Prometheus and thought they were for children? Then you didn’t watch them.

R31 that’s a YOU problem. You must not have paid attention to the story. They’re young adults struggling in a dystopian future. When they decide to travel to another planet to steal stuff to become rich, they encounter the aliens.

R34 that is what they claim but it’s bullshit.

R39 - it's perfectly possible to enjoy Romulus without having seen any of the other films. Even if you've never heard of Sigourney Weaver you can still enjoy this.

If you don't like sci fi or horror as a genre then you won't enjoy it, and knowledge of the previous movies enhances Romulus but no one is going to be sat there confused because they missed vital information in the previous movies.

We’ve all heard of Sigourney Weaver.

The film isn’t a standalone. Can you enjoy it without watching the other films? Yes. But does watching the other movies to know about the aliens etc. make it better? Yes.

[Quote] [R14] giving an opinion is trying to manipulate?

Cringe.

Nothing will ever be as good as Alien and Aliens which imho are two of the greatest films ever made, but I thought Alien: Romulus was pretty entertaining and enjoyable.

"Alien: Romulus"!

Was anyone ejected into space?

This film was a piece of crap.

It was almost 40 min. until the star of the films arrived.

The rest was "character development" but I didn't care for any of them.

It was too dark & the lighting team should never work again.

The first hr. is too slow & the 2nd hr. is too fast.

I watched it online & had it at 1.5 90% of the time. The other 10% was at 2x for the last 15 min.

All of these characters have been seen before including "Ugly Ripley" who survives at the end. Predictable.

The "writing team" combined the first 2 films into this 1 big crapfest complete with the worst line reading of "Get away from her you Bitch" possible.

I don't know how any of you can say it had anything original, special or worth seeing a 2nd time. I'm glad I didn't pay any $ to see this bomb.

[quote] It was too dark & the lighting team should never work again.

The lighting team designed it to be watched in the cinema where it looked amazing on the big screen.

I kind of agree with R45. I found it entertaining, but original? Absolutely not. It’s basically a mishmash (hi Lizha! ) of the first 2 movies, with modern CGI. Everything is predictable. And I didn’t really care for any character tbh.

Who called it original r47? People don’t go watch a SEQUEL for originality. It’s a SEQUEL. Not an original film… if you don’t know what a sequel is I can post a google link for you.

R45 clearly never watched the OG film. This was a throwback to that

I watched the original "Alien" after watching "Romulus," and the original still holds up extremely well. The xenomorph is just barely seen, but it's still highly effective and terrifying.

Yes. The OG is amazing and was done in a way where it won’t ever feel dated. It was ahead of its time.

Alien 3 is far more dated than the first two.

Who's the hot guy in the OP pic?

R51 upthread you claimed to watch it.

I went to see it based on OP and he owes me twenty bucks . (It was IMAX).

Feh!

R51 Archie Renaux

I saw it a week ago and liked it, not to the degree the OP did, but it was good.

I liked the twist at the end of the alteration of the creature.

The inclusion of one of the original characters was creative and definitely a highlight. However, it was very clearly AI that didn’t always seem to match movements and speaking as others have pointed out. That kind of took you out of the film the same way some of the CGI did (those small alien creatures running in the hallway part of the spacecraft). That’s why real creature effects are always better than CGI as in the original.

This film actually used a lot of practical effects like the original mixed with some CGI.

The bad AI was unfortunate. If anything they should have went with a different character, like Michael Fassbender’s

I found it very entertaining. I saw it in IMAX in the back row of a huge theater, with only a half dozen people spaced far apart. At first I though, "Oh, god, a Bennetton ad of anonymous teens go to outer space". But then they grew on me. I look forward to a sequel.

I wish the characters had personalities. With the exception of the main girl and her synthetic, the people were just there to die. That's my main complaint.

Spike Fearn can sit on my face

"It was too dark & the lighting team should never work again."

The first 20 min. pays homage to Blade Runner: a sordid, impoverished, dystopian future where everyone is basically a slave. Sort of like Project 2025.

R60 no. It pays homage to Alien. Which everyone has noted this pays homage to the first two films, blending the horror tone of the first with the action tone of the second.

Please share an article where it’s said this is paying homage to Blade Runner

I don't need no 'news article' to have an opinion, Mary. I've seen Blade Runner 50 times and I guarantee you the first 20 min. are a wink and a nudge to that film.

R62 first off, Blade Runner was not the first film or story to have a dystopian future. It isn’t the last either.

Second, you stated your post as a fact, not an opinion.

This film is stand alone because it reuses the same imagery and themes as the original films.

I am not understanding this. It's the same old shit.

The iconic image of the creature breathing in Ripley's face as she grimaces and turns her head and is reused in this film..why?

Blade Runner and the Alien movies take place in the same universe.

Thelma and Louise and the Gladiator movies take place in the same universe.

Matchstick Men and Legend take place in the same universe

House of Gucci and The Martian take place in the same universe

Ridley Scott himself said that Alien and Blade Runner are in the same universe.

[quote] Obviously, the film tried really hard to use practical effects for the xenomorphs instead of CGI. But then it has that silly looking Ian Holm deep fake. Not once did that ever look right. There was also the retread of the "Get away from her" line that felt like a studio exec's script note.

I completely agree with everything you say but I forgive them for the Ian Holm deep fake. I thought it worked well enough because he had been completely wrecked in the explosion so it made sense that not everything worked as expected.

Using the Ian Holm deepfake instead of a less distracting real actor was a bad choice but one I was able to overlook since he's a small part of the movie. Having him say "you have my sympathies" was a bridge too far. The movie did a decent job of avoiding cheesy fan service with the exception of that line and "get away from her, you bitch". "

"::

I want one more Alien movie with Sigourney Weaver as Ripley. She still looks great and is in great shape, she can do it.

I watched the director's cut of "Aliens" last night to follow up my viewing of "Alien" last week. "Aliens" still holds up really well. The two films are both excellent, though, for different reasons. The original in a smaller scale sci-fi horror film, while the sequel is more of a big '80s action film.

R73 thanks for stating the obvious.

R74 Must you always outcunt yourself?

Saw it yesterday. Good remake of the first 2 films.

David Johnson was excellent and worth sitting through the film. Although I am not as big a fan of his looks as some here, he did a fantastic job. See it for his work.

The rest of the cast, including Caelee Spaeny, was meh.

It wasn’t a remake as it was very different with the similarities being the aliens. You can’t make an ALIEN film without the aliens.

The legs of 7'8" Robert Bobroczkyi, who plays The Offspring, are otherworldly.

The cast, except for Jonsson, looked like they were borrowed from Friday the 13th Part 15. Not one of them had the gravitas that actors like John Hurt or Veronica Cartwright brought to the first film, not to mention Sigourney Weaver.

Exactly, R79.

Meh.

LOL at those of you who watched this online (ONLINE!) and are complaining about it.

Goddamn. Are you this dumb?

It's meant to be seen in a cinema, and wow, is it a wonder. I saw it on an IMAX screen -- the biggest one in the country, to boot -- and it blew me away. I would never watch it online (ONLINE!) and then opine on it in a public forum.

I agree with OP: It is fucking AWESOME.

Yes, more character development would have been helpful to make us care a bit more about these teenagers, and even then the film could lose 10 minutes and be more powerful, but what a strong, fun franchise entry this is.

It’s already the second highest grossing Alien film now.

Alien finally has another hit!

R82 Thank you for demonstrating some much needed common sense.

I watched Star Wars on my iPhone and didn't find it as spectacular as everyone claims it was.

[Quote] It’s already the second highest grossing Alien film now.

Not adjusted for inflation, I assume.

I didn’t mind the callbacks or even the CGI. What I found annoying and which let the film down was the same problem all CGI-driven action films have now — the tendency to make the action set pieces as ludicrously implausible as a computer game, and to make the finale mind numbingly elaborate.

This is especially bad in marvel movies. When I walked out of Alien after the movie was over, if you’d asked me how the movie ended, I could have said “the last survivors tried to use a shuttle to flee the monster on the ship, but it killed two of them. The last one got on the shuttle but, after she fled the ship, she discovered the monster had snuck onto the shuttle. She managed to blast it into space.”

This movie? I’d just give you a blank stare.

They need to go back to straightforward and well-told storytelling. It’s why some movies from the 70s and 80s are still watched today. Does anyone think this movie will similarly endure?

R87 It won't endure as the first two movies did because it's a different time and the culture has changed. The novelty factor of chest bursters and Giger monsters is gone and no one will be leaving the theater talking about how innovative this movie is. But it's a solid action movie for 2024.

R87, you make a really good point.

I also agree with you about the comic book movies which I used to watch years ago. Now the CGI takes me right out of the movie and everything is so fantastical I can’t be bothered. I mean I know it’s a superhero movie, but…

The scariest part was the shimmying through the HVAC tunnel at the beginning.

I agree with you r2. Excellent film. It's been a while since one has held my attention like this.

The only thing that was missing was the Ripley-esque chutzpah of the heroine. She was forgettable.

And Jonesy, of course. No alien film will ever be complete without an orange marmalade cat. 🧡

R91 100%