Alien: Romulus - Fans will Mostly like this Entry, Mostly

 


Like any franchise that has existed for many years, the Alien franchise has had its hits and misses. Alien and Aliens are all-time classics. Alien Resurrection and Alien: Covenant aren't good movies. Where does the newest entry Alien: Romulus land? The short answer is it's a good movie, but it still has its highs and lows.

My thoughts on Alien: Romulus must start with Andy (David Jonsson). He's a Synthetic (or "artificial person" as they prefer to be called) who is fascinating throughout the runtime of the film. Andy is a different type of Synthetic than we've seen in the Alien franchise and I won't spoil anything about the character so you can enjoy watching him for yourself. Andy is no question the best part of Alien: Romulus. The rest of the cast play their parts well and I appreciate how the movie is comprised of young people (all in their early twenties if I had to say) which makes sense given the story being told. The atmosphere, musical score, visual effects, and cinematography are on point for what is expected in an Alien movie. It's my understanding that little to no CGI was used in Alien: Romulus and it shows in a good way. The movie does have issues that need to be addressed.

We see the Facehuggers fairly early in Alien: Romulus, but I believe it takes too long before we see the fully-formed Xenomorphs appear. I understand wanting to build up to the matured aliens, but it should have happened sooner in the film. Alien: Romulus also suffers from too many callbacks and references. The movie takes place in between Alien and Aliens, but I could have done with fewer verbatim quotes from those movies. There is one towards the end of Alien: Romulus that irritated me and felt really out of place. The ending of the movie might lose you as well. If you're familiar with how films in the Alien franchise tend to wrap up you'll see what I mean. It felt like a mandate was in place with how Alien: Romulus had to conclude. 

As you can tell, Alien: Romulus is a bit of a mixed bag. I like the type of story the movie tells and it is as intense a movie as it should be. Some things will take away from your enjoyment of the film in my opinion. Overall, I give Alien: Romulus a favorable review and this leads me into a new way I'm going to rate films going forward.

I'm still going to give movies a rating out of four stars. Additionally, I'm implementing a system with traffic light colors. "Green Light" means the movie is worth checking out, "Yellow Light" means to potentially check the movie out, and "Red Light" is my way of warning you about the movie and that you should watch something else. What will happen with "Red Light" and potentially with "Yellow Light" films too is I will give a recommendation of a similar type of film to watch. I hope you enjoy both rating systems and look forward to continuing talking about movies with you!

Rating:

Green Light

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Solid Sci-Fi with some Superhero mixed in

Image
  I totally understand if superhero movies aren't your thing (especially with so many forgettable superhero movies in recent years). The Fantastic Four: First Steps is obviously based on comic book superheroes (Marvel's First Family is another name for the group), but in my opinion, the film was more sci-fi than anything else.  The backdrop is a 1960s retro-futuristic world where the Fantastic Four are not just heroes, but also act as world leaders (they're put on a literal pedestal). Marvel's First Family has to face their biggest challenge yet, once Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) comes to Earth, heralding the space god Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who has targeted the planet for destruction.  The Fantastic Four: First Steps  seems to draw inspiration from alien invasion and sci-fi epics of old. This film will remind you of a classic like  The Incredibles,  too.  The look and feel of how Earth operates are some of the standout aspects of  The Fantastic...
Read more

Superman: Not All That Super

Image
  Are we at a place where we can't get Superman right anymore? It sure seems that way. James Gunn's Superman is an awkward, puzzling movie. The tone of Superman is indecipherable, and the gravitas needed for the titular character is lacking. Superman (David Corenswet) may be in the early part of his heroic career, but I don't understand why he's always on the defensive in the film. He's supposed to be super, correct?  The pacing in Superman is too fast-paced. If things were allowed to breathe, this movie would've been much better. I enjoy Superman/Clark Kent's interactions with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), but they're too infrequent and often cut short or diminished by poorly timed humor. Speaking of poorly timed humor, that's most of the comedy in Superman . It's no different than how Marvel movies have handled humor for a while now. It's tiresome, and I wish filmmakers and studios would trust audiences more. There are some aspects I liked ...
Read more

Frankenstein: It's more than Alive, it's Thriving

Image
  Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein is one of those rare films that you don't want to look away at all while watching it. The movie has your full attention and you're completely engrossed in the narrative. We all have at least some understanding of the story of Frankenstein , so I won't provide a summary of the storyline. Let's instead dive right into why this move is so effective. It's tough to know where to begin with Frankenstein , dear reader. I suppose I'll start with how the film looks. Frankenstein is true cinematic art. The set designs, cinematography, lighting, etc. are all impeccable. The visuals can tell the story as much as the characters and dialogue can. This is no shade to the people in Frankenstein to be clear. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I was impressed with all of the performances. Frankenstein (Oscar Issac), The Creature (Jacob Elordi) and Elizabeth (Mia Goth) especially are all characters that you understand very well. You get t...
Read more