Alien: Romulus (2024)

[saint.piss]

6/10

On a technical standpoint, this movie is phenomenal. The sets, practical effects, world building, all amazing. I just wish the writing was stronger. I felt the movie also dragged a lot in the 2nd act. It's a bummer because I don't think this is a bad movie but it could've been so much better... The characters were just boring and they didn't do anything interesting with them in my opinion. Also like another poster said, not nearly enough gore as there should've been lol. I might rewatch this movie to give it another chance but idk. I absolutely love Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead (2013) movie, it's probably my favorite horror movie so my expectations for Romulus were probably too high because of that.


Edit: Another thing, the 3rd act I don't think was nearly as crazy as people keep saying it is. It's fun and a little wild but like... it's not jaw dropping or anything imo. The First Omen did something similar and that was more crazy/disturbing. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this movie though just to see the Rain/Andy characters explored further. There's potential

 

[belloq87]

Loved the first two-thirds of this.

Did not love the last third.

David Jonsson is the clear highlight. Great performance, interesting character.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I'm surprised that they went with that second ending considering the past of the franchise. I literally could not believe that's what they did.
I still can't believe it.

 

[HereWeGo]

Some of the sets seem to have a CGI gloss painted over them as well (not many, but I’d say at least two or three).

Curious as to which sets you are thinking about? Are you talking about interior or exterior?

 

[belloq87]

I thought the sets and all the practical creatures looked great.

It's a well-designed, well-made movie.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I thought the sets and all the practical creatures looked great.

It's a well-designed, well-made movie.

looked like a ride, an amazing ride, a lot of scenes felt exactly like a real practical ride, it was great looking .

 

[Nick]

Hopefully watching it tomorrow. Eager to finally see this.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

 

[AlexanderMBush]

DP but I’m gonna echo those in not liking it.

Loved the visuals and loved the first act, but it crumbles and falls apart after that.

 

[chris.g]

I’m going to give the biggest compliment to this film’s practical environment. Everything about it felt real. The most immersed I’ve probably been in a movie since maybe 1917. I was blown away by the set pieces, the xenos, and just how everything looked in general.

Sadly, I found the movie to be BORING. A modern Alien movie should differentiate itself in the way it should kick into high gear, and nostalgia bait was everywhere. I could not give less of a hoot for any of the characters, and I was honestly just shocked (in the groan-worthy sense) with the third act considering how Fede actually mentioned that he wasn’t the biggest fan of what *inspired* the 3rd act.

This is right down the middle for me, 2.5/5.

 

[Lucky Planet]

DP but I’m gonna echo those in not liking it.

Loved the visuals and loved the first act, but it crumbles and falls apart after that.

I’m going to give the biggest compliment to this film’s practical environment. Everything about it felt real. The most immersed I’ve probably been in a movie since maybe 1917. I was blown away by the set pieces, the xenos, and just how everything looked in general.

Sadly, I found the movie to be BORING. A modern Alien movie should differentiate itself in the way it should kick into high gear, and nostalgia bait was everywhere. I could not give less of a hoot for any of the characters, and I was honestly just shocked (in the groan-worthy sense) with the third act considering how Fede actually mentioned that he wasn’t the biggest fan of what *inspired* the 3rd act.

This is right down the middle for me, 2.5/5.

in some areas it does feel like a mash up of the first 4 movies. kind of how the Friday the 13th remake was a mash up of the first 3 Friday the 13th movies. ( but I still really love that Friday remake)
I liked this alien movie, but I'm seeing a lot of people saying the same.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Curious as to which sets you are thinking about? Are you talking about interior or exterior?

The Zero-Gravity set (The one where Bjorn aka the jerk falls onto the barrel) and the set for the showdown between Rain and the creature (the one with the mound of sand).

 

[AlexanderMBush]

in some areas it does feel like a mash up of the first 4 movies. kind of how the Friday the 13th remake was a mash up of the first 3 Friday the 13th movies. ( but I still really love that Friday remake)
I liked this alien movie, but I'm seeing a lot of people saying the same.

Where I loved F13 09 is in how they handled Jason under modernistic circumstances. Showing him as a ruthless hunter, as someone who physically and mentally has trained himself to take back what was lost to him of his innocence.

Alien: Romulus feels like a film that could've been good (dare I say even great) if they made it more of a straight-forward adaptation of Isolation (which I see what they pulled from there) alongside having it having a somewhat older cast.

Not asking for old timers, but I almost think the motive and the age-range of the cast seen in the film feels a bit...too youthful for what was being considered. Alongside the motive at play having a lot of holes.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Where I loved F13 09 is in how they handled Jason under modernistic circumstances. Showing him as a ruthless hunter, as someone who physically and mentally has trained himself to take back what was lost to him of his innocence.

Alien: Romulus feels like a film that could've been good (dare I say even great) if they made it more of a straight-forward adaptation of Isolation (which I see what they pulled from there) alongside having it having a somewhat older cast.

Not asking for old timers, but I almost think the motive and the age-range of the cast seen in the film feels a bit...too youthful for what was being considered. Alongside the motive at play having a lot of holes.

and it is kind of funny that borderlands had the opposite problem from the reviews I saw ( I didn't mind either cast) but a lot of reviews mentioned it. they should have traded casts lol.

 

[belloq87]

I do want to make clear, I did enjoy the movie, overall. I'd rank it only behind ALIEN and ALIENS in the franchise. It just didn't quite stick the landing for me.

 

[Brian G.]

I do want to make clear, I did enjoy the movie, overall. I'd rank it only behind ALIEN and ALIENS in the franchise. It just didn't quite stick the landing for me.

Same for me. There’s a lot to like - but the stuff I didn’t, I REALLY didn’t like.

 

[HereWeGo]

The Zero-Gravity set (The one where Bjorn aka the jerk falls onto the barrel) and the set for the showdown between Rain and the creature (the one with the mound of sand).

Those were all real sets! Obviously the floating objects were added by VFX but those sets were fully built. Just had some minor clean up stuff (and cleaning out wires holding actors).

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Those were all real sets! Obviously the floating objects were added by VFX but those sets were fully built. Just had some minor clean up stuff (and cleaning out wires holding actors).

Worth asking but did you guys use miniatures too? The opening sequence at parts really felt like it used miniatures with how much detail was present.

 

[HereWeGo]

Worth asking but did you guys use miniatures too? The opening sequence at parts really felt like it used miniatures with how much detail was present.

Not a ton but there's a few, yeah.
Although I know the vfx was purposely made to look like miniatures in a lot of shots. That was the goal.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Not a ton but there's a few, yeah.
Although I know the vfx was purposely made to look like miniatures in a lot of shots. That was the goal.

visually it was incredible. I wish it was a Disney ride like the star wars ride. it's really great stuff