In cinemas; Cert 15A Alien: Romulus aims to revive franchise. Photo: 20th Century Studios Terminator (1984), Predator (1987) and Alien (1979) were a trio of uncompromising, era-defining sci-fi terrors whose sequels mostly conformed to the law of diminishing returns. In the case of Ridley Scott’s Alien , a slasher horror in a cold, heartless space, only a direct sequel by James Cameron ( Aliens ) abides among eight other films featuring the phallic-headed monster.
With Scott producing, this instalment, set between the events of those first two outings, gives itself the steep task of reviving the brand’s roots while somehow acknowledging the lesser episodes. Horror director Fede Alvarez ( Evil Dead , Don’t Breathe ) and co-writer Rodo Sayagues make a decent fist of it. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is one of a band of space miners intent on salvaging tech from an abandoned ship orbiting their hellish planet.
There, they run the gamut of the xenomorphs they unwittingly awaken and the familiar corporate AI that wants the aliens kept as a bio-weapon. Spaeny and David Jonsson (as Rain’s android sibling) stand out among the assorted alien fodder. While very much a “greatest hits”, there’s just enough innovation to breathe life into the old ghoul.
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