While other kids my age were playing with Ninja Turtles and Hot Wheels, I collected (and sometimes played with) Alien V Predator action figures. I'm talking eight-ish years old; and it wasn't too much longer after that--maybe at 12--that I was introduced to John Carpenter's The Thing on the Sci-Fi channel (back when Saturn was its logo [which is far, far superior to "SyFy," but I digress], ah, the good ol' days). So I've always been fascinated with inhuman, strange organisms, especially that of parasitic functions. Species was another film that had an impact on me. Moral of the story is that the Alien franchise is part of my creative DNA. Alien and Aliens are easily in my top 20 films (I even liked Prometheus, too, although I acknowledge all the plot holes and weird fallacies).
All that being said, I watched Alien: Romulus on opening night. I was initially concerned I wasn't going to like it because of how much I was hyping it in my head... I mean, that's what happened with Longlegs: I was expecting it to be my top film of the year, and I thought it was just okay (with fantastic cinematography and an Oscar-worthy performance by Nicholas Cage, but, alas, a very average script). And if anything, my being a fan of the franchise created an extra critical barrier for the film to penetrate. I'm extremely picky about my Alien-franchise films.
There's quite a bit in Alien: Romulus that is spoiler-y, so I can't really get into it. But I will make this comparison (which I think explains why it's so polarizing): Alien: Romulus is the Resident Evil 7 of the franchise. Its main objective was to be a horror film, first and foremost, not a social commentary, not to tie into the other films, not to be philosophically dense like Prometheus, and boy did it pull that off; the entire film felt like a haunted attraction--the set pieces were well thought out, and every single detail had an important role to play; everything served a function.
Speaking of Resident Evil 7, Romulus is Resident Evil on a spaceship and maybe that's another reason I loved it.
Am I getting sick of franchise films? Yes and no. I'm getting sick of bad franchise films. But you could tell that the director loved and respected the source material, and it was a great film, so I don't mind. At the same time Jordan Peele's Nope (which I think is one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time) was a completely original IP and general audiences rejected it and it didn't make money. So I feel like the masses are trying to have their cake and eat it too.
Alien: Romulus is a step in the right direction, but at the same time I don't necessarily want another sequel unless there's a reason for it to exist. The only Alien sequel I'd be interested in is one that explores the black goo from Prometheus, and one that gives us a few more xenomorph variations. Again, it would have to make sense. Either way, I think Romulus is the scariest of the franchise (especially the ending), and I don't quite know where I'd rank it. Definitely top three.
I give it a 10/10. I love sci-fi horror, I love survival horror, I love cosmic horror, and I love body horror, and it does all of those subgenres very well.
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