Alien: Romulus - Non-Spoiler AND Spoiler Review!

[@NotGary_]

Holy crap, if you liked it this much that means we might finally have another decent Alien movie!! I can't wait to see it!!

[@order42show]

I’m still in a bit of shock. Really well done! I feel like I need to see it again, but I think it really pulled off what it set out to do. It’s gonna be interesting how more people feel about it!

[@GTChris]

The movie has been, according to Ridley Scott, significantly shortened. I'd like to imagine there appearing a longer version that solves quite a few initial issues.

[@order42show]

I’d be down for that! Although, my biggest issues with the movie are the references to previous movies - some were done well and some were…not.

[@GTChris]

@@order42show I agree with that, maybe Andy's line can be given more meaning, if for instance swearing for an android is given significance during earlier conversations. Rook is probably unsalvageable, pun intended.😂

[@order42show]

Haha, you may be right!

[@devenparghi9214]

I did have a feeling that there was greater personal and technical exposition that was left on the cutting-room floor (SSD?) to fit-in with the movie industry's 2-hour projection turnaround time. When the final numbers come in I hope 20th Century give Fede (we're on first-name terms with him!) the budget to reinsert some deleted scenes & extend some shortened scenes. It could be Alien 1.5.1!

[@order42show]

I’m always ok with that, especially if the runtime was shortened for the release.

[@tamastarczy6262]

Ok, here is my take; this movie had enough salt put into it, but I was missing the pepper.... This comment comes from a MASSIVE Alien fan. I have been there in the cinema in '79 and I have been here ever since. For me, this wasnt enough. 7/10

[@order42show]

Yeah, I’ve read some posts of some problems people have with the movie, and there are some logistical issues that I hadn’t considered. I need to see it again, and it certainly wasn’t perfect, as I mention…I’d probably give it a 7.5 as of right now, but after a rewatch that could change.

[@tamastarczy6262]

@@order42show im giving it yet an other go tonight with a rewatch, too! :)

[@order42show]

Nice!

[@mosesh06]

I have skipped all trailers and will be going in blind. Cant wait to see it

[@order42show]

Very cool to do that! Maybe I should stop putting clips from the trailer in the review...maybe just screenshots...I dunno.

[@bigappl3amraith]

Well done, Rob! I cannot wait to see the movie this weekend. Will re-comment once I see it.

[@order42show]

Sounds good! Hope you enjoy!

[@ikronic258]

I don't always agree with you, but I just came back from the Cinema last night and I gotta tell you, I agree with everything you said! 100 percent!!! All the things you liked, the acting, the score, etc etc and all the other things you did not like, especially everything to do with the 3rd act!!!

[@order42show]

Well, that means overall you still had a good time. There are other reviewers that mentioned things that I didn’t…and it’s weird that with a movie that I had so many issues with it, that I still had a good time overall…!

[@ikronic258]

@@order42show a good time that was ruined by the last 3rd!

[@krono5el]

exactly, the best since the second and visuals are insane along with sets and practical. only a few wonky bits but i was in the whole time and want to rewatch it which is rare for me.

[@order42show]

I really enjoyed most of it - I have been reading comments from those who didn’t like it, but those trouble spots don’t outweigh how much fun I had with it!

[@raph485]

Hopefully this movie can get a Director's Cut someday. The beginning of the movie could definitely use more time to build up the characters. I totally agree with you on the Ian Holm point. Just felt unneeded and off to me. I'm sure Disney accrued the legal rights to use his image, and his estate is surely getting paid for it, but maybe just let the dead be dead. Give another actor a chance to shine and create a new android character like you said.

[@order42show]

My wife actually had an interesting idea. Instead of having Andy change personalities, what if the android they found was another Andy? To see the different versions play off of each other could’ve been interesting. But, another actor would’ve been fine. This seems to be another example of “just because you can doesn’t mean you should”. The one thing about this trope of having a team that will eventually get picked off one by one - it’s easy to see who’s going to survive and who won’t. Alien and Aliens did the best job of at least doing the most with that - you at least like them.

[@Fiorwestcoast]

Spoiler* Yeah no. The cgi Ian holm was wrong. He never allowed his likeness and after he died they sold his face. The Nostromo wreckage didn't make sense. It was vaporized. The big chap and somehow making face huggers didn't make sense. It only gets worse the longer I think about it It started strong but the force awakens style call backs got on my last nerve. And the Prometheus black goo Ridley Scott ending was the nail in the coffin 6/10

[@order42show]

You know, I can see all of that! (And thanks for marking that a spoiler!) There have also been some things that I’ve heard other reviewers say that I’m like, yeah, that bothered me, too! So, I think I really need to watch it again. And it’s funny you brought up Force Awakens, because I’d had that same thought - in a roundabout way, it feels like a reboot, and that’s…troubling, the more I think about it. The fact that the big chap created facehuggers - I forgot about that, but I’d had the same thought, but forgot about it until just now. It’s almost like they went back to the deleted scenes of the first movie where Dallas and Brett were cocooned, like something in the physiology allows one alien to still propagate (which I was NOT a fan of). Seems like they were playing a bit loose there. I preferred the way it worked in Aliens, with a hive system with a queen. Like, you don’t take one ant away from the hive and it creates another hive, right? (I don’t know crap about ants, so…🤷🏻‍♂️)

[@Fiorwestcoast]

Yeah the more I think the worse it gets 😅​@@order42show

[@YourOldBuddyBucho]

N-N-N-NICE!!!

[@order42show]

Haha, tell me you watched the video…😆

[@MrDflego]

The bitch line was a bit cringe but it was good how Alvarez built up to it. Andy got called a bitch earlier in the film and then he used it like that he'd learned to stick up for himself, that was really nice about it.

[@order42show]

That I didn’t have a problem with - what I do though, is that it felt like a strange way to revisit what’s probably the most iconic line of the whole franchise…like a cheap trick rather than a real earned moment.

[@MrDflego]

@@order42show yeah it was a bit of a cheap trick, it was almost breaking the fourth wall lol.

[@order42show]

Yeah, I could almost feel my ribs being elbowed!

[@devenparghi9214]

I think Andy could have spoken that line just slightly differently for greater meaning and impact. I.e. ",you... bitch." (instead of "...you bitch").

[@MrDflego]

@@order42show lol, Andy should have winked at the camera, imagine that lol.

[@Room-uc5se]

The movie was really great. On first watch the ending kinda pissed me off…but the more I thought about it the more it made sense to throw in. On second watch I just learned to turn the brain off and enjoy the absolute madness on the screen. At the end of the day the 4th act was fun…and that’s the point anyways.

[@order42show]

I had a lot of fun with it, too! I still have my issues with it (since I’m probably too much of an Alien nerd), but I had a good time!

[@796r]

This film didn’t do it for me. Felt like this should have been a Hulu release and seemed way too rushed. It never felt like the movie climaxed and never felt like the alien was a threat. And this was supposed to make the Alien scary again but it seemed the offspring was the big boss battle. Idk glad you like it. I think once the brand new toy affect wares off on people this will settle towards the bottom. It felt like Alien Resurrection 2.0

[@order42show]

Thing is, even though I enjoyed it, I really can understand a lot of the criticism about it. I think it could have been done exactly as you say, direct-to-Hulu with a smaller budget. Would be interesting to see if it would’ve been received differently. I was looking at my criticisms of the movie while it was uploading and thinking similarly to what you said - I wonder how this will work on a rewatch. I still think it’s beautifully made, I just wish there was a bit more originality to the story.

[@796r]

@@order42show yes and the Alien seems mostly like a bystander in its own movie. And one other gripe I had was all the hypotheticals that work out. Like when he goes the facehuggers sense sound and heat (even though in the original Kane says it’s hot as the god damn tropics down here so the matching heat shouldn’t be a factor) and then he says maybe the Alien will see the pulse rifle as a threat and not attack, and sure enough they all back off like it’s some magic power. Before she kills dozens of them video game style. Just seemed pretty disrespectful to the Alien, not one did it come across as a threat. I feel like it will age poorly. I think this just shows everyone wants a good alien/ horror alien movie and are willing to pay to see it. Which is a great sign. But they desperately need to make the Alien threatening again cause this will not last much longer

[@order42show]

Yeah, I like the warrior alien being the bigger threat rather than the facehugger.

[@0bzen22]

I thought it was quite derivative (some story elements were big fan service items, pretty cringe), but ok. A mix of the good stuff (Alien 1&2), and Alien Isolation (the game). Quite a lot of Hollywood-ism, the classic tropes of bad decisions leading to bad consequences, a story looking like a series of video game quests. Interchangeable characters. A ropey CGI character, but passable, story was ok, characters were pretty bland, acting was decent, especially the two main protagonists. Good special effects, good visual design (as I said, derivative, but that's not a bad thing in that regard). The introductions paint a pretty bleak picture of the colonies (almost W40K Hive City levels), which I guess would be fairly accurate. The ending is a mix of Alien Resurrection, Prometheus and Alien 2 as done by Ridley Scott, but it's not as bad as you think. Yeah, decent, especially regarding what came before it. I'll put it in 3rd or 4th in the series, but waaaay behind the two classics. I wish Hollywood could do a good Alien story. It's not that they can't (the latest horror movies), but it's got the Hollywood Franchise curse.

[@0bzen22]

And yeah, they could have not done an AI Ian Holme. That upset me a bit, I thought it was disrespectful. There was no need for it (besides the 'Androids all look the same'), and then again, it might have been an awkward moment if someone on the Nostromo recognised him for what he was. I guess he is like a super-rare, secret, high-functioning droid, so it'd have been ok.

[@order42show]

I still don’t see the narrative purpose for using Holm. It’s not like any of the characters would know who he was, so it was solely for the audience. My wife came up with an idea that I think may have worked better - what if the android looked like Andy? And I think that Hollywood, for the most part, just plays things too safe. But then again, from their perspective, their big swing was Prometheus, which didn’t exactly work the way they intended, so maybe a “safe” movie like this was what they wanted. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@tamastarczy6262]

Who is Galó Alvarez by the way...? You said something like Galó Alvarez... Who? :D

[@order42show]

I thought I said Galo Olivares, the cinematographer…? Is that not what I said?

[@tamastarczy6262]

@@order42show sorry then, i thought you said Director.

[@order42show]

Oh, oh…well, I’ll also say - when I was recording I was like…WHOA this is gonna be long, so I actually forgot some things, so I was hoping I didn’t make a mistake there. I try to really be thoughtful of the length of these reviews, but I just had SO much to say! 😁

[@deogiriyadav8399]

Movie name-- 12th fail (2023).... Amazing inspiration movie... Check out... Maybe u will like it...

[@order42show]

Thanks, I’ll look into it!