ALIEN ROMULUS is boring / bad / awful - review Rob Ager

[@collativelearning]

LMAO off here. Some of you hate me for this review But most of you hate the film as much as I do. So high five to everyone who saw this garbage for the shallow, cash grab, rehash that it is. Lots of predictable deniers too saying "you're stuck in the past man". Wrong, my review of Furiosa this year was fairly positive kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2qzfGOwdtyNnqs I was also one of the few who had anything positive to say about Alien Covenant. Give me a great modern movie like Dragged Across Concrete, Upgrade, Nitram, Dredd, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Snowtown, Toy Story 4, The Master or Hereditary (all post 2010) and I'll give you a glowing review. Give me a turd like Alien Romulus and I'll call it for what it is, no shilling, no catering, no holding back. I'm stuck in GOOD MOVIES and intend to stay here. Whether you loved or hated the film, thanks for your comments, even the personal digs :)

[@FreeThinkAlways]

'Stuck in the past' is probably the best option anyone can take when it comes to movies and music ect 😂 You gotta make this type of video into a more frequent series Rob

[@toastedfallenstar584]

I liked it a lot more than i expected to, i found it an ok story in that universe but is it as good as it could be or even should be? No.

[@ollyf5088]

Calm down ;)

[@liskeke]

dude, you're just old. Every tree will become a stump

[@darkthorpocomicknight7891]

I respect the "argument" but seriously the sound camera work and music were very top notch. Were there major flaws sure? But I think plot needs to be separated from other elements - if you think the plot was poorly done. Fine but there were compensating factors. That said yes it was creatively ... somewhat limited.

[@eibhirmulqueen4310]

I was struck by how poor the dialogue was and how shallow the conversations were from the offset, so even the initial premise of getting off the mining planet seemed implausible and the characters utterly flat. For me it felt like a B teen horror movie: the kids head off somewhere forbidden for the weekend and get picked off one by one while we yawn or chuckle at the wrong scenes.

[@Metalgearenthusiast69]

Yeah it was filled with cheesy corny and cliche dialogue like “wait you want me to sneak into a highly secured spaceship!” And the cliche group of roughneck teenagers, with them finishing each others sentences, the one thing I looked was the visuals and the way they enforced the idea of why the xenomorph was the “Perfect organism” it showed it waiting for Andy to open the door while using Kay as a bait so they could open the door, and when it saved rain when she was falling and instead of killing her it controlled her because it needs a living breathing person to infect with the facehuggers not a corpse, overall a 2.5/5

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

@@eibhirmulqueen4310 exactly, that's what we have here: a teen movie.

[@drownthepoor]

​@@Metalgearenthusiast69 It was "steal highly regulated material" which is referring to the cryo-sleep pods and their fuel. One thing I didn't understand was why it took the bodies into the duct in the hangar. The girl was what it burst out of, and the guy died after it stabbed him in the face and the acid dripped all over him. They do not eat humans, and don't seem to eat anything really.

[@plate1014]

That's exactly how I felt. The dialogue felt so needless and I genuinely felt as though I knew everything there was to know about each character the moment they said their first word. The casting, and dialogue took me out of this movie immediately

[@mk-ultramags1107]

@@eibhirmulqueen4310 terrible cast, terrible dialog etc. I think what bothered me the most was the unnecessary sound effects he stole from Alien and used WAY too much. In places the noise shouldn't even originate from

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

As an Alien fan, I can't believe how blatantly crappy is this movie and how some fans think this is the best Alien ever!! Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away or what???

[@scottwheeler6931]

Very good with the iq line 😂I agree it was pants .

[@mr.blonde5344]

I wouldn't say it's the series' best. But, it's very good.

[@cgdimension]

We live in an era of multiple transformers, fast and furious and trek reboots, IQs are the same but taste and imagination have been reduced to the basic, ie jump, scares, explosions and cgi

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

@@mr.blonde5344 well, I'd say it is the worst so far, including those of alien vs predator

[@mr.blonde5344]

@@TylerDurden-id6yp To each their own. Take care.

[@dmc7324]

How the hell this film is doing so well is beyond me.Shows how powerful marketing can be!

[@SagaciousFrank]

And how dumb modern audiences are.

[@trevor3013]

@@SagaciousFrank exactly right sadly

[@trevor3013]

@@SagaciousFrank exactly sadly

[@Ma55ey]

Everyone slates alien 3.. but at least Alien 3 was an original idea. It wasn't a mish mash of the previous two movies.. Charles dance didn't say "get away from her you bitch" I just don't get modern movies.. I swear most movies and TV shows from the last 5 years have mostly been written by ai. Mostly...

[@badlaamaurukehu]

I liked 3. In my head canon I consider it a stand alone as I liked the Dark Horse or whatever comics they were where Hicks survived and they expanded the in universe lore a bit.

[@RomanticAnalog]

Yeah I thought Alien 3 was really cool also!

[@PontificusPinion]

The characters in Alien 3 were definitely memorable, some almost relatable and a few even sympathetic. I didn't hate Romulus but I felt nothing for the characters. The casting was very generic and diverse to appeal to a Gen Z audience. Alien did not have pretty people which made it feel real.

[@Fatsaver]

Just no. Alien 3 is the worst of the worst. Literally kill off everybody within the first few minutes. Making the 2nd movie completely pointless.

[@austinwillcut4919]

Alien 3 was not an original idea, they just took the first film and set it on a prison planet with one alien again. There was nothing original about it plot wise.

[@Hauerization]

The most positive thing about Romulus is that it apperently have made Alien isolation sell like icecream on a hot day again.

[@purefoldnz3070]

I bought it for the third time.

[@drufazz]

Didn't even know about it till watching reviews on this movie. What a great game.

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@drufazz and the game directly inspired the movie as well.

[@Hauerization]

@@drufazz There you go.

[@blasty137]

In case you're living under a rock Romulus has generally positive reviews among both critics and audiences and is absolutely smashing it at the box office.

[@j_shelby_damnwird]

I wholeheartedly agree with all your points. The fact there's people hailing this turd of a film as a masterpiece (seriously, wtf) speaks volumes about "modern audiences". Another soulless, puerile cash-grab from the House of Mouse

[@Sleepai]

Cry harder grandad

[@j_shelby_damnwird]

@@Sleepai More like yawn harder 🥱

[@donniecatalano]

I am so tired of these remakes, prequels, remixes and so on. There are no new ideas so they make money chewing on great classics. Enough, really.

[@drumstick74]

Either they do remakes, prequels, sequels or just make another disaster movie. Try counting how many _End Of The World_ movies they have spewed out in the last 20 years. 🤮

[@ItsaKindOfMagic86]

💯 @donniecatalano hollywood should write their fanfic in their own time and not throw millions on money at sub par stuff

[@Alex-tu9bh]

Theres a few good movies that come out each year. If you haven't seen the parasite I recommend it

[@donniecatalano]

@@Alex-tu9bh thanks I'll check it out

[@timfahey7127]

If you are sick of them, I am assuming you have seen many sequels, prequels, remakes... etc...to form this opinion. If not, your comment is valid at face, but don't you gotta experience something to say your sick of it? Anyhow..be well.

[@bingerz237]

The only reason this franchise is even still a thing is because of how original O'Bannon's take on the space alien movie premise was, and especially how uniquely beautiful Giger's designs were.

[@chrisginsburg6611]

Agreed, but also Ridley Scott complemented that with a gloomy, gritty sci-fi noir aesthetic. One of the greatest accomplishments of the original Alien, (likely related to Giger) that few talk about, was the ambiguity surrounding the backstory, Alien. Engineers and human, that allowed the audience to create their own universe... They could dream up perhaps what kind of evolution, through eons and bizarre environments might create such fantastic beings. Then progressively as it is all spelled out for us... it loses its mystique and becomes dumbed down and backed in a corner.

[@astheseasonsgrey]

I know people say movies made by committee are usually terrible, but in my opinion when the committee is made up of creatives like Scott, O'Bannon, Shusset, Giger, Hill, Giler, etc a movie can be fantastic. That's sort of what irks me about Ridley Scott claiming ownership of the franchise. He was no doubt an integral part, but by no means was it his baby alone.

[@MrCarpen7er]

Dan O'Bannon basically stole from John Carpenter's Dark Star. The better ideas came from Ronald Shussett and David Giler and Walter Hill. Also Ridley Scott's creativity.

[@bingerz237]

​@@MrCarpen7er How did O'Bannon steal from a movie he helped make? There was no facehugger or chestburster in Dark Star, those were solely his concepts, but you think an Alien movie without them would be fine? It was also his idea to have the creature based off of Giger's artwork, which might be one of the best ideas anyone has ever had for a sci-fi horror film?

[@mania4270]

No the only reason this franchise is still going is because most ppl LIKE THESE MOVIES. Funny that the only place I find ppl hating alien movies are the internet but most regular ppl find these movies totally fine. In the words of James Cameron "get out of your mom's basement"

[@Glocktologist]

I have a less negative opinion of the movie but some things in it are simply indefensible. You mentioned the implausibility of big chap surviving a harpoon to the belly, being blasted with a rocket engine, and being left floating in space for 20 years. Then there’s the implausibility of finding the damn thing in the vastness of space. It’s more like a needle in an ocean rather than a hay stack - and I might be understating it. But there’s yet another angle that shows this part of the story to be absolutely bonkers: the company knew of the organism and knew where it was picked up. They could have gone directly to LV-426 without passing Go. Instead, they spent two decades combing the space to find something they didn’t even know was there. Stupid teenagers have nothing on Weybland Yudummy.

[@darkwoods1954]

I assumed they had also gone to LV426 to pick up all those eggs. Where did they come from otherwise?

[@Glocktologist]

@darkwoods1954 it’s possible they could have produced the eggs by synthesizing the sample of the Alien they found. If they did indeed go to LV-426 and picked up eggs, why did Rook make such a big fuss of searching for the Alien and finally finding it after 20 years? Why was this shown on screen and nothing about the trip to LV-426 and fetching the eggs?

[@ravecrab]

Yep, these were exactly the things I noted as well. Even worse: the "sarcophagus" thing containing Big Chap isn't just floating through space, it's in the wreckage of the Nostromo! The same Nostromo that was blown into tiny pieces by an enormous nuclear detonation tens of miles away in space from where Ripley finally blew the alien out of the airlock. And we're supposed to believe these items of space junk are bobbing around within metres of each other after 20 years of hurtling through the cosmos. And then there's the fact some lowly teenage miners are aware there's a derelict WT ship in orbit, but WT themselves who control the entire planet and its orbital traffic don't appear to be remotely interested in the fact a gigantic unaccounted space station of their own manufacture has appeared floating above. I thought Romulus was a bit of a curate's egg when I left the cinema, but the more time I've had to digest the details the more sloppy the writing gets.

[@AuroraMeansDawn27]

As a LOVER of Alien, I was worried that this would be the storyline. How ridiculous.

[@TheGlobuleReturns]

Also Rook says he sent a message to tell the company to pick up the compound. Wasn’t there some kind of emergency warning in place or beacon/message sent out already, since the companies most important work was on that spaceship? They can find a black alien years later in the vacuum of space but the most important vessel just gets ignored floating above a populated planet. A bit ridiculous.

[@jonbourgoin182]

It's legitimately refreshing that Rob has a different opinion. I don't follow too many film channels but the ones I do are all praising this movie.

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

Maybe they're all praising it because it's a darn good movie lmao

[@jonbourgoin182]

@@Nobody-y5t5j I trust Rob's critical eye more than Chris Stuckmann and Jeremy Jahns, and especially more than Doug Walker

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

@@jonbourgoin182 Well now I don't trust Rob as a critic at all. ☹️

[@jon.wilson]

@@jonbourgoin182 if you don't trust them, then why follow them?

[@sole__doubt]

Yeah I remember he was the only one who gave a negative review to Blade Runner 2049 while everyone else was raving. I had to watch it three times because I couldnt believe how bad it was, I thought I was missing something.

[@tigar007]

Hollywood is dead at this point..

[@MrCarpen7er]

It's been dead for years

[@joniofark2042]

@@MrCarpen7ersince the 90s mostly garbage imho

[@obeewankenobi]

no just paranoid, careful...I like Wes Anderson. and despite studio finales Denis Villeneuve is brilliant

[@leapsplashafrog]

@@obeewankenobi sorry but dune 1 was ok dune 2 was totally stupid all threat and tension gone - poor film making. Denis couldnt hold a candle to Sam peckinpah, Scorsese de palma etc etc. Wes Anderson’s is ok but daft as fcuk about as much tension as acolyte

[@obeewankenobi]

@@leapsplashafrog like most of those guys. whats acolyte...hahaha? denis-enemy, arrival, and that awesome hairstyle commercial, c'mon, guys gotta start somewhere. he paid his dues. i think dune 2 is equal to kubricks spartucus reason. what u think? no control ending, is like no way! OB

[@aimeec.6886]

THANK YOU! I feel like I'm the little kid in the story of the Emperor's New Clothes, screaming how terrible this film was while everyone else is saying, "Best Alien film since the originals!" ... I had my two Gen-Z'ers with me and they were bored. We actually left the theater about an hour into Romulus.... And I saw nothing that was a nod to Alien Isolation. Alien Isolation is 1,000 times scarier than Romulus could ever hope to be. As my son said when we left the theater: "It sucked. My heart didn't race at all."

[@markweatherill]

Alien Isolation? Oh boy, how about that door handle that you have to crank twice, makes its one appearance early on in the movie...

[@TheSuperQuail]

"Somehow xenomorph returned."

[@deejno.4758]

Lmaooooooo

[@desireless4092]

"Then God help us all..."

[@chrisginsburg6611]

"And nobody saw Alien 4 so we can just reshuffle the scenes, CGI new actors faces on. yay, then the house in the Caymans will be paid off!" John Waters version of Alien starring Richard Simmons and Ru Paul would have been more serious.

[@ConsueloWubba]

THE POWER OF EGG THE POWER OF BURST THE POWER OF THE COMPANY

[@franciscoantonio5306]

Lol

[@Josh-fp2qn]

I'm 36 years old. And I am envious of you older folks who got to see the OG Alien and even Aliens in the movie theater back in the day.

[@Perseusgorgonslayer]

oh yeah......the OG was an absolute pants shittter!!!!!! Guaranteed! Romulus had ZERO of that factor.

[@Theantitotalitarianmovement]

We had great films every week in the 70-90s every week man. You’d go really enjoy it and have a meal beers etc. then go and see it again the next day as it was that good

[@borislugosi54]

You could have seen Alien just recently in the theater. Rereleased for the 45th anniversary. You'll have to wait for the 50th anniversary

[@Hossak]

I was so scared from Alien that I could not use the outside toilet during nighttime for a few weeks after. Not pleasant :(

[@ForPapaandGrandma]

I live near a city with a theater that plays midnight showings of old flicks. A few years ago, I got to see "Alien" there, and, yeah, it was epic! Perhaps you'll come across a similar opportunity.

[@octosalias5785]

I feel this weird vibe in the industry with movies like this and Matrix 4, where the first 20 minutes or so feel like its written by a different person, and then the rest is just regurgitated quotes out of context, that mean nothing to the people saying them, or hearing them, except the audience where it falls flat

[@dokosza2981]

Calculator is the new brain so studios might invest first 20 minutes to bait the audiences, investor even.

[@scaredlobstero]

@@octosalias5785 except matrix 4 was actually in and of itself a not so hidden critique of the industry shenanigans, while this just adopts the standard with no intention of making that same statement but simply regurgitate yet another homage-ridden movie

[@octosalias5785]

@@scaredlobstero I feel like that was intentionally self-criticizing of Matrix 4 as it was literally an investor advertisement for Unreal Engine. And thats true of many movies, like Pirates of the Caribbean and Avatar, to sell vfx and 3D technology

[@scaredlobstero]

@@octosalias5785 I might be overinterpreting, you mean Matrix 4 is all part of a plot to portray movies and the movie industry in a particularly bad light so that audiences will finally switch to videogames , or that more simply put it was bad on purpose to highlights even more that impressive Unreal Engine 5 Matrix demo? I'm genuinely confused by your comment, tell me moar

[@octosalias5785]

@@scaredlobstero I mean that Matrix 4 has a tie-in advertisement for Unreal Engine 5 you can download featuring Keanu Reaves and Carrie-Ann Moss. Its highly likely thats the only reason the movie exists and then they hired one of the Wachowskis to write part of it

[@edwardrichardson8254]

That humans have mastered interstellar travel, artificial gravity, and created sentient androids but are going into mines to die holding canaries is laughable on the face of it.

[@scaredlobstero]

If anything, I think it's kinda reminiscent of our society and I found it pretty effective. AI is replacing art jobs but waiters and cashiers still exist. The irony of technological progress

[@juanote8943]

I mean. Theres slavery in some parts of the world today.

[@PlightOfTheInnovator]

More Canaries, less Xeno's, think that would have been better to be fair.

[@jafsterlordbib]

Yes I also thought that was pretty stupid. Sadly the least stupid aspect of this script

[@edwardrichardson8254]

@@juanote8943 The African and Oriental parts without capitalism, sure. And of course the dirty Hispanic criminal world of cartel human trafficking.. basically all the places without white individuals.

[@davidnicholls5303]

ALIEN RECYCLED would have been a better title for this film, I'm surprised cinemas didn't hand out Alien bingo cards before you entered so you can tick off all the call backs from the other movies, first person to shout House! gets a prize maybe? The Alien Isolation reference is interesting as that would have made a much better Alien loose on a Space station story than what we got (it has a much more compelling protagonist as well) so why not just adapt that? I was prepared to cut Alvarez some slack as it's obvious that Ridley Scott ran interference here, (hence all the prequel nonsense that's been included) but the news that he now wants to pitch a new AVP script to Disney has destroyed any credibility he might have had. ALIEN R.I.P.

[@chrisginsburg6611]

Yeah, next he should try to make A Clockwork Orange 2 with Disney and starring the Kardashians.

[@WaldemarPerezJr]

@@davidnicholls5303 yes 😁💯

[@WaldemarPerezJr]

@@davidnicholls5303 I'll admit I like AVP comics. But none of the movies have been stellar AVP2 was similar to Romulus. It was just safe carbon copy Predator. Robert Rodriguez's Predators was my favorite for Yakuza vs. Predator scene

[@jordanjohnston655]

ALIEN ROMULUS: PROMETHEUS RESURRECTED

[@jarnokorhonen3840]

King Kong vs Aliens vs Clockwork Boringe vs Planet of Apes vs Escape from New York vs escape from Tombstone vs Rambo vs Godzilla etc.

[@Pnanasnoic]

"Check boxes". We live in the hell we were warned we would inherit.

[@luckykat08]

Three messages in this film - white men are racist, black men protect white women, women are more capable than men. Variations of these in like every movie now.

[@jonbourgoin182]

There are 9 circles of hell and we have to be in the 7th by now, entering the 8th by 2030.

[@luckykat08]

Three messages in this film - white men are racist, black men protect white women, women are more capable than men. Variations of these in like every movie now.

[@luckykat08]

Just reposted this - KZbin deleted it.

[@vollsticks]

It's Hollywood chasing money. I have no problem with diverse casting, people seeing themselves represented on screen--but make no mistake, Hollywood is in *no way* "woke"--IT'S A FUCKING HUGE COG IN THE CAPITALIST MACHINE. And I think in 99% of big studio productions, the introduction of diverse characters is deeply, deeply cynical. If you can't be bothered with a book, Some More News did a great "Is Hollywood "Woke"?!" video. If you've got an hour, it's an interesting watch. And it's not "cultural Marxist propaganda". So don't be scared! Peace!

[@SerMattzio]

Just a quick pre-watch comment; I find it weird that no one makes any films about literally everything else that happens in the "Alien" universe. You could make so many epic stories about Seegson, Weyland-Yutani or even what the society is like in a broad sense. Instead they just produce "Stupid People Getting Killed by the Xenomorphs Story #2090"

[@custardgannet4836]

I'm hoping the TV series from the Fargo showrunner will provide us with some of that.

[@collativelearning]

@@custardgannet4836 That Fargo series was awesome!

[@ranulf8477]

Weyland-Yutani know about the Alien. Since the first movie. I want to know what their plans are with that creature. But they gave us another cheap slasher/action movie without any story. I also want to know what will happen with David. Its insane to end a trilogy after the second movie. Thats just cruel.

[@Raycloud]

It's interesting to ponder an "Alien" expanded universe, but to be honest, you'd either be shoving the Alien in there when it isn't necessary to keep the thematic connection or else telling dystopian stories that have nothing at all to do with it and thus don't necessarily need to be set in that same continuity.

[@ekurisona663]

@@SerMattzio most people making movies arent artists, or creative, or have any thing compelling to say - it's mostly just a business

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

In Alien we had space truckers. In Aliens, space marines. In Alien 3, space convicts. In Res, space hitmen... Now, we have space teens. "Thanks", Disney.

[@Mitzihunt1313]

Exactly wtf

[@starwarsroo2448]

Well miners if we're continuing in occupation🤷‍♀️

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

@@starwarsroo2448 I wish. Xenomorphs and miners sound good.

[@RachelSullivan73]

John Hurt is, for my money, the greatest actor of all time.

[@mroctober3657]

John Hurt is the Daniel Day Lewis of Laurence Olivier's.

[@FreeThinkAlways]

Terrific, next silly question!

[@layersoftheonion8168]

Gary Oldman is up there for his ‘Slow Horses’ character.

[@redpillnibbler4423]

@@FreeThinkAlways Back to the old freezeroonies . . .

[@leapsplashafrog]

@@layersoftheonion8168 such a dull series watched it free wouldn’t bother again

[@steveetienne]

RIpley blasted that Alien with the escape shuttles engine. No way would it have survived.

[@MindbodyMedic]

Somehow, Big chap survived....along with a massive chunk of Nostromo with lettering to show it is in fact The Nostromo in case you thought it was space trash.

[@SweetZombiJesus]

No one said it did. They just extracted DNA.

[@Josh-fp2qn]

Isn’t xeno dna hydrofluoric acid?

[@PontificusPinion]

It isn't implausible that it cocooned itself to go into stasis. But where did all the extra mass for the resin come from? This was one major plot hold in Alien: how did the alien grow so big without consuming anything? (To be fair, in Alan Dean Foster's novelization, I think it raided the food supplies. Then again, in the end it exploded from the pressure differential when blown into the vacuum of space.)

[@callumcc8897]

The self destruction of the Nostromo is the equivalent of a hydrogen bomb

[@chadesteban1408]

Couldn't agree more with your review, Rob! Saw it last night with two friends, and we were all left cold. Excruciatingly bland characters. Rehashing of lines/scenarios from previous films added nothing but the sense that the writer has no new ideas and no originality. Plot was vaporous: uninteresting, babyfaced wage-slaves take a spaceship to steal some cryopods from a derelict space station so they can fly off to a distant planet for a better life. Spacestation was filled with troublesome xenomorphs, and they all have a bad time, one squirting out a hybrid before expiring. One (and her android brother) survives and leaves an audio log entry at the end of the ordeal. 2 hours felt like 4 hours. My revelation half way through was, "There's so little going on here, I'll never need to see this movie again." If you haven't seen this movie, trust me - you're not missing anything. Life's too short to waste it on Alien: Romulus.

[@matthewbob6966]

While I can’t say I hated these recent films you have reviewed, I’d also be lying if I said I was satisfied. Big budget filmmaking no longer supports the original, thought provoking, masterful art of the not so distant past that so many yearn for in their films. This video, and other recents including your Longlegs review, feels more like a genuinely angry response to what feels like is never ending mediocre onslaught of modern big budget productions. This is not him hating for clickbait this is a true reaction that I cannot be mad at. Alien: Romulus and Longlegs left so much to be desired withholding them from being anything worth dissecting and analyzing.

[@CineG]

Kane and the facehugger was part of the Alien story; lore building, tension, and false-sense of relief. Since, it's treated as an obligatory checkpoint holding back what the producers wanted to tell otherwise. Blame society's shortened attention span. According to the novelization and the graphic novel, the parasite embryo absorbs its host body where not even futuristic medical scanners can detect a difference in body weight. This was one of the reasons Kane was so hungry because lot of his body had been eaten/transmuted from the inside. If I remember correctly, there are graphic novels that point out victims of the facehugger have short term memory loss after regaining consciousness. They mingle out in the public when they "burst" spreading the Xenomorph further into the populous.

[@idealsAREisomorphic]

Finally someone addressed the infantilism of the “parkour” bullshit in modern action films.

[@PhantomDeth]

Alien has suffered the Disney treatment. Disposable trash now. Another IP ruined.

[@MetalsirenIXI]

What? This film was way better than Alien 3/4.

[@PhantomDeth]

@MetalsirenIXI Nope.. 3 and 4 are beyond weak.. But they aren't crammed with diversity box ticking and moronic dull characters that do stupid things. The best films remain Alien, Aliens, Prometheus.. Covenant though the latter two have issues the plot is excellent the premise and ideas are interesting.. There's nothing to grab onto with Romulus it's just another lazy movie that steals from better films in the series.. Nothing original present. Then there is the way it's shot.. Ugly.. Very poorly colour balanced as well. Performances extremely poor to boot. Alien 3 doesn't have bad performances.. It's biggest sin is the messing of the plot coming from Aliens and the boring pace. Resurrection aka 4 is artistically excellent it has great sets and visual effects. CGI is dated though. It's just a bit to goofy for it's own good but it's plot ideas are solid and it deals more with the corporations efforts with the Alien.. Which is interesting and not heavily explored. Romulus as I said adds nothing.. It actually ruins things.. The Aliens don't need to eat now?. They are invincible in space?.. They find it in the void of space... Dumb dumb dumb immediately lost the audience with such a stupid setup. Activist garbage throughout the film as well.. Muh 'racism'.. Yeah get that out of this IP.. We've had a 'diverse cast in Alien since the start.. Everyone is on the same level it's the future.. So to push of muh racism is cleared done to cause division and push a particular worldview which I outright reject and resent. No Alien film has be angry because even watching it. But I could tell it was going to be terrible off the trailers.

[@TheREALExposingtheJoyofS-px3ri]

@@MetalsirenIXI No it wasn't... are you drunk...? lol I agree; 3 and 4 are certainly nowhere close to being master pieces, but they're far beyond Romulus.

[@TheREALExposingtheJoyofS-px3ri]

@@PhantomDeth Prometheus was pretty good. Definitely agree there...

[@ocean_monster1]

Last hour of this movie is nothing but endless references, memberberries and nostalgia slop. It's like Disney executive board made a checklist and then movie was done around that list. It's a shame because first 45 minutes were pretty solid. But it's just nostalgia baiting garbage at the end. Just like Force Awakens repurposes the New Hope, this movie is like a recyclement center cobbled together all previous Alien movies. It's probably enough to get enough positive synapses from people who are OK with having the same old slop but in a few years it won't be remembered kindly. So yeah I guess that's enough for a "summer horror movie", I expected an actual new, fresh Alien movie. This wasn't it.

[@yomama3622]

At least Alien Isolation did some of its own stuff with the synthetics as well. That showroom section where you have to walk by the demo models, fully expecting one to pop to life and attack you? So freaking good. And it didn’t rely on fanservice to be a compelling moment.

[@Disconnect350]

One IMDB review described this movie perfectly "An Alien Greatest Hits album sung by a cover band."

[@Variable1000]

Spot on 😂

[@mattgilbert7347]

A bad covers band. It's Capitalist Realism at work. No new artworks, endlessly recycling the 20thC until it is spent, then recycling the recyles.

[@LordMagiru]

Yeah I hated seeing people fleeing from a facehugger swarm in yet another movie. Di they really have to bring that one back, its been done to death already..

[@sporovid5856]

That’s genius lol

[@EdwardHinton-qs4ry]

Scooby-Doo in space but without the mystery. And the callbacks, so many callbacks to the previous movies.

[@redpillnibbler4423]

Yikes!

[@alantracy6757]

@@EdwardHinton-qs4ry those darn kids

[@Ares-dn3qp]

100% Scooby-do.

[@chrisginsburg6611]

It could have used some laugh tracks though. Gilligan's Island episode in space.

[@leapsplashafrog]

@@EdwardHinton-qs4ry those peskykids

[@dennisbenn2065]

You're saying what the famous 1970s director William Friedken said a few years ago - that movies today are not grounded in gravity, in physical reality. He meant that literally, but also in general. In 1977 he released a movie called "Sorcerer" about Americans getting their jeeps stuck in the mud in a monsoon in a South American country, a character study rooted in a basic real life problem and which meant a lot to him. It happened to be released the same week in May as a little weird movie called Star Wars, which blew up out of nowhere within days, and his film was dead. I think the fuddy duddies who were criticizing the success of the Star Wars movies even at the time as giving license to a more childish mentality might have been right all along.

[@Omnicient.]

Friedkin was great and hysterically funny in interviews but a raving narcissist so most of the films from him post 1973 were turkey's. A good example of a director who was useless without a great script.

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

The CG on Ash was so bad I thought his face was gonna disappear and turn into a "buffering" sign

[@carsonhaught9934]

The voice of reason as always Rob. Saved me a tenner or more not to mention two hours of precious lifetime...

[@crazyjoee]

In the first Alien we send unwitting space truckers to pick up an alien life form. In the sequel, future people scour the vastness of space randomly hoping by chance they can find the ejected Alien rather then return to the egg site from first movie where without a doubt, with precise location coordinates, we know for sure from previous events will have an alien life form?

[@RobertVanDormolen]

“You cannot spoil an egg that has already rotted” Amazing saying.

[@Joker1225able]

Hi Rob - I appreciate your commentary on these films and this film in particular. I didn’t mind this film at first but you have highlighted a lot of things - and a few new ones I hadn’t thought about - that I had issues with. Thanks for this video.

[@RobertOrgRobert]

A quiet place & Twisters was boring too ! What is going on with Hollywood ? Great review though rob .

[@darryljf7215]

I gotta agree Rob. I was disappointed. The Ian Holm monstrosity was probably more scary than the Xeno.

[@Kirisu__Mafuyu]

I had to write: "Alien Romulus was bad" to find a review like that. I was extremely disappointed with the movie. I'm not someone who watches a lot of movies, but I love the first 2 Alien movies. Right now I can't remember specific dialogues, but I felt that many times things were invented so that X part of the movie made sense, ignoring things from previous movies about the Xenomorphs and the "face huggers", to be more specific I felt like The face huggers were nerfed, they were dumber, weaker, when in previous movies (in the flooded room scene) they would have devoured the entire cast if it were the same situation. I went to the cinema to see it today, I haven't been to the cinema since 2018, extremely disappointed.

[@Omnicient.]

The weakest of the Alien films but cinema sound is dreadful where they are more concerned with channels for sound effects; today characters speak as though their mouths are projecting down a narrow funnel so it was difficult to understand what the cast were saying made worse by this fashion today of mumble, mumble, mumble. Scott as producer is worse than Scott as a director; his career is more miss than hit; only his first three films stood out like few others.

[@Tomismyusername]

@11:53 Totally agree. Can you imagine a director like Kubrick doing something like that (not that he'd do a sequel anyway)? It usually just serves to undermine the film by pulling you out of the story and reminding you of the superior original.

[@brianthomas2112]

Fantastic point.

[@kevinkevin-ug9po]

Me and my pal went to see it. The detailing was great. Few things I just could not get. The kids fire a ship up to atmosphere, were was security? Big ship floating in space, nobody notices apart from kids. Some folk found bits of Nostromo, still had name on it, fkn impossible, it was blown up to infinity. I could go on and on, like Ash. My head hurts.

[@dvdragon]

"The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility...its purity. A survivor - unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality." - Ash

[@T--kq3pj]

REMEMBER ASH?

[@NotMorganFreeman.]

Ok, we all know the line, but what are you trying to say.

[@dvdragon]

@@NotMorganFreeman. It’s obvious. The creature is amazing because of how it exists and what it can do. Fast rate of growth, stupidly durable and strong, and intelligent. That’s what makes it a fascinating creature.

[@Alucard2091]

@@NotMorganFreeman. It means Xenomorph can hibernate in space in-addition Aliens: Isolation exhibit its first occurrence.

[@lesleyrussell8200]

not to perfect, predators hunt them for training

[@mattm6580]

Easter eggs and tick box characters are two of the biggest reasons I despise modern movies and why I stick to pre 90s films.

[@FreeThinkAlways]

Whats wrong with 90s films? Early to mid 90s was great

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

You're missing out.

[@AussoOnePlus]

You said what i wanted to comment 🤘

[@joegatrill6634]

Like Rob says, dragged across concrete was great. Interstellar too. I mostly agree though, mostly. 😊

[@SamuelBlack84]

Everything in media these days is either a tacky novelty or some tedious effort to "raise awareness" of ongoing causes

[@alexsackman5122]

Totally agree with you Sir....that's a honest review. What a disappointments of a movie. That's not cinema, it's a crab of nonsense things put together. Now I appreciate much more Prometheus & Covenant😅

[@nicolasarcanjo9529]

people are allowing them to shove every piece of shit down their throats. I recently watched the original Alien, a frightening and visually fantastic masterpiece

[@jamess854]

I just made the mistake of buying it digitally today and wish I hadn't. What an absolute load of s****

[@mattgilbert7347]

I thought it was terrible. All the positive reviews come off as desperately trying to polish a turd.

[@RyanT586-2]

Everyone praising the Andy character. But I found it kind of annoying and tropish that playing a robot with holes in its programming has shades of autism and stutters through Dad jokes. Felt Tropic Thunderish.

[@LikeSomeDude]

Oh Mr Ager, you are truly a treasure of KZbin. Always appreciate your honest commentary! 🏆

[@arendpsa]

When I saw it, it did not 'move' me as much as Alien 1. I partly agree with you. Script writing is an art, Story Telling is an art, and this story could have been told better.

[@lucascrane164]

Man I love your videos and I think you are truly brilliant when it comes to film analysis, but I think this film is much more than you give it credit for. I won't explain it because you are intelligent enough to understand the movie, but Alien: Romulus is a film that provides horror and subtext without shoving it down your throat. Your criticisms of Fede Alvarez are unbelievable coming from someone as intelligent as you are.

[@collativelearning]

i'm not hearing much sense there, but thanks for your thoughts anyway.

[@lucascrane164]

@@collativelearning I just think the film has an interesting message about illegal immigration and the process in America. Along with a Hitchcock-like way of creating suspense by introducing elements of suspense. I liked the previous two Ridley Scott films in the franchise, but I feel this film had a daft hand when it comes to creating horror and covering the themes oppression that have been present in Alien since the beginning.

[@collativelearning]

@@lucascrane164 Glad you enjoyed it. it's not what i saw but thanks again :)

[@you-5-iver804]

​@@collativelearningthat's the point. You see nothing anymore but Anti-SJW lies, you are as bad as the SJWs themselves. You say for this commentator you are not hearing much sense here but that's just your hypocrisy and nostalgia bias.

[@dulaman]

Bot comment.

[@muppetb.lansing8374]

I saw it with zero expectations, so was kind of pleasantly engaged - up until the "birth" scene and the terrible human-hybrid, then it got repetitive and predictable as hell. The whole theatre laughed when the synthetic delivered his terrible "get away from her...." line too. The set design, sound design and the planetary ring effects were all pretty good IMO

[@giygas_9577]

I honestly can't remember a single character's name besides Andy. These just were not interesting characters. I also can't believe people think the offspring is scary. I was sitting in the theater in disbelief at how goofy the fucking thing looked.

[@ErinJeanette]

Right, why did it look like an engineer? Lmao

[@Barcikowy]

​@@ErinJeanette That was intentional. He was supposed to look like an engineer. Black stuff. That comes from engineers.

[@dennisdegasEDG]

@19:34 Again, this is Rook, not Ash. Which makes bringing Holm back to life with shitty cgi, all the more obviously nostalgia bait. Rook could've looked like anybody.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

That was the element I liked the most about Aliens as a sequel. Bishop was a different likeness, which wasn’t obvious until Bishop accidentally cut his hand in the knife trick, and you saw the white Android blood. The one thing I liked about Androids in Alien movies was the different likenesses various androids had.

[@SagaciousFrank]

I saw this at the cinema with my wife, we both thought it was rubbish. The opening act before they got on the ship was okay, but the rest of it was woeful. Hollywood is just full of money grubbing hacks.

[@llaevigrof]

The 'trailor' of Romulus told me all I needed... NO thanks! Yes...crap! Thanks for the review.

[@llaevigrof]

PS I love the Alien franchise movies absolutely agree with you on what are the good ones and are not!

[@kamarraimo4391]

I have watched many of your reviews and often found them quite insightful. I have not seen Romulus, but now I almost feel I need to so I can form my own opinion whether it is actually worse than Prometheus and Covenant. Those two movies were so stupid that I felt actually insulted by them.

[@Hummerbird99]

The darkness issue is common with a lot of modern films. The main issue is the digital cameras. They cannot get the same definition in low light as film cameras.

[@bbrother92]

Guys I think Ridley is mediocre director - what do you think?

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

I don’t think a lot of his films have been great.

[@bbrother92]

@@AdrianFahrenheitTepes I just don't undestand how he manage to make alien and BR

[@SamElliottsStache]

He is definitely a hit or miss director. Gladiator 2 is going to suck too.

[@chrisbenavides3176]

Haven't seen this, so I don't have my own opinion on this film. I am glad at least one voice out there doesn't pretend to like things just because the standard of modern movies have absolutely collapsed our expectations.

[@user-ld7ch1er6j]

Been seeing this thing everywhere. Nowadays, a movie that's getting good press is not just good. It's the best. Like they told us that Longlegs was the best horror of the decade or it made people vomit or have higher Blood pressure. The pie is smaller and everyone's now scheming. No, thanks. I'll rather watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Shining or whatever again.

[@ghost1418]

Tbh I really don’t understand the hate with this film it’s no masterpiece but it’s a solid film I saw it day one and I saw it again yesterday this film is more than nostalgia bait it actually expands on the lore and answers some questions and the characters arent brain dead like in the prequels they actually make some smart decisions and seems like this guy was expecting something like alien or aliens but in reality those will never be replicated. Plus the sets are amazing there are details from the games and the origami movies it just seems like this guy was hating it from the first trailer and never expected anything less but to each their own but definitely recommend

[@badlaamaurukehu]

Peanut gallery slop.

[@JesusGomez-ob2qt]

Last classic-material film I've seen was 2018's Suspiria.. that was 6 years ago!

[@janfwagner]

What a refreshingly honest review of a film that, indeed, was one of the worst in the Alien franchise. Thank You Sir! If someone can explain to me why Alien: Romulus, despite having vapid characters and a highly derivative plot, is being hailed here on KZbin I would be very grateful. The movie looked good though, and I actually liked Alvarez's "Don't Breathe." But neither he, nor the actors, no his co-screenwriter produced a compelling Alien film.

[@willirazl5526]

Hm, I'd say, some criticisms of you aren't thaaaaat valid. Picking one now. Make the characters have something going on, a handful of personal, individual traits... Not just their ethnicity or regional background. If that's all you saw in the characters, then I think you didn't want to see more in them. I'd argue: The different characters make different emotional vs rational decisions, which inform their characters. That conflict is introduced by the mining backstory where an android sacrificed people, by shutting down a gate, in order to save more lifes. It is then clearly highlighted by rook's statement, that humans take too long until they start acting rational in critical moments. So the asshole character with his English accent. What has he going on? - He hates androids because of their rationality - is aggressive - when in crisis he decides to do the emotional thing and tries to save his girlfriend, who might be infected and, thus, is a threat to all their life's. - in a mean sense of irony he does it by shutting a gate - leaving his friends behind and basically to die - which is exactly what happened to his parents, which made him hate androids. - also ironically, his girlfriend Navarro did the rational decision and wanted to keep a door closed, while her boyfriend and the leader were fighting for their lifes The protagonist had a lot of shit going on The android had a lot of shit going on The nice guy leader was the nice guy, brave leader, who didn't act rational but emotional and tried to save lifes despite the odds I only saw this movie once, but I believe one could get more out of this flick and it's characters than: it's all just diversity checkboxes.

[@wephilips6651]

Agreed. I saw this yesterday the ethnic make up of the cast didn’t even enter my head nor the did it make into the list of issues for the person I saw it with who hated it. To even notice this, let alone make it a talking point says a lot more about the reviewer and their sensitivities than the movie. Pretty disappointing to find another reviewer get brain rot from the ‘anti sjw/woke’ nonsense: it’s the easiest, lamest and least interesting way to approach a film. If I wanted than crap I’d watch drinker 🙄

[@liquidrufus]

Wonder how Rob saw Navarro who was female was in a heterosexual relationship with Bjorn was trans somehow?​ I guess buzzcut=Trans? So I guess Ripley in Alien 3 is trans now based off of her losing her more feminine hair?@@wephilips6651

[@Glocktologist]

@wephilips6651 funny you should mention The Critical Drinker because his review of this movie is more nuanced and less clouded by ”this must suck so all I notice are things that suck” than Ager’s.

[@MasterBlaster220]

@@wephilips6651 If its his sensitivities then its the normal human response that is intelligent and informed. The purpose of a good movie is to immerse you into another world, when you even get a glimpse of annoying, irrational everyday politics of our world it destoys or damages the immersion. The difference is that you either embrace it or you were distracted by other stuff. People subconcioussbness at least notices this stuff. And asian plus a black. That is race cheeckboxes. + the black guy is the android, most of this population in aliens is wester, i.e. white, you want to sell androids, so why make him black?! Because either they are racists or you are an idiot and dont know how free market works. This was a minor thing to me, because other nastiness is much more obvious. The GenZ cahracters are out off palce and are capable of nothing but whining, screaming and are dull and incompetent, no one wants to see that.

[@josephdarkhelmet9494]

That was awesome. Thank you. I can't believe it. First Alien movie I'm not going to see. Hated Prometheus. Hated Alien Ccovenant. Liked 3 but hated the unnecessary deaths of Newt and Hicks. Fortunately, I wrote a short story where Ripley is seeing a psychologist where she discusses a recurring nightmare where she's stuck on a planet that is a custodian to convicted inmates. And an Alien. Ripley discovers it is trauma induced by the power of Elite males, who want to control society as they see fit. That's right, I turned it into a fever dream where trauma is stored in the recess of her sub- conscious. Of course, Newt and Hicks are alive. Peace.

[@DubSte11]

Stop sitting on the fence Rob, tell us how you really feel lol.

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

Lmao

[@DannyMexen9]

He wanted to like it.

[@ObsidianFrog]

Thank goodness I've finally found an intelligent reviewer that's not yet another 20 something ( hard to tell these days, they could be mid 30's...) gushing how this is " the best ever!" I always die a little inside when l see that they don't actually have any real-world experience to temper their views. Thanks for your review.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

every other review is making excuses for it, like, when, all my friends pretended that the last two were good because they paid to see them lol, i will listen to you mate, your stuff is honest and in depth!

[@collativelearning]

It's so weird how people pretend something is good because they paid for it. Lol. I almost stood up in the cinema to shout out how bad the film is and probably would have except I didn't want to ruin it for my friends ... but turns out they didn't like it either.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

@@collativelearning you are bang on, i went probably for the third time in 30 years? and saw it! i too struggled not to shout about it and to not walk out, even the woke adverts did me in, same with last batman film, some one asked em to go with them.. i shouted 'that's racist' at the anti white people part lol. the people i know who follow the Alien franchise are super woke and don't speak to me now, so, i don't know if they liked it! thanks for answering, i love your work!

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

@@collativelearning obviously we know it did well now but... hmmm.. yes, it makes you wonder!

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

@@collativelearning definitely made for the gamer generation, terrible! lol.

[@michaeljohnson5370]

My pet hate is the lack of lighting everything is so dark you can't see anything

[@Victor-Vargas]

One thing I did think was really cool about the hybrid alien at the end is that it was a real guy in the suit. He's a kid in his 20's a former basketball player who's over 7 feet tall.

[@paulmcphillips968]

It was so dark, the xenomorph wasnt scary and predictable pace picked up towards the end of the movie. Like they were trying to brush a mess under the carpet.🫣😴

[@Xenomorph.fan24]

Bro you have not watched requiem

[@DarkLadyAthena1]

Yours and a few other KZbinrs critiques are among the only ones I can trust. Even when I disagree, I can tell how passionate you guys are about filmmaking, the different genres, the hidden details behind every film and so on. I agree with much of your criticism. I did not think the film was awful though. The ideas it had weren't bad but the execution was poorly done. I found the film entertaining but that was because my hopes weren't too high to being with. I just wanted a good time and I got that when I went to see it with my mom. Alien and Aliens are two of the best in the science fiction genre. The movies, books and other lore that influenced it make it all better. However, films afterwards tried to recreate the formula of either the first or second one or, in Romulus case, both. And none were successful. Some of the storylines from dark horse comics and even those in the new canon do a greater job in carrying on the franchise and expand the universe even further (without taking away the mystery, horror or the action present in the first two films). Alien Isolation also did a great job with this. A much better film would have been adapting one of those storylines. But what done is done. We always have the first two classic to go back to, the films that partially inspired it like Planet of the Vampires, It came from outer space, and the books that influenced it as well like At the mountain of madness, and the aforementioned comics from dark horse and the recent ones that came after the movies.

[@WheresWaldo05]

They thought Alien Romulus was suppose to be Avengers End Game. 😵‍💫🤢🤮

[@rickspencer6573]

Hi Rob, first time watching your show. Really enjoyed your review of Alien Romulus. I have not seen it as of yet, however, I have read several reviews. Sir, your review, I find, is the best of the bunch. I do agree with your points. Especially, if the characters are boring or dumb, how can anyone feel sorry for them or even root for them? No matter, I will watch this film when it comes to streaming. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of this series as of late. The first two films I really enjoy and have watched over & over, ever since I saw them on their original release date. After that, the rest were okay....just okay. I really thought this new film would give the series a boost, but so far, I have my doubts. No matter, I will watch it eventually, and then, I'll see how I feel about it. Thanks again for this video, great job.

[@Lee-iv5tq]

"Especially, if the characters are boring or dumb, how can anyone feel sorry for them or even root for them?" They were trying to escape from the yoke of Weyland-Yutani. That was pretty brave.

[@glennhodnett7179]

Yeah I thought it was dog dirt as well

[@JAMSTAR111]

Damn I must be the only person in the comments that enjoyed the hell out of it! 😂

[@custardgannet4836]

I'm glad dude, I've been enjoying Alien 3 for the past 30 years and people tell me I'm crazy !

[@JAMSTAR111]

@@custardgannet4836 I grew up on that film as a kid so I naturally love Alien 3 as well! I love them all tbh especially Romulus, deffo want to see it again!

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

You're definitely not the only person in the comments who liked this movie. I'm here!

[@devanmoran]

I enjoyed it

[@you-5-iver804]

You are the only non-idiot in the comments. Rob likes Toy Story 4, he's a hack and a waste of space now.

[@MetalMew2]

Even if the Xenomorph could secrete a substance in Space, it would be frozen by the lack of heat...The cognitive dissonance is worthy of becoming a biopic about M Sham, narrated by Donald Duck.

[@brendanmatelan2129]

I’m gonna respectfully disagree with your opinion on this, and I’ll leave it at that. I still enjoy your content Rob.

[@MrAden1307]

Fellow scouser here Rob. I was so hoping you might do this. And you did, sharpish 😆 Which let's me know the real deal with this movie. You've become a trusted source (or already was) 😆 when it comes to this subject matter. Films. And the Alien franchise, that you've delved so much into. I'm so glad you just said it out the gates. I knew this movie would be crap. As soon as i noticed the CREW. I just went 🙄 90% bored you said 😂 Honestly, at this point i just want Ridley to drop one more classic before his time is done. And rap up this saga. Too many directors are spoiling the vibe 🙄 BTW i'm glad you brought up the point about the set designs and their "apparent" inspiration from Alien Isolation. And how that's not the case. This is another reason i won't be watching this movie. The misleading is silly 🙄

[@thefailuurewurks2819]

Collative Learning saved me from this piece of tripe … thanks bud… It’s a real shame, but you took one for the team! Keep up the brilliant work

[@zuzu-iw8ug]

"suddenly marilyn manson shows up and starts killing everyone" 😂

[@markweatherill]

Looked more like Lady Gaga

[@YungM.D.]

11:17 another one was Ash’s “I won’t lie about your chances, but you have my sympathies” like fucking come on

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

We need a Alien movie with its own identity whichthe Trailer indicated this would be instead its just rehashing a bunch of earlier shit even PROMETHEUS which it never should have had

[@shunksounds]

I think that was the exact moment I gave up trying to give the film a chance and accepted it was trash.

[@Whookieee]

The other thing about the original chest burster scene was how unexpected it was. It seemed like he was going to be fine, and then it happens. I don't think they can ever recapture that unless they do something completely different.

[@alanfaulkner6329]

We didn't actually expect it to be good did we. Let's be fair, the only reasons great films and being "remade" to death is to destroy them and sell "the message".

[@SkemeKOS]

💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@awasteofspace-man2668]

86% audience seems to disagree

[@benjamindover4337]

Prometheus gave people things they hadn't seen before and words they hadn't heard before... And it was relentless panned so viciously that the franchise was nearly irreversibly damaged. I suppose thats why they just mined the fan favorites and rehased those with a fan service flick.

[@yellowjackboots2624]

You're probably right about that

[@absbee98]

totally agree

[@FiggsNeughton]

Prometheus had some interesting ideas but was still a boring mess filled with unlikeable characters.

[@absbee98]

It's pretty crap how critics can with reviews influence what a series can be or not. If I wanted to watch the original Alien, I'd do just that. Thought Prometheus was great when I watched it in the cinema and still do now.

[@MrAden1307]

Yeah BUT Prometheus is part of a broader narrative he wants to tell. I don't think Ridley sees the narrative broken down into single movies. That's just his job to do that. In his mind it's kind of interesting to see what he's trying to explain. But he still hasn't made the bridge movie from covenant to Alien. David is the spine of this saga now. And it's interesting that Ridley has kept the android/company so intertwined within the narrative. To me. Prometheus and Covenant are building blocks in his narrative. To explain the androids power within this story and how he went so far as to create Aliens. As a way to get back at his own creators Ridley needs to drop a final classic to tie things up. Before his time is done..

[@CordellPotts]

I went to the theater actually excited. At 47 that doesn't happen much anymore. When I heard that engineers were involved I got even more excited... I left the theater dumbfounded. Romulus made Prometheus seem like a masterpiece, and Covenant seem like a watchable film. So many scenes lifted from previous films. A lack of creativity isn't "paying respect"

[@liamcarroll5870]

I was thoroughly stoned when i went to see alien romulus. The jump scare made me laugh. The movie was incredibly predictable even being stoned. Some parts of the movie had me wanting to yell "Get On With It!!" I think it would have been much better if they explored the themes surrounding Remus and Romulus.

[@alexkiddonen]

Shoulda smoked the good weed mate

[@Zatzzo]

I absolutely agree, except for me it was about 98.5% garbage, not just 90%. The worst part is cgi Ian Holm and him calling the Aliens "Xenomorphs", which never happened before (no it doesn't happen in "Aliens"). It's a fan term used in comics, video games and by people who don't know anything about the movies. Except now they "reimagined" "Aliens" into Gorman probably knowing what he was talking about. The Aliens look like crap. The actors are too young, which is extremely untypical of the series. They change the Alien universe by stuff like "they can see your body heat". I actually like Prometheus and Covenant, but Romulus is definitely worse than Alien Resurrection even. James Cameron already turned the "perfect organism" into mere cannon fodder in "Aliens" but now their strength and acid blood don't even matter in theory because you can just turn off the gravity and shoot them. Why would anyone even be scared of them? They can't do anything! 7:20 "If it bleeds we can kill it" The Alien doesn't bleed in the first movie, only the facehugger does. Ash said you can't kill it, so that's what the first movie established. All the other movies simply broke that rule and to me at least, aren't even to be considered canon. 7:40 "The Alien can eat" How do you know that? It doesn't eat in Alien or Aliens.

[@collativelearning]

Yeah I was being generous suggesting 10% of the film wasn't boring lol. The adult alien in the first film did bleed. ripley shot it with the harpoon gun and acide blood splashes out from the wound into the vaccuum of space. They didn't try to kill it on accoun tof the blood. As for Ash saying you can't kill it, I never thought that was a statement of literal invincibility like Superman has, but rather that Ash didn't want them to kill it. He was still protecting it so was trying to demotivate them. I think it's implausible to say the alien doesn't eat. It's got a mouth, teeth and a basic humanoid figure. All animals have to devour something for nourishment, otherwise where do they get their energy from?

[@Zatzzo]

@@collativelearning " ripley shot it with the harpoon gun and acide blood splashes out from the wound into the vaccuum of space" i just watched it again and i'm not sure i agree. just before she does that you see there's some sort of dust flying around in the ship, maybe it's just that. i don't see anything yellow. also i'm not sure it would make sense: the ship doesn't get damaged by the acid? "They didn't try to kill it on accoun tof the blood." They only said that about the Facehugger, not the Alien. "where do they get their energy from?" probably true, whatever.

[@Zatzzo]

@@collativelearning "As for Ash saying you can't kill it, I never thought that was a statement of literal invincibility like Superman has, but rather that Ash didn't want them to kill it." Yeah, i'm probably the only one who sees it that way. The idea that you can't kill it just makes the thing so much more "alien" and mysterious. To me a huge part of what makes that movie so great is that you know so little - who knows what's going on with that thing? Everything seems possible.

[@FreeThinkAlways]

​@@collativelearningSpeaking of the Alien eating Rob, do you have any theory as to what the Alien eats in the first movie? It seems to grow from a new born to an adult sized Alien seemingly in just a matter of hours in the the first Alien film? Always baffled me :/

[@collativelearning]

@@Zatzzo It was pretty obvious in the first film the alien, like its facehugger parent, had acid for blood. That's why they were hoping to eject it out the airlock. That's why ripley didn't just shoot it in the head with the harppon while it was asleep. And that's why nobody ever questioned the second movie for the aliens having acid blood or the novelization. It's built into the entire franchise froim the beginning. When she shoots it in the stomach all the air and debris had already been sucked out the ship. That's it's blood we see from the stomach. It didn't damage the ship because the alien eas flung backwards into space from the impact.

[@chrischampagne]

Could have cared less about any of the characters being slaughtered if that says enough. The last 20 min was interesting but left the theater with my 2 sons both pretty disappointed in what we just watched.

[@El_Hicks]

Red Letter Media gave it a Do Not Recommend also

[@collativelearning]

Good for them. I glanced at their review. Disagreed when they said it was well shot, but otherwise fine.

[@Nobody-y5t5j]

RLM has always been kinda harsh with their reviews. No surprise there.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

​@@collativelearningThe New released movies I grew up with (in the late 80's/early 90's) were shot on film. Most digital stuff pales in comparison to even the most mediocre shot on film stuff from the late 80's/90's.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

@@Nobody-y5t5j I would say "honest". I don't always agree with them, but at least they explain why they have their opinion, which I can respect.

[@Grandmastergav86]

@@Nobody-y5t5j "harsh" are you having a laugh?

[@stevengeorge9484]

With regards too your comment on bad protagonists making dumb decisions in Fede Alvarez movies . There was 1 scene that really killed it for me ! The scene where the pregnant girl is begging them too open the door too let her out despite them all knowing the alien was waiting for this too happen so it would kill them all . Our protagonist was begging the android too open the door despite knowing this ?!? Ripley in alien would have never been this dumb , we know that with the airlock scene and her standoff with Dallas . After that you just wanted her too get killed . I’m surprised you didn’t highlight the utter sheer stupidity of the protagonist in that situation

[@collativelearning]

totally agree with you. there were so many examples I forgot that one.

[@badlaamaurukehu]

​@Muted152That's why certain genes get "Muted" and other's survive. Only idiots need dumb characters to relate to.

[@Chris-nn3vu]

please learn the difference between too and to

[@slyapbg]

@Muted152 If you want to survive, you must.

[@StevenE-l9y]

How is that dumb? That's called not wanting to die.

[@brandonking2679]

Shift the furniture about ? Yeah why don’t you make him a tea as well

[@highpiano]

Visuals were great... I thought the rest was dreadful and gimmicky. Bad writing, non memorable characters or their motivations, lack of any story, and absolutely cringeworthy jump scares throughout. Felt like the sound design was aiming for every random sound like doors opening/closing to be as loud as possible so it adds to the "scary" atmosphere. 2/10.

[@glendonaldson7105]

Saw it yesterday with my 14-year-old daughter. I scored the movie 0 out of 10. Daughter scored it 4 out of 10. "ALIEN: TEENS IN SPACE" is insultingly, soullessly bad.

[@jefftheamericanguineapigca407]

Oh, thank you! Once I heard you say the original xenomorph survived, I knew that this movie was not worth my money. In the first movie, Ridley Scott specifically showed a shot of the ship's engines cooking the creature upon taking off. The monster was dead, and that was satisfying to the audience. To bring the alien back in Romulus is a slap in the face to what Ellen Ripley went through to shoot it out the airlock. This idea of a resurrected alien is an even greater blow to my sensibilities than when I discovered that Newt and the rest died in-transit to Alien 3. Complete letdown. This is the first time I've seen one of your reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't have to watch the film to know that I would agree with everything you said, point by point. Peace to you.

[@brianm5563]

I saw it last night... Wish I hadn't. It was utter garbage.

[@pamus6242]

I don't mind offending. Romulus is to alien what dark fate was to Terminator. Fede should be exiled.

[@philw5027]

Completely agree. I'd rather have had Alien Awakening than Alien Romulus. I hope one day it's made. I saw Romulus yesterday and can't remember much about it. Couldn't tell you the boring characters' names and couldn't hear most of the mumbled dialogue. Didn't care one bit about them. I was bored. The pacing was off. I bet there's an extended edition released later down the line. The use of Ian Holm's likeness made me uneasy. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. The conceit of 'wreckage' of the Nostromo floating near the Alien from the first film was ridiculous. The Nostromo was vapourized three times over at the end of Alien. There wouldn't have been any wreckage! However, accepting this conceit, I think a more interesting story would have been what happened on the space station over the course of several hours/weeks. Experimentation by the Wayland scientists and inevitable infestation taking over or the scientists frantically trying to use the black goo to create something stronger to resist the Alien outbreak without really understanding it's properties? Ethical questions over using human test subjects etc Anyway, Alien Romulus put's me in mind of when the Predator Prey movie came out. Like that movie, this one is not as good as everyone says once you go back and watch the original installments.

[@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319]

The fact that Alvarez relies so heavily on the Idiot Plot makes me wonder if that's precisely why Scott chose him over Blomkamp. I mean look at Prometheus and Covenant. Scott relied on his characters being complete morons for the plot to work.

[@juanote8943]

He didnt. Watch those movies again. Everyone acts within reason. The closer we get is the colonists from Covenant not having hazmat suits while on the planet. But, why would they wear them? The planet natural biosphere didnt infect anyone. It was the eggs, which were pretty much traps. I dont expect for something to burst out of my asshole if I get covered in pollen.

[@mk-ultramags1107]

But Scott had reasons. Every character was an extension of a particular human emotion and reaction to danger. Now it's just idiots making bad ideas

[@chrisginsburg6611]

@@mk-ultramags1107 Poor Blomkamp, so much promise after District 9, Elysium.. then Chappie and it's all downhill (but I LOVE Die Antwoord). Panos Cosmatos would have made an interesting sequel.... Alvarez has nothing up his sleeve, he is paint by numbers.

[@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319]

@@mk-ultramags1107 I may not entirely agree with that notion, but I will say, if you're right, and there is always a chance, it's but another example of "shit trickles down".

[@willirazl5526]

@@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319 the characters were actually quite smart in how they approached things They differed in how the reacted in a crisis. Some acted emotional and some rational But the group as a whole had smart ideas throughout.

[@roberttrefcer86]

This was like hannah montana vs the alien. The colony had terra forming tech but couldnt spot a ship In lower orbit. It was the Goonies on Xanax. 1 note the whole way. New World Order trash. 1 star.

[@chrisginsburg6611]

Xanax is a really good drug... It was more like The Goonies huffing glue and drinking cough syrup vs the alien.

[@willirazl5526]

@@roberttrefcer86 you can only find ships if you look for them Why should a slave mining planet scan its orbit ? I can buy it. Have a mining planet and run it cheap. Suppress people, suppress equipment - let them live like peasants What you need to scan a sky for ?

[@erroneous6947]

I found the fact they couldn’t see the station stupid as well. At least drop a line that says the station has stealth or some crap.

[@roberttrefcer86]

@@erroneous6947 even better they should have had a unit of colonial marines using the group as bait, then coming in and kicking ass. Way too much to ask from the new world order babies. Instead we got shit and all we can do is scoop it up.

[@fantasyskeep]

Another hater clouded by Disney hate goggles.

[@jonathangriffiths2499]

I saw this film yesterday . Robs criticism is over the top . While it’s not a masterpiece it’s not terrible by any means . It’s the sort of experience that you enjoy at the time but will have forgotten about in a months time . Rob is doing us a disservice as a critic here

[@Ionisus]

popcorn movie, didnt found the story or characters interesting enough to keep me involved in the movie, we all saw it before so nothing new ..just a way to collect money from a fanbase

[@darkstar6909]

I've always said the reason Alien worked was the characters. All of them looked like they had been around the block a few times and appeared pretty world weary. The cast of Romulus were too young, too pretty and I don't buy they had the technical expertise to pull off the job they were there to do.

[@badlaamaurukehu]

Yeah. They seemed like real people you'd work with in a warehouse or industrial job. No one in Hollywood has worked a real job anymore. In the 70's you also had a ton war vets in production, crew and cast as well.

[@SamuelBlack84]

None of the characters in Romulus were likeable in any way Just annoying, arrogant nobodies

[@russ254]

how do you borrow a space ship to get to the station?