this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
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Alien Romulus (lemmy.today)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/movies
 

I just watched alien romulus and I thought it was really frustrating. What happened to the lethal face huggers and the older, experienced crew of spaceships that got paid like shit by the company?

Now they are hitting face huggers left and right with sticks, and people just get up after having one over their face.

I didn't feel like I cared about the characters. They were actually quite unlikeable. I really miss Ripley. She had enormous amount of character, strength and intelligence. What did we get in this movie? They are all super generic.

Just disappointed. How about you guys?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wasn't a giant fan either it started well enough but lost me and brought me right into the stupid movies when they brought back the stupid alien goo that makes silly aliens again.

Why the heck can't they just let the Alien be the Alien and not a silly hybrid dorky looking thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Because it was mutated from a human fetus.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

No, I didn't like it much either. Some interesting ideas, but I think I'm starting to actively despise soft-reboots, which too much of Romulus is. I don't want to be reminded of a better movie with a more iconic lead, and I don't have the same nostalgia fetish that a good chunk of audiences seem to have.

[–] MeekerThanBeaker 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I enjoyed it for what it was. Maybe it helped that I saw it on the big screen. It's difficult to bring new life into what is now the ninth in the series. But overall, I thought it was decent, but not great.

I did think Prey was a fantastic chapter to the Predator series and I saw that at home. That's how you reboot a franchise.

[–] useyourmainfinger 2 points 2 months ago

Prey was xlnt agreed, a sequel is coming, hopefully the same fresh approach is taken..

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

I thought it was a very good movie, sure it doesn't match the original one, but only a very few do.

This felt like an homage to the first one in many ways. There were some questionable decisions from the characters sure. But I felt, the movie was saved by the main character and her helplessness. Ripley was a badass for sure. She is still IMO the best female character in a SciFi movie, but seeing a normal person attempting to survive when all her friends was getting killed left right and centre was good (had a Predator vibe to it).

Also this movie added a ton of lore. The mutating power of Prometheus Fire, Alien-Human Hybrid and speaking of that scene, it was really well executed, just when I thought the movie was going to end, nope. Like when the Alien-Ripley fight in the Pod.

Overall I felt really satisfied with the film and its better than most of the sequels getting released these days. Also two good films in the Alien-Predator franchise back to back [Prey (2022)]?

[–] fox2263 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

It actually made me think the originals were better. I remember all those scenes with the tunnels... Very scary and claustrophobic.

[–] IchNichtenLichten 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I just finished it. The fan service ruined it for me, the lines from other movies, the shots recreated, whole sequences plundered.

I wanted an Alien movie, not an expensive piece of fan art.

Also the CG on the Rook character was hilarious. How on earth did that make it into the movie?

[–] steeznson 3 points 2 months ago

The worst part is that all the original stuff in the movie is great but they didn't have faith in sticking with it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Not a great movie.

[–] ooli 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It is an okay movie, with some flaws. Rain surge to ultra competence out of nowhere being indeed the most outrageous.

Here is my few thousand words theory about the movie:

spoilerIn the film "Alien: Romulus," the title purports (as in "Prometheus") to reference the name of the ship. Yet, akin to "Prometheus", it is a ruse. The film alludes to the tale of the two brothers from antiquity, Romulus and Remus. Let us recall this story, penned in 800 BC, which itself inspired the myth of Abel and Cain (with its earliest written traces dating back to 400 BC):

Romulus founds the city of Rome by plowing a furrow to mark the location of the new city's walls. According to Roman legend (which favors Romulus, the founder of the capital), Remus mocks his brother and challenges him by leaping over the furrow. What might begin as an innocent jest between two brothers turns tragic: Romulus slays his brother Remus for this act. Romulus justifies his deed by declaring that no one shall ever breach the ramparts of Rome.

It is evident that Romulus is not the hero the Romans would have us believe. He is the killer, the villain, the Cain of the Jewish narrative.

In the film, which is a precise reiteration of Ridley Scott's original "Alien," it is more expedient to identify the differences between the two films than to find their similarities. There exists but a single distinction between them: there are two siblings.

Rain and her brother Andy.

Kay and her brother Tyler.

In the first "Alien" of 1979, the crew shares no familial ties. However, as in "Romulus," they approach a vessel that has emitted a distress signal. They must explore this ship. The diverse crew (a mix of male and female, Spanish and English) does not get along. They must encounter the aliens. A facehugger attacks a crew member. A chestburster escapes from a human body. The heroine is clad in scant attire to emphasize her vulnerability in her struggle against the primary alien. An alien is ejected into space as the heroine screams, "Take that, you son of a bitch." For, as in "Alien," the heroine is a woman, and the sole survivor, while the men exhibit toxic masculinity and meet their demise.

Of course, the most significant commonality (and the key to the film's true message) is the android Andy. While Rain is presented as the main character, there is no doubt that the true hero of the film is Andy. Rain has no reason to be so effective against the aliens. How can she conceive of utilizing the ship's gravity when she is a "space virgin"? How does she wield a weapon when, unlike Tyler, she has never shown a passion for combat? How is she so resolute when the film's beginning portrays her as ineffectual (to the extent that others assure her she will not have to leave the ship)?

Certainly, Rain is the heroine, for Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) was in the original "Alien." Yet Ripley was a pilot, and the rest of the crew admired her worth at the film's outset. Thus, when she acts with such determination, it does not come as a surprise, as it does with Rain. Andy, on the other hand, though initially depicted as weak, becomes competent with a mere change of programming. This is why the android in the film appears more credible than the suddenly indestructible Rain, who lacks explanation for her transformation.

The issue with Andy lies in his name. In the four preceding films of the series, the androids are named in alphabetical order: In the first film, "Alien," the android is called Ash. In the second film, he is named Bishop. In the next, it is Call. In the previous film, "Prometheus," he is called David (which presents another problem). Therefore, Andy should have a name beginning with an E, as he appears here in the fifth film of the series. In the film, Rook, the other android, refers to Andy by his construction designation N.D. Does the android's name begin with an N? Is the film meant to be the 14th in the series? Unlikely. No! Andy begins with an "A" because he is the twin brother of Ash, the first android in the series.

Returning to the legend of Romulus and Remus, as in the legend, Andy kills a sister, Kay, by refusing to open the door for her to escape the alien. Similarly, Rain kills a brother, Tyler, when he rushes toward her and is struck from behind by the alien's prehensile tail intended for Rain.

Two deaths that are more symbolic than real. The evidence: having endured an assault worse than her brother Tyler, Kay manages to reach the ship. Tyler should have survived. So should Kay, if she had not used the product developed by Weyland Industries. The deaths of a brother and sister at the hands of another brother and sister merely echo the film's theme: to kill Remus.

For this is precisely what Alvarez attempts here. Like in the Roman legend, his film is the twin brother of the original "Alien" from 1979, replicating scene for scene the same narrative. Just as in the legend, "Alien: Romulus" claims to establish a new series, one superior to that which followed "Alien" in 1979. Like in the legend, "Alien: Romulus" seeks to slay its brother, "Alien: Remus" (1979). Alvarez hopes to rid himself of the entire legacy and strength of the original "Alien" by employing the symbolism of the Roman legend. As in the tale of Abel and Cain, "Alien: Romulus," out of jealousy, attempts to kill the film that started it all. Undoubtedly, like in the legend, we are not deceived and take sides with the original "Alien."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

That's a very good analysis. I just really missed Ripley who felt like a full person, and it was obvious why she was respected in the first movie. Not only is she smart, she also refuses to follow authority by dumb leaders. Her humanity shows through the entire franchise, even when she becomes an alien hybrid!

Also the original movies wasn't pure action. There was a lot of built up, and really believeable characters. What do we have in romulus? I don't remember a single line.

Maybe this is what it's like to become old. Viewing new movies which feels clearly inferior to the ones I watched growing up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I more just hated the writing and plot. Couldn't they have said they were taking the androids backup system so as to explain them both cognitively functioning at a high level at the same time. The android should have immediately acknowledged his new directive instead of being told. Why does he say we for a hull breach killing them all especially when he just recently walked around without a space suit. Why is she putting the android in cryosleep? then the plot is so Cliché. oh the ship gets knocked around and back onto the station on the other end so you have to walk through and your invisible to them if your body temp is the same as the surrounding because they can't see the android or tables or such ordinarily (maybe the android is hot or cold but unlikely the same temp as a human). It felt so much like a reboot made to be just different enough but the new young actess is the new ripley. The cryocompound is so frigging strong its cooling down a room one away from its bottle with sealed doors that they usually show in these kind of things as strong enough to protect you from a hull breach on the other side. It was alright but really nothing has been all that great since the first two and this one you really have to turn you brain off to enjoy.