*BEWARE SPOILERS* Alien: Romulus

[jaztermareal]

I thought he was pretty fly for a white guy...

 

[Solidus]

 

[Wor-Gar]

That guy explains the world.

 

[Rotfish]

Interesting (and lengthy) AVP Galaxy podcast with Fede Alvarez:



It's great seeing him interviewed by superfans and getting into the nitty-gritty, including candid thoughts about the production process, how certain shots or ideas turned out, etc. Makes me want to check out the other director podcasts they've done.

 

[Wor-Gar]

He's wrong about his spectrum with the mechanical alien at one end and human at the other, which gives you the hybrid in the middle.

The g***d**** alien IS a hybrid. Jeezus!

 

[Johnny Utah]

Interesting (and lengthy) AVP Galaxy podcast with Fede Alvarez:



It's great seeing him interviewed by superfans and getting into the nitty-gritty, including candid thoughts about the production process, how certain shots or ideas turned out, etc. Makes me want to check out the other director podcasts they've done.

Halfway through it, and I've watched a lot of his Romulus press.

Disappointed there's no commentary on the bluray.

 

[Rotfish]

He's wrong about his spectrum with the mechanical alien at one end and human at the other, which gives you the hybrid in the middle.

The g***d**** alien IS a hybrid. Jeezus!

I like what he says later on about the Alien cocoon siphoning energy or matter from the ship, providing some of the biomechanical features.

But I agree, these creatures are hybrids of human and pure Alien (whatever that is) DNA. Makes one wonder where it all started... and we know where that line of thought leads. While I dislike Prometheus and Covenant for their characters and clumsy logic, I never had a problem with the idea that the Alien was created (or at least nudged along in its evolution) by an android with a god complex. Given its adaptability, "structural perfection," and mechanical features, it's hard to believe it's something that could have evolved completely organically. Then again, the mystery of not knowing is equally if not more compelling.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I like what he says later on about the Alien cocoon siphoning energy or matter from the ship, providing some of the biomechanical features.

But I agree, these creatures are hybrids of human and pure Alien (whatever that is) DNA. Makes one wonder where it all started... and we know where that line of thought leads. While I dislike Prometheus and Covenant for their characters and clumsy logic, I never had a problem with the idea that the Alien was created (or at least nudged along in its evolution) by an android with a god complex. Given its adaptability, "structural perfection," and mechanical features, it's hard to believe it's something that could have evolved completely organically. Then again, the mystery of not knowing is equally if not more compelling.

I like the God complex robot -- a machine appreciating the alien's simplicity is perfect.

I just don't like magical goo.

I would love a movie to show what the alien is in its "natural" state... what is it without being a hybrid of something? Is it anything? Or is it just a Blob-like amoeba until it hosts and starts a cycle.

Again, this is why I don't prefer Cameron's 'hive' idea. What I would have preferred in Aliens is if that planet had an indigenous species of large "insects" that had a basic hive system, and then the alien comes along and hybrids that colony -- so the alien repeats a successful system on that planet to survive, not just naturally defaulting to a terrestrial insect system.

 

[Khev]

Watched this on Digital last night, my second viewing overall. Wow. Yeah I love this movie. I enjoyed every single minute of it, and was less taken aback by Rook's CGI and the Offspring design since I was ready for them this time. With Rook I just accepted it as an unconvincing visual like I did from day one when I saw the talking Bishop puppet in Alien 3. You know it doesn't look 100% real but you just go with it. And with the Offspring it reminded me of some freaky gangly thing that Freddy Krueger would turn himself into while tormenting kids in the 80's NOEM flicks. Is that fitting for an ALIEN film? Maybe not perfectly but it still worked on a cinematic level IMO.

I do wish some of the callbacks weren't there, though at least as far as what I noticed they seemed to come in waves (like the "Bar" sign, Andy sitting down with a tray of cornbread, and the rocking bird thingie on the very same table) and then there was a good portion in the middle where at one point I actually realized that there wasn't any obvious callback for a good hour or so. And then there'd be like another two or three that would come at once. Again, I wish they weren't there, but they didn't ruin anything. "Get away from her you..." was obviously the most egregious moment.

It really does have a great premise with surprisingly well written characters. Rain is super easy to root for. Very likable and she's essentially useless (aside from being the voice of reason that is largely ignored throughout) and only comes into her own through the trial by fire she has to endure on screen. I chuckled that for the initial landing on the space station the three guys go exploring and all three chicks are left on the ship. Not very "current day" of them, and I loved it.

I noticed in the credits that they had visuals realized by ILM, Weta, and Legacy Effects. You don't get bigger names than that. Were they really bringing in heavy hitters from Avatar to do the visuals for a Hulu release? Or did they come aboard after the decision was made to go theatrical? In either case, it certainly explains why the visuals are so jaw-dropping from beginning to end.

I wasn't even that put off by the lack of IMAX formatting. The widescreen served the aesthetic well and the only time I truly missed the expanded aspect ratio was when Rain was dangling from the safety line as the station exploded in the planetary rings behind her. That was truly jaw dropping in IMAX.

I forgot that they had that entire cannister of black goo on the ship with them at the end. They definitely don't need Kay's mutated dead body to cause any havoc on the colony they're going to. They have like a dozen new vials of the stuff, lol.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Alien vs Offspring

Valentines Day 2026

 

[Khev]

The score was also very well done, quite evocative and haunting. I stand by my initial assertion that Romulus feels like a "good" A24 film.

And the more I think about the script the more impressed I am with how structurally sound it is, not just internally but in connection with the previous films as well. At first I felt I had to just hand wave the lightning fast gestation and growth periods for both the chestburster and xenos until Rook spelled out that the scientists didn't just extract the DNA from the original Xeno, they actually made a synthetic version of it (which is such a Weylan-Yutani move, so not just artificial persons but artificial xenos??) and now we can just assume that the re-engineered version of the goo greatly accelerates growth. An awesome and fitting "in-universe" explanation that allows them to maintain the pace that those particular scenes called for. Script-writing 101 right there.

Script-writing 101 Part 2 is not having any characters do anything stupid. There was a logical reason for everything that was done (mistakes made while panicking don't count) that I could easily see myself going "yeah, I probably would have done the same." Risk leaving the planet? Yep. In and out of the station in 30 minutes? Okay go for it. Not enough cryo-fuel but there's some in another room? Yep, go get it. Their ship spins out of control and crashes on the opposite side of the station? Yeah well you better go find it. A scary hive that you might not need to traverse? Hell yeah go around it, oh wait you hear the moaning of your pregnant sister inside. Yep, looks like we're going in. And so on. Just really solid from beginning to end.

 

[Wor-Gar]

What about the fact that this incredible "goo" was simply left behind by The Corporation and no one tried to go get it. They couldn't muster a small corporate force on the corporate planet below to retrieve this amazing stuff from the station right over their heads?

Did I miss that explanation...?

 

[Rotfish]

mistakes made while panicking don't count

Good point here, same reason I don't mind the slipping on blood in Covenant. Well, that and the nastiness of it felt appropriate.

 

[𝘨⃨𝘭⃨𝘪⃨𝘵⃨𝘤⃨𝘩⃨10ᔦᔦ]

What about the fact that this incredible "goo" was simply left behind by The Corporation and no one tried to go get it. They couldn't muster a small corporate force on the corporate planet below to retrieve this amazing stuff from the station right over their heads?

Did I miss that explanation...?

The best explanation I can come up with is, the station went off grid after it lost power and everything went to ****, and they never found it?
But it sure doesn't explain how they still managed to find the Nostromo. lol

#edit Saw that you meant the corpo planet, not the company. Maybe the adults just had a bad work day and said "screw it, let the kids die this time"?

 

[Khev]

What about the fact that this incredible "goo" was simply left behind by The Corporation and no one tried to go get it. They couldn't muster a small corporate force on the corporate planet below to retrieve this amazing stuff from the station right over their heads?

Did I miss that explanation...?

Everything doesn't need an explanation and off-camera company bureaucracy definitely falls under that umbrella IMO.

Since it isn't spelled out we have no idea whether the corporation "tried to go get it." Maybe they did. We saw what happened in the original film when they sent truckers to investigate the Derelict. Or marines to investigate LV-426. Like I said when Romulus first came out for all we know there had been multiple attempts to retrieve their data, and each time the recovery crews got wiped out. So maybe Plan C, D, or E was an entire fleet of Sulacos on the way but they just couldn't get there in time before the Station made impact.

Or maybe the company was going through a bunch of red tape to ensure that the marines wouldn't cry foul and take over the whole operation when they got there. We know from ALIENS (and possibly Alien 3 as well) that W-Y sometimes enlists the aid of the military, but we also know that the military doesn't always fully comply with their wishes ("I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit, no offense.")

Or it could also have been another Burke situation where whoever approved the experimentation was side-stepping certain protocols and was doing everything he or she could to cover their ass and sweep it under the rug or correct their mistake without advertising the losses.

Lots of fun explanations to ponder, but none of the characters in the film would have been privy to any of it so I'm totally fine with it remaining a mystery.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Everything doesn't need an explanation and off-camera company bureaucracy definitely falls under that umbrella IMO.

Since it isn't spelled out we have no idea whether the corporation "tried to go get it." Maybe they did. We saw what happened in the original film when they sent truckers to investigate the Derelict. Or marines to investigate LV-426. Like I said when Romulus first came out for all we know there had been multiple attempts to retrieve their data, and each time the recovery crews got wiped out. So maybe Plan C, D, or E was an entire fleet of Sulacos on the way but they just couldn't get there in time before the Station made impact.

Or maybe the company was going through a bunch of red tape to ensure that the marines wouldn't cry foul and take over the whole operation when they got there. We know from ALIENS (and possibley Alien 3 as well) that the W-Y sometimes enlists the aid of the military, but we also know that the military doesn't always fully comply with their wishes ("I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit, no offense.")

Or it could also have been another Burke situation where whoever approved the experimentation was side-stepping certain protocols and was doing everything he or she could to cover their ass and sweep it under the rug or correct their mistake without advertising the losses.

Lots of fun explanations to ponder, but none of the characters in the film would have been privy to any of it so I like that like so many of what happens behind closed doors at W-Y it gets to remain a mystery.

I disagree on this point. When you have a "company spokesman" as a central character, manipulating the leads, it does beg the question -- is this Scooby-gang who you were waiting for?

I don't need much -- maybe a transmission signal showing an approaching "company crew" which could also build tension and a ticking clock for our heroes. Once the hero ship crashes into the station and speeds up the time table, the company crew can no longer get there in time.

 

[Khev]

I disagree on this point.

Fair enough.

To me the company spokesman (Rook) seemed to be cut off from "Network" (to reference a term from previous films) probably due to the malfunctioning hardware on the station and was solely operating on his previous protocols ("do what's best for the Company.") In both A1 and A3 the Company seemed to be calling remote audibles in real time and I never got the impression that that was happening in this film. So if any recovery crews had been sent after the initial disaster I'm fine with Rook not being privy to them.

But this is all theory over what happened off-camera so your interpretation and assumptions are equally valid.

 

[Jmek]

We’re all different, for me it was a nit that need not be picked.