Let’s talk bout it…

In preparation for seeing this movie I spent some time going over the other movies in the franchise. The day before I was blessed there was a Alien movie marathon which I was locked in and layed the ground work for what to keep in mind while watching Romulus. Let me say, Ridley Scott, thank you! I personally think this was the best Alien movie made and let me tell you why.

Alien. The Xenomorph has taken on a few variations over the years, as it should. Different environments, different hosts will change the appearance of it. What was lost in the newer films was the CGI. I HATE the CGI. Only when it’s done well, and used only when necessary. As someone who grew up on the golden are of animatronics and puppeteers, the use of CGI has been abused in some aspects and not needed. Sometimes, a human touch is worth the extra expense. We got back to that with this movie. Xenomorph and face hugger. Only when necessary, like the face huggers running and jumping. We get to see so much of the Xenomorph and all its terrifying glory. Loved it.

Set. For a brief moment I thought to myself, its the year 2144, why in the hell does this look old, beat, scrapped, etc. Then I remembered where Romulus fits into the timeline. After ‘Alien’ and before ‘Aliens’. I love this aspect so much that they took the time to keep it all relevant. If you see ‘Alien’ and ‘Aliens’, the Romulus set looks perfect.

Connections to other films. With a franchise like this, in which the movies that come out, the timeline is jumping backward and forward, there will be holes. There will be the 5 W’s of questions. Once Prometheus came out is where it really started. Covenant hit on few but still left asking. Romulus brought together 4 of the movies. Prometheus, Covenant, Alien and Aliens. I wont go into detail because I want my true Alien fans to see what comes from where.

Rain Carradine. Really there is no Alien franchise without Ripley. She’s is such an integral part of it and can not be replaced. In the 2 prequels we didn’t get for her obvious reasons but we still had a heroine. Rain is the first time, since Aliens 1986, that we get a glimpse of the bad ass Ripley. I could say Alien3 but she wasn’t the same. Ripley was ready to die and for good reasons. But, Rain, over the course of the movie came into her own but she was the embodiment of all things LT. Ellen Ripley. It was a breath of fresh air taking us back to that atmosphere that the ground work was laid by Aliens.

The movie overall has many aspects that could be called upon but these are the highlights in my opinion. People didn’t like the movie and I believe that you really need to know all of them to truly appreciate it. As a stand alone, it’s still a movie worth watching. I have a Xenomorph tattoo but after seeing one particular poster, I will be getting another.