Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus finally made its Rotten Tomatoes debut and was certified fresh. The eighth installment of the highly anticipated movie in the huge franchise recently premiered ahead of its mass theatrical release. Now, critics have given their verdict on the movie that Álvarez wholeheartedly attempted to abandon CGI while embracing more traditional practical effects.
Alien: Romulus Debuts Rotten Tomatoes
A still from Alien: Romulus. Image Credit: 20th Century Studios
Alien: Romulus made a stunning Rotten Tomatoes debut with a 97% score. It would have been a stunner if the initially derived score remained the same but realistically as more critics get into reviewing any project, the score inherently tends to fluctuate. Nothing strange there, the movie is still at a high point standing at 83% based on 131 reviews as of writing the piece. Here’s what critics are saying about the movie.
Chicago Reader’s Kyle Logan said, “Alien: Romulus feels made by and for people who are familiar with the component parts of an Alien movie but haven’t ever seen one.” Jack King from GQ Magazine [UK] however has a positive take on the movie, “It’s more like a warp-speed remix, Álvarez the club DJ putting his own distinct touch on familiar bangers with the singular object of getting our blood pumping as quickly as possible.”
“Ultimately I was happy with Alien: Romulus, both from a visual and a tension standpoint,” Nerdist critic Kyle Anderson said of the movie. Polygon’s Toussaint Egan also gave a positive score, “Alien: Romulus is a serviceable yet underwhelming entry in a franchise that’s otherwise known for its relentless evolution.”
“To its credit, it’s a no-frills, straight-up genre piece built largely on the bones of the first two movies. All that’s missing are originality and a convincing final act, and, honestly, you could do worse for a Saturday night eek-a-thon,” Washington Post critic Ty Burr said.
Empire Magazine’s John Nugent gave the movie 4 out of 5 saying, “Alien: Romulus plays the hits, but crucially remembers the ingredients for what makes a good Alien film, and executes them with stunning craft and care. It is, officially, the third-best film in the series.”
Fede Álvarez’s Visual Treat in Alien: Romulus Was Derived From Practical Effects
Alien: Romulus. Image Credit: 20th Century Studios
Fede Álvarez has made Alien: Romulus with practical effects. The director was very interested in adding retro-futuristic effects to the narrative inspired by Ridley Scott’s Alien. “It was the era I was most interested in when we were thinking about making this movie and were suddenly faced with so many choices,” Álvarez told Games Rader.
“Where do you start? That’s what I wanted it to be – that era of science-fiction – and particularly that physical space of the first movie. So it starts there, honestly. And there were narrative reasons why. It takes place 20 years after the first film. Technology in the world of Alien can change vastly, but I think it’s not dependent on time. It’s dependent on place. Where you are. So the characters of this movie and the world are very blue-collar. The technology is still very low-tech and analog. And, look, I’m a kid from the ‘80s. Any monitor with some VHS tracking issues puts a lot of joy in my heart,” he added.
Álvarez further discussed his not-so-good impression of the use of bad CGI in movies, stating that while it may ruin the experience of watching a film if it has been done poorly, he is not entirely against it if that’s what works best for a scene. He stressed the importance of choosing the right technique for each shot, no matter whether practical or CGI, “You have to do whatever’s best for the shot.”
While practical effects were the priority, Álvarez also knew when CGI could enhance a scene: “CG just comes when you really go, ‘Oh, if we do something here, we could do something really cool that the puppets never could.'” But the balance between practical effects and CGI is the key and the director believes that he has achieved that balance with his team.
Alien: Romulus will hit the theaters on August 16.
