Alien: Romulus

A cselekményt tekintve gazdagabb, mint a Prometheus és az Alien: Covenant filmek együtt, de nem sokkal okosabb, mint az Alien vs. Predator - A Halál a Ragadozó ellen című film. Ridley Scott megértette, ha a nézők új generációját akarja magával ragadni, és sikeresen folytatni akarja az Alien-harcot, akkor át kell adnia a jogart egy elszántabb mesternek, például annak, aki intenzíven újraindította az Evil Dead filmszériát a fiatal közönség számára. A Romulus szereplői tinédzserek, ami számunkra - a filmművészet eredeti, komoly pilléreinek kedvelői számára - már önmagában is elfogadhatatlan. Ő pedig dinamikusan ötvözte az ikonikus pillanataikat úgy, hogy a tájékozottakat nem fogja meglepni, de a beavatatlan fiatalokat elvarázsolja. Értékelhetjük az újításra irányuló törekvést (Ian Holm szuper alkalmazása), de mivel a környező cselekményben nincs átgondolt funkciójuk, csak a hatás kedvéért vannak a filmben. A film majdnem nem érdekelt attól a pillanattól kezdve, amikor a szereplők nem csukták be maguk mögött az óriási ajtót az arctámadókkal teli szobában, amelyben először megemelték a hőmérsékletet, hogy biztonságosan átjussanak rajta. És sajnos több olyan butaság van benne, ami megtagadja az új nézőknek bemutatott idegenek világának törvényeit. Kár. (2024.08.18)

A passable genre best-of remix that lacks the factor of being significantly memorable, which was a feature of the worst films in the franchise. FedEx delivered a commemorative aesthetic parcel wrapped up in the skilfulness that one would expect from it after Don’t Breathe. However, it’s impossible to shake off the impression that all of the really distinctive moments merely comprise a derivative of the better instalments in the Alien franchise. (2024.08.23)

A pop horror flick that appeals to Generation Z and won't offend the oldies. On the positive side, I'll take the superb and highly talented Cailee Spaeny and the fantastic last half hour, and on the negative side, the simple fact that the other teens are all interchangeable, I didn't find my way to them at all and didn't care if the monster made a sandwich out of them. Yes, it's nice to look at, it has the hallmark of the 70s technique Ridley Scott established in his masterpiece, the atmosphere is nicely depressing and claustrophobic, but for the first two-thirds the film painfully lacks in any kind of tension, because apart from Cailee I - as I've already written - hadn't built up any rapport with the characters and consequently didn't experience the threat of the facehuggers as such at all. Fortunately, there are enough references and allusions to previous episodes, and as a connoisseur I appreciate how "disjointed" it is in that respect: the first third is slowburn old Alien, the second the warlike Aliens, and the last one is a return to the first one, with Fede Álvarez literally quoting it. So yeah, I actually had a decent time, and since Álvarez unloaded a few scenes I hadn’t seen in this genre before, I give the film four spits of acid. (2024.08.19)

Fede Álvarez, director of the best Evil Dead and Don't Breathe, one of the best original modern genre films, delivers for the third time (I’m ignoring the existence of The Girl in the Spider's Web). But flawless perfection it is not this time. He does well what he does best: offering an intense horror ride full of attractions that slowly makes it impossible to breathe. But what I have the biggest problem with regarding the new Alien is time and space. Once it gets going, it feels insanely fast-paced. For one thing, the development of the monsters is absurdly fast, and for another, I would have liked the human characters to have time to pause for a moment and let it sink in how much shit they've got themselves into. And the space, I found the action awkwardly cut at times in terms of orientation. Especially the elevator scene and its ending I didn't get at all, maybe a chunk of the film had to be missing there (?). The much criticised fanservice didn't bother me, or rather I didn't pay much attention to it and it didn't actively distract me – though I have the "advantage" in this that I very rarely watch films repeatedly, so I certainly don't know any of the Alien movies by heart and can't quote from them. I found all but one moment (at the end of the aforementioned elevator scene) unworthy. The criticised digicam is totally fine, I really don’t know what the problem is, it looks completely appropriate given the state "it" is in right now. The final ten minutes are easily the best part of the film; and the main pair of characters realistically have a lot more charisma than anyone who came after Ripley in the franchise. 8/10 (2024.08.16)

After the excellent trailers, it wasn't hard to become excited for Alien: Romulus, but there was still a little red light in my head. It subtly reminded me that behind the camera was Fede Álvarez, a man who certainly has a lot of talent, but not for the horror genre. I suffered through his Evil Dead, and Don’t Breathe was fine at best. And unfortunately, I should have listened to that red light, because while Romulus has its merits, it disappoints in the most fundamental way, it doesn't work as a genre film. Alien: Romulus looks great, and I enjoyed the analog computers, the grey metals, the industrial atmosphere full of hissing pipes, likewise with unexpectedly good actors and interesting characters who behaved surprisingly smart. But that’s not enough when Álvarez can't build a scary atmosphere and his scares are dull and uninteresting. Part of the problem is that this is more a game of referencing and quoting old films, leaving little room for the new. As a result, it's a nice fanservice from someone who knows how it should look, sound and work, but he just can't quite put it together into a workable horror film. Álvarez may be a good producer with an interesting vision, but unfortunately he's not a good director or executor. (2024.08.14)