Summary
Alien: Romulusdirector Fede Álvarez explains whether his film is more likeAlienorAliens. The latest entry in the belovedAlienfranchise,Alien: Romulustells the story of a group of space colonizers who must search for the ends of an old space station while facing up against the scariest creature they have ever seen.Alien: Romulusfeatures a leading castincluding Cailee Spaeney, Isabela Merced, Archie Renaux, David Jonsson, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.
Speaking withEmpire Magazine, Álvarez explains whether his film is more similar toAlienorAliens. According to theRomulusdirector,AlienandAliensare both such masterpieces that they should not be compared. To honor this perspective,Álvarez decided that he wanted to make a film that blends the two, inspired by the esthetics of both films and the pacing and rhythms of both. The director cited specific moments wherein elements of bothAlienandAliensshow their face withinRomulus. Check out the full quote from Álvarez below:
To ask an Alien fan to choose between them is a perverse question. So I thought, ‘How do I do both?’
There’s a moment where the characters are walking around areas familiar from the Nostromo. Then they cross through that building and on the other side: boom! You’re in a hallway that looks like Hadley’s Hope [the colony from Aliens]." The cross-pollination is reinforced by the feel of the film, with the first hour adopting the more deliberate, dread-laden atmosphere of Alien, before the action shifts from Remus to the titular Romulus and starts to lean closer to Aliens in both style and tempo.
Your subconscious is like, ‘Why am I feeling I’m in Aliens again?’ The [mood] is telling you that sh*t is about to get more actiony and intense.
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In his interview, Álvarez went on to cite additional inspirations thatAlien: Romulustook from the originalAlienfilms. This includesthe sibling relationship between Spaeny’s Rain and Jonsson’s Andy. It wasAliensthat inspired these two characters. With these James Cameron-inspired characters, Álvarez shows how he is incorporating the previous films not just in the esthetics and structure, but in the story beats themselves.
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Visually, Álvarez explained thatRomulustakes most afterAlienin its decor. Like the Ridley Scott film, the ships inAlien: Romulusare stripped down, utilitarian, and sanitized. This visual minimalism is combined with the advanced technology present inAliens, harkening back to the Cameron film while still borrowing elements from Scott’s work.
While the reviews forAlien: Romuluswill ultimately reveal whether Álvarez made the right choice, drawing from both films is likely the best way to go. As theRomulusdirector mentioned, it is nearly impossible to parse whetherAlienorAliensis the better film. Both are directed by tour-de-force directors who went on to make numerous other acclaimed films. Their starkly different styles also give the two films very different feels, despite existing in the same franchise. By using elements from both films, Álvarez took the route of the highest appeal potential forAlien: Romulus.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
