Having taken on one major cult franchise with 2013's Evil Dead, Fede Alvarez goes a similar route here with this so-called 'interquel' (i.e. set between the original Alien and Aliens): fan-pleasing to a fault, faithful callbacks and smart modern upgrades. Here, a group of young people escape from a Weyland-Yutani mining colony for a distant planet, but they need cryotubes from a decommissioned space research station, and their presence triggers a chain of events they could not have imagined...even if the fans know what to expect. It is faithful to the original, but it is also clearly aware of the prequels/sequels. There is plenty going on, with lots of jeopardy along the way, and any worries about the possible YA-Alien direction are dispelled quickly in this gritty, sweary and violent world. In fact, the youngish cast does a good job with selling the material, notably Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Archie Renaux and Isabela Merced. Alvarez's pereference for physical effects pays off handsomely, and there is plenty of sci-fi eye candy through, from the lived-in aesthetic of the sets to the epic space vistas. One surprise major callback to the original film (that plays a surprisingly significant part here) is handled well and has been kept very quiet. The finale has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it, and an attempt to fuse an element of the wider mythology with - of all things - Alien Resurrection is both bewildering and possibly a step too far. Overall, Romulus is a lively, bold and back-to-basics sci-fi thriller that mostly delivers well.
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