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Alien Romulus | Rotten Watch

Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.
Sounds ok to me. As long as all that makes sense in the movie... there's very little that could be done in this series as something 'original' and not be a piece of shit imo.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.
As sad as it is ill take that. As long as its not a disaster on the scale of covenant.
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.
Just got back from reddit and they basically said the same thing. It's just Alien greatest hits. I was right to pass on it.
 
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Trunx81

Gold Member
Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.
Thanks, can’t wait to watch it on Sunday! This made me smile :)
 

Dr_Salt

Banned
What a world we live in. When something isn't completely shite, we celebrate.

And I for one breathe a sigh of relief, and look forward to torrenting the shit out of the creatively bankrupt .
After the complete shit that the alien movie franchise has been after aliens I say it is understandable.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.

Honestly sounds pretty okay?

Judging by your description it's basically ticking boxes on what makes an Alien movie an Alien movie, which seems kind of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
 
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JusticeForAll

Gold Member
Just got out. About a 7-ish/10. Budget Jennifer Lawrence walks through the Alien series equivalent of the “Leonardo DiCaprio points at the TV” meme.

Oh boy. You can count this movies original ideas on one hand. Once the opening character setup is done, it’s just a collection of scenes and dialogue from every other movie played out.
Xenos in water from Resurrection? Check.
Dialogue from Alien? Check.
Racing for doors while someone waits with their hand on the switch from Alien 3? Check.
Black goo from Prometheus? Check.
Experiments from Covenant? Check
The ENTIRE ending ripped straight from Resurrection including the Alien / Human hybrid? Double check.
Fucking terrible CGI Ian Holm as Rook giving the exact same dialogue from Alien? Triple check.
Pulse Rifle firing intercut with shots of a diminishing ammo gauge while aliens explode? You know it.
What works works largely because it worked in the first place, and it’s stitched together here as basically a tour of the franchise. The few original ideas here are good, but not good enough for this to stand on its own merits. If you’re a fan, you’ve seen and heard everything before - literally. The sheer number of call backs, scene after scene after scene after scene would give JJ Abrahms pause.
It’s not awful - it’s just entirely unoriginal, uninspired, and unambiguous.
Saw it and totally agree.
 

Draugoth

Gold Member
GU9xIVpWQAEhJKC.png:large
 
The movie looks and sounds the part, largely because it directly copies so much. The sets look great, the props look great, the sound design is on point. But, I promise, you’ve seen everything before. The atmosphere builds nicely in the first act, but by the half way point it’s hard to say it held together for me once I realised what the movie was doing. But everything up till the water room sequence was solid.

Yep we all saw there was somefin in da fookin woa-aah

But excited to hear this is a good one. Might have to book tickets for this weekend
 
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Nemesisuuu

Member
I don't know, it was something around 5-6/10 for me. Underwhelming to be honest. Effects were good, there were few stupid moments, cast was pretty forgettable and uninspiring. Couldn't care for any of them.

Andy/artificial person was character highlight of the movie, only passable character.

TLDR - as a huge first two movies fan - had no expectations, left cinema disappointed.
 

ZehDon

Member
Honestly sounds pretty okay?...
Yeah, 7-ish/10 isn't a bad score, and it's not a bad movie - just a very unoriginal one. It's just not as good as 1 and 2, which were hugely inventive for their times and have cracker casts. Having slept on it, I'd say it sits around or above Prometheus' level? Has stuff I like and stuff I don't. Definitely better than Resurrection and Covenant though, no question there.

... But I'll take ZehDon ZehDon at his word though and will look forward to seeing this eventually with expectations firmly in check.
I imagine it'll review well from the same folks who drop review lines like "If you're a REAL fan, you'll absolutely love it!" because it's stuffed to the gills with with callbacks and references and they think that's what "real" fans "love". Your milage may vary though; some folks love Disney Star War's incessant need for cameos and callbacks, whereas I'm not a big fan of that level of memberberries.
 
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Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
So the franchise has turned into a mindless slasher along the lines of Halloween with each installment having a new crew getting killed in inventive ways? I wish they would have done something better with the lore but the Engineers and midichlorians fucked that up. 😂
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Rotten score still holding strong at 83.

Just one more day, keeping away from youtube homepage and twitter mentions because I know shit is being spoiled there.
 

Piggoro

Member
I watched it today. As it was said earlier, 7/10. It's high quality and solidly made but predictable and not very original. It's just impossible to do much new and fresh with the set of elements/features that make this franchise. There were a couple of nice quirky set pieces though.
 

Alex11

Member
So, if multiple robots look like Ian Holm in the universe, why are they surprised in Alien when Ash turns out to be a robot?
Don't bother with logic questions like these, there are many plot holes throughout the movie, it's ridiculous, Fede wanted to connect Alien, prequels, all of them, so you can imagine how the plot and writing turned out.

In the end the engineers and xenos are the same species, just different lifecycle or some shit like this, can't quite put it together, I need to see it again.
 
Don't bother with logic questions like these, there are many plot holes throughout the movie, it's ridiculous, Fede wanted to connect Alien, prequels, all of them, so you can imagine how the plot and writing turned out.

In the end the engineers and xenos are the same species, just different lifecycle or some shit like this, can't quite put it together, I need to see it again.
I rewatched the prequels a couple of days ago... The goo is directed panspermia. It destroys animal life and recombines its building blocks. Some percentage of it is killed, another mutated into "shock troops of the genetic assault" that propagate the pathogen. Eventually it recombines until it recreates the Engineer ecosystem and culminates with humans (which are an Engineer subspecies). That's how the Engineers seed and destroy life.
The xenomorph is the best shock trooper, which is why it has its own little section in the Engineer temple, next to their giant heads.
I assume all Engineer technology is built using the pathogen, hence the gooey, boney, acid burnt look of everything they have. Even the docking station in Covenant looks like a giant scorpion tail.

Also Romulus sucks. Whatever your opinion of the prequels is, Romulus will annoy you.

On a related note, they reverse engineered the pathogen in 170 days and 3D printed facehuggers (the printer was probably too small for the xeno lol suck my dick Fede). It makes the universe so small. Also, never in decades of watching Alien did I ever imagine anything was left of the Nostromo. I specifically remember my first impression od its destruction as a kid, there's no way it wasn't meant to be vaporized, turned to atoms.
 
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Alex11

Member
I rewatched the prequels a couple of days ago... The goo is directed panspermia. It destroys animal life and recombines its building blocks. Some percentage of it is killed, another mutated into "shock troops of the genetic assault" that propagate the pathogen. Eventually it recombines until it recreates the Engineer ecosystem and culminates with humans (which are an Engineer subspecies). That's how the Engineers seed and destroy life.
The xenomorph is the best shock trooper, which is why it has its own little section in the Engineer temple, next to their giant heads.
I assume all Engineer technology is built using the pathogen, hence the gooey, boney, acid burnt look of everything they have. Even the docking station in Covenant looks like a giant scorpion tail.
I understand the logic and how they wanted to connect everything after what Ridley started in Prometheus, I mean there was no way around it without revising that plot or just erase it completely. I accept it, recognise its validity, but that doesn't mean I have to like and I never will. I think it didn't need having all explained, I think a lot of the mystery is gone, wished that the Xeno remained an unknown space horror.
Also Romulus sucks. Whatever your opinion of the prequels is, Romulus will annoy you.

On a related note, they reverse engineered the pathogen in 170 days and 3D printed facehuggers (the printer was probably too small for the xeno lol suck my dick Fede). It makes the universe so small. Also, never in decades of watching Alien did I ever imagine anything was left of the Nostromo. I specifically remember my first impression od its destruction as a kid, there's no way it wasn't meant to be vaporized, turned to atoms.
Yeah, I bitched about that Nostromo stuff and how they found Big Chap, that was my impression as well. There are few maybes and ifs, I don't know anymore, but the biggest travesty is how they handled the Big Boy, killed off screen, thanks movie.

Also they can extract that black goo from the Xeno and 3d printed facehuggers, and that pathogen is the only solution to that issue with humans not able to adapt and survive on hostile worlds, there is no other way?

As a bonus, the Xenos are treated like crap, an afterthought, between the Rain/Andy relationship, going to another planet, the ship crashing, the hybrid creature, they were just for passing the time and have Xenos, and I'm pretty sure 90% of Xeno scenes were shown in the trailers.
 

WoodyStare

Member
I enjoyed this and found it intense for the most part, perfectly blending the horror of Alien with the action of Aliens, but my god the callbacks really took me out of it. I don’t need characters quoting these two movies just because they expect the audience to respond like the Leo DiCaprio pointing at the TV meme. I went from feeling tense to rolling my eyes when this happened, and for one of the characters, the quote felt so out of place for them and tacked on. It was more cheesy than badass. Wouldn’t call this a great movie, but it’s clear a lot of passion went into it and I was never bored. The music and practical effects were fantastic.
 

EverydayBeast

ChatGPT 0.1
I remember respecting the risks they took in Alien 3 and 4 everything from the style of the 90s, and it's one of those things where it's just so interesting, non traditional areas like the prison planet in alien 3, every alien movie released since than has some strange intentions

alien-3-is-incredible-v0-6lg43nzsp9mc1.jpeg


Repeat-Alien-Resurrection.jpg
 

Draugoth

Gold Member
Don't bother with logic questions like these, there are many plot holes throughout the movie, it's ridiculous, Fede wanted to connect Alien, prequels, all of them, so you can imagine how the plot and writing turned out.

In the end the engineers and xenos are the same species, just different lifecycle or some shit like this, can't quite put it together, I need to see it again.

The Idea i got from this movie is different

In Prometheus it's explained that Engineers are humans (they have same DNA) so by my understanding Engineers in the past looked just like us but used the Goo to achieve biological immortality, in the end they look like the hybrid from the movie due to side effects, but they have full control over the Goo unlike Yutani. Xenomorphs are bio weapons they use cleasening problematic seeded planets, the goo is programed to creare hostile xeno creatures when exposed naturally.
 
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Romulus

Member
my god the callbacks really took me out of it. I don’t need characters quoting these two movies just because they expect the audience to respond like the Leo DiCaprio pointing at the TV meme.

Omfg. Why? I'm out. I was borderline gonna buy tickets but this shit destroys immersion.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Watched it earlier tonight. A mixed bag for me.

Some of my main gripes (SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE):


- The Ian Holm CG / deepfake character got way more screen time than I expected.
- There really should have been more people in the main crew to get killed off, the deaths are far too little, even the OG Alien had a bigger crew. They have shown literally all the main crew deaths or what leads to them in the TV spots, now that I think on them.
- The xenomorphs themselves were fairly inconsequential in the film. Which was a bit of a disappointment.
- Nothing really came out of the 'main' xeno having a constant static electric charge in his head seemingly from the stun baton. I thought it would make it distinct somehow.
- For 90% of the movie there's just the one xeno and then suddenly a whole army is introduced with very little fanfare just to be promptly head-shotted in a single scene.
- The human hybrid xeno at the end looks so-so, him having an Engineer face was a bit weird.

- When Rook is talking about how the OG Big-Chap revived and killed most of the crew of the space station and they showed a few seconds of some people running away from it, I was *WAY* more interested in watching that movie within the movie. I wish they had shown more of it.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
Do any of the xenos have that transparent head that shows the skull? I always thought that was cool and missed it in the later films.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
I liked it! First 30 minutes worried me cuz I couldn’t understand wtf these English people were saying but luckily the cast uh downsized pretty quickly.

The black dude was the standout actor for sure. Best android in the series since Bishop. Which is saying something cuz Michael Fassbender as David was a damn good performance.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
The reviews, RT score and opinions on this film absolute scream WAIT FOR STREAMING.

Which I will happily do.

Eh, the reviews seem to be mixed. If you're keen on the series, go see it at the cinema where it's got the best chance to shine.

I know some people prefer to watch things at home, I'm saying that to people who think that cinemas are better places to watch films than at home. If you think home is best, then wait for streaming anyway, obviously.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Eh, the reviews seem to be mixed. If you're keen on the series, go see it at the cinema where it's got the best chance to shine.

I know some people prefer to watch things at home, I'm saying that to people who think that cinemas are better places to watch films than at home. If you think home is best, then wait for streaming anyway, obviously.

I think to get me to the cinema these days it has to be a movie that reviews well, and has something new or fresh to say. I just can't take spending out a load of money to watch yet another repetitious movie of things I've already seen. Although the one movie I will definitely go and see is The Batman 2, but that's because I'm a Batnerd and the first one was amazing. Everything else though, I just don't feel the need to go to the cinema for. Not when everything's out so fast on demand these days.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
I think to get me to the cinema these days it has to be a movie that reviews well, and has something new or fresh to say. I just can't take spending out a load of money to watch yet another repetitious movie of things I've already seen. Although the one movie I will definitely go and see is The Batman 2, but that's because I'm a Batnerd and the first one was amazing. Everything else though, I just don't feel the need to go to the cinema for. Not when everything's out so fast on demand these days.

I can totally get that, I think I'm influenced by my own need to schedule things, or the day just gets eaten up means that I'll actually watch the film if I book cinema tickets.

Shame though, I wonder how many people would go to the cinema more often if films weren't on streaming within a fortnight of the cinema release.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
Shame though, I wonder how many people would go to the cinema more often if films weren't on streaming within a fortnight of the cinema release.

There are rare occasions when a cinema screen is absolutely necessary still. Nolan's work springs to mind, or Villeneuve's.

But most movies these days? I can easily watch a Marvel movie with zero focal depth and bland cinematography at home on my LG CX, without missing anything from the cinema experience.
 
The black dude was the standout actor for sure. Best android in the series since Bishop. Which is saying something cuz Michael Fassbender as David was a damn good performance.
Andy was great.

I keep on saying this. Ditch the cast. They're gonna kill them anyway. One Weyland android and a female protagonist in space. That's how I would have done it.
 
All right GAF, let me ask you something.

Who is the right director to spearhead and shit out a proper ALIEN film that hits all the right notes without overdoing it? A semi serious question. A short list would be nice.
 
Movie is far from perfect but it's still pretty good overall. Certainly a step up from Covenant.

Only thing I truly hated was the use of CG. Digital necromancy needs to stop. Especially when it looks so bad...
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Movie is far from perfect but it's still pretty good overall. Certainly a step up from Covenant.

Only thing I truly hated was the use of CG. Digital necromancy needs to stop. Especially when it looks so bad...

Yeah, for all the talk about using practical as much as possible (which fucking nailed it out of the park), the places where they use CG, it's very obvious.
 
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