8 Reasons Alien: Romulus' Reviews Are So Positive

Summary

Alien: Romulus has an 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best Alien film since Aliens.
The film delivers a return to the horror roots of the franchise, combining action and terror.
The cast, led by Cailee Spaeny, delivers strong performances, breathing new life into the iconic franchise.

Alien: Romulus currently has an 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with most reviews agreeing it is the best Alien movie since the franchise’s first two installments. While the Alien movies make for one of the most popular sci-fi franchises of all time, it has struggled for over 30 years when it comes to recapturing the essence of the first two films. David Fincher’s Alien 3 was the first of many divisive attempts at bringing the saga back to the big screen, with Ridley Scott’s Alien prequels being the most recent ones. Now, Alien is “back to basics” with Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus.

There is no debate that Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens are the best movies in the franchise by a large margin. Alien has tried to course-correct a couple of times, with ideas ranging from Ripley clones to an epic prequel saga about the origins of not only the Xenomorph but the human race itself. After Alien: Covenant’s disappointing box office, added to the divisive reception to Scott’s Prometheus story, it was clear that Alien needed a fresh start. Álvarez’s film promised to bring the series back to its horror roots, and it has delivered according to the Alien: Romulus reviews.

Related Alien: Romulus Review – Horrifying Sci-Fi Actioner Has The Best (& Worst) Of The Alien Franchise

Somewhere between Alien & Aliens — fitting given its place in the timeline — Romulus serves up blockbuster-level action & visceral horror all in one.

8 Alien: Romulus Delivers On Its Horror Promise

Alien: Romulus Is Truly A Horror Movie

Alien: Romulus has been marketed as a horror movie since the project was first announced. The fact that Fede Álvarez, who directed Don’t Breathe, was chosen to helm Disney’s Alien film made it clear that the studio was aiming at bringing Alien back to its horror roots. Alien never stopped being a horror franchise, but it did start leaning more into its sci-fi aspects. The first Alien movie used androids and space exploration as a backdrop for a slasher in which the killer happened to be the most advanced life form of all time, but it was a horror film by all means.

Critics are pointing out that Alien: Romulus is a genuinely scary movie that makes the most of its R-rating. Álvarez has combined his signature style with the tone and aesthetic one would expect from a classic Alien film, and the result seems to have been incredible. Alien: Romulus’ reviews point out that the film is scary throughout instead of just having a couple of gruesome moments like Alien: Covenant. The sci-fi elements of the Alien movies are back, but Romulus seems to be a horror film first and foremost.

7 Alien: Romulus Is A Love Letter To The Franchise But Brings New Ideas

Alien: Romulus Doesn’t Rely On Nostalgia Only

Hollywood has a problem with reboots and legacy sequels that focus on nothing but nostalgia. The term “love letter to the franchise” has become infamously associated with uninspired reboots that do nothing but revisit characters and storylines audiences are already familiar with instead of doing something new. Fortunately, most of the Alien: Romulus reviews have pointed out that the movie, while very nostalgic, brings fresh new ideas and does not limit itself to what the previous films have done.

Noah Hawley is currently working on
Alien: Earth
, the first
Alien
TV show, for FX.

Adding something new and exciting to a saga that has been going on since the 1970s is not easy, especially considering how complicated Alien lore can be. Between scenes that were never made into the actual movies, directors fighting for their creative visions, countless retcons, and expanded material from comics and video games, there is arguably no such thing as a definitive Alien canon. Fortunately, it seems like Alien: Romulus used that in its favor, combining nostalgia over the Ripley films with new concepts.

6 Alien: Romulus Is Not Overly Complicated Like Prometheus & Covenant

Alien: Romulus’ Story Is Simpler Compared To AvP Or The Prequels

Alien: Romulus is described as a more straightforward film compared to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, which is positive given how those two prequels were received. While Scott was telling a very interesting story with David and the Engineers, Prometheus did not even need to be an Alien movie. The prequels contradicted some aspects of the Alien timeline and introduced overly complicated concepts that required a lot of exposition and left many questions unanswered. Alien: Romulus, on the other hand, is being reviewed as a complete experience.

Whether there will be an Alien: Romulus sequel remains to be seen, but the fact is that the Fede Álvarez film stands on its own instead of trying to set a much larger story in motion. Interestingly, the same could have been said about Scott’s Alien, even though it ended up receiving multiple sequels and prequels. Alien: Romulus having a more straightforward story does not mean it is not a bold film, though. Quite the contrary, most critics were actually surprised at how Álvarez was not afraid of swinging for the fences.

5 Alien: Romulus Is A Bold Addition To The Franchise

Alien: Romulus Is Not Afraid Of Doing New Things

One major concern regarding Alien: Romulus is that it could have been just a modern version of Alien or Aliens. Fortunately, while the new film does resemble the franchise’s first two films in many ways according to critics, it is also a bold addition to the Alien saga. Alien: Romulus seems to have shocked critics in many ways, not just in terms of jump scares or deaths. The third act of Alien: Romulus is particularly impressive in that regard per most reviews.

Related Why Alien: Romulus Is Rated R: How Scary & Violent The Movie Is

Alien: Romulus is the latest entry in the classic sci-fi/horror series, and the violence in the film easily justifies the R-rating it recieved.

Álvarez’s career, particularly his horror work, was an indicator that his Alien film was not going to play safe. While Alien: Romulus was set to be a return to form, it was also going to be the first Alien film in seven years. Therefore, it could not be just more of the same. Finding that balance is not easy, but according to the first wave of Alien: Romulus reviews, Álvarez has succeeded at it.

4 Alien: Romulus’ Cast Delivers Strong Performances

Cailee Spaeny Lives Up To Sigourney Weaver

The best Alien movies were the ones that made us care about the characters, even though it was easy to assume that most of them were going to die anyway. Although part of it comes from the writing, the performances are also important when it comes to connecting with the characters, especially in a horror film. Alien: Romulus’ cast is receiving a lot of praise, with critics particularly pointing out how great Cailee Spaeny is in the film.

It can be unfair to compare Alien’s newest lead actor to Sigourney Weaver, namely because not every Alien protagonist needs to be a copy of Ripley. That said, it is impossible not to think of Weaver’s iconic performance in four Alien films while looking at the newest installment. Many reviews have highlighted Spaeny’s performance, with some labeling it as the perfect spiritual successor to what Weaver did as Ripley.

3 Alien: Romulus’ Horror Tone Doesn’t Get In The Way Of Sci-Fi Spectacle

Alien: Romulus Is Still A Fun Movie Despite All The Horror Aspects

The Alien franchise includes claustrophobic slashes like the first film but also action-packed epics like Cameron’s Alien, not to mention the larger-than-life scope of Scott’s prequels. Alien: Romulus leaning so heavily into horror could have indicated that the movie was not going to have as much sci-fi spectacle as some of the other installments. However, several reviews have pointed out that Alien: Romulus goes big and delivers impressive action scenes.

The word “entertaining” has appeared in quite a lot of the Alien: Romulus reviews, with critics acknowledging that the film is as fun as it is scary. It seems that those who like Alien for its rich sci-fi lore will have a blast with Alien: Romulus just as much as horror aficionados who like the slasher aspect of the saga. Prometheus and Covenant struggled to find that balance, which makes Alien: Romulus all that more impressive.

2 Alien: Romulus Feels Like A True Alien Movie

Alien: Romulus’ “Return To Form” Marketing Was Accurate

Nearly every Alien: Romulus review so far has described the film as a true Alien movie, which is exactly what it had promised to be. Given that there have been eight Alien movies already as well as several comic books and video games, defining what a “real Alien film” is can be difficult. That said, looking back at the inception of the franchise with Ridley Scott’s all-time classic and its perfect sequel, Alien does have a signature identity that was lost with time. It’s consensus that Alien: Romulus has brought it back.

Most
Alien: Romulus
reviews agree it is the best
Alien
film since 1986.

The silliness of Alien vs. Predator or the ambition of Prometheus doesn’t make them any less important to the franchise. However, there is no denying that Alien was at its best when it combined horror, sci-fi, and action in a somewhat grounded story. Alien needed a return to form just as much as Predator did, and like Prey, Alien: Romulus has delivered it. For those who missed the style of Alien and Aliens, Romulus is the film they’ve been waiting for.

1 Alien: Romulus Is The Best Alien Movie Since Cameron’s Aliens

Alien: Romulus Is Now The Third Best Film In The Saga

Alien: Romulus’ Rotten Tomatoes score makes one thing clear – it is already the best-received Alien movie since Aliens. Considering that Alien never achieved the same heights as the Cameron sequel, the reception to Alien: Romulus only had two possible outcomes. Either the Fede Álvarez film was going to be positively compared to the titans of the franchise, or it was going to be yet another disappointing entry that could not live up to Alien and Aliens. Fortunately, it was the former. Most Alien: Romulus reviews agree it is the best Alien film since 1986.

Alien Movies Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes Score	RT Score (%)
Aliens	94
Alien	93
Alien: Romulus	83
Prometheus	73
Alien: Covenant	65
Alien Resurrection	55
Alien³	44
Alien vs. Predator	22
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem	12

Assuming Alien: Romulus’ will not drop drastically once more reviews come in, the film should go down in Alien history as the best movie in the franchise after the first two. It would be unfair to expect Alien: Romulus or any other sci-fi film to be better than Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, but the fact that Álvarez’ movie is now being brought up in the same conversation as those two is impressive.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Alien: Romulus 3.5 RSci-FiHorror

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.

Director Fede Alvarez Release Date August 16, 2024 Studio(s) Scott Free Productions , 20th Century Distributor(s) 20th Century Writers Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett Cast Cailee Spaeny , David Jonsson , Archie Renaux , Isabela Merced , Aileen Wu , Spike Fearn Franchise(s) Alien Main Genre Horror Expand

8 Reasons Alien: Romulus’ Reviews Are So Positive