Please stop making Alien movies
Please stop making Alien movies
In the Alien films, a xenomorph is a monstrous, all-consuming life form that exists only to make more and more copies of itself. Once the first xenomorph appears, it’s only a matter of time until all those gleaming chrome walls will be covered in creepy black goo and the humans suspended lifeless fr...
Anyway, Alien: Romulus is the seventh film about these particular monsters. According to the producers, the film takes the franchise ‘back to its roots’. So we get a group of grimy crew-mates piloting a big rust-bucket of a spaceship who pick up an extraterrestrial stowaway and end up having to use their wits and courage to survive as it gobbles them up, one by one.
And it’s not a bad film. It’s nicely creepy, the special effects are good, the acting is perfectly serviceable. In fact, I could give you a normal review of Alien: Romulus, but just writing this is making me feel a little crazy. It’s not a bad film, but it’s also a direct copy of a much better film that already exists. That film is called Alien, and it came out in 1979. It had Sigourney Weaver in it. It hasn’t vanished. If you have a Disney+ subscription or a torrent client, you can watch it tonight. Why have we made it again? What’s the point? Why have we spent the past 45 years – which is longer than I’ve been alive – making seven different versions of the same film? What on Earth is going on?
Why have we spent the past 45 years – which is longer than I’ve been alive – making seven different versions of the same film?
If you watch Alien, Aliens and Alien3 and come out with the idea that they are “different versions of the same film”, maybe the whole movie critic gig thing isn’t for you. Hell, they are not even the same genre.
I mean yes, totally. I haven’t seen it, yet, but will likely be going to the cinema for this one.
But, to just throw an idea out there … covers of and homages to songs are normal and sometimes awesome in music, and fundamental in live music.
So maybe the same isn’t so bad in film, especially if they’re not done badly, as it seems to be here.
Maybe “the problem” is more the lack of properly original works, the copious unashamed cinematic universe slop and faithless reboots?
In the same way that Bond films and Disney films find ways to manifest and apply to each new generation or era, why not other classic forms?
"Covenant" and "Prometheus" would've been killer movies to kick off a new IP.
I might be the old man shouting at clouds, but I've been turned off to all franchise "reboots". Just sick of rehashes and revisits and the cute little "winks" these movies do to the previous installments. Have an original thought, damn.
meh, I enjoyed it.
What’s the point?
Um, same point as any franchise or reboot or remake: money. It’s easy too. Story is already there in one form or another; just add a few modern tweaks. You get the nostalgia kick from the original fans, and you get a boost from the younger fans who have heard all of the hyper from the OG fans. People have short term memories, so they get to rinse and repeat every few years.
Edit: for example… 🙄
Romulus would be better without the callbacks to the first two films. One character in particular I wish was someone else entirely. Also, I didn't like the ending as it tied into Prometheus/Covenant, my least favourite of the Alien franchise.
I feel Alien has gone the way of Star Wars which keeps linking to the Skywalker's. Let Alien break free of the Ripley verse (She's even in Romulus as a well hidden Easter Egg!) and do something different. The comics have had excellent stories over the years, adapt one of those.
One of my favourites is Aliens: Labyrinth which is about a crazy scientist on a deep space station who has successfully got the alien species under control. His backstory is quite something and you know it will go wrong in the end.
The problem is, Alien: Romulus was pretty good. It gives the original a run for its money in my opinion.
No. Keep making them because Alien: Romulus was fuckin rad. It didn't reinvent the wheel, I got kind of annoyed with the callbacks towards the middle/end part of the movie, but I want to see it again, if not in the theater I'll rent it on streaming. It's the 3rd best Alien movie imo, that's high praise for such a robust franchise. Anyway, the writer of this article is an industry hack, Furiosa is great too. I'm out 🤟
That’s like, just your opinion man.
I for one enjoyed Romulus and want to see more. Give me more.
Counterpoint: please make another actually good work in the universe.
I have my fingers crossed for the HBO (I think) series set to release next year.
Yes make aliens mini-series instead. The comics used to release in anuals that would tell a complete arc wether that be about the destruction of a floating research station on a jungle planet after the hunters turned it into an alien hunting world, the fall of earth or refugees stumbling upon an insane scientist trying to domesticate the damn things. Any one of those anuals would make a fantastic basis for say a 12 episode mini-series.
saw it, and I went put with the idea that it was an Alien movie whose target audience was young people that didn’t see the first alien movie.
I still prefer the original first alien movie. Like a lot, but this one is pretty decent. It was like a “netflix remake” with lots of copy/paste from the original movie. Some sentences are exactly copied, some scenes greatly copied and modernized for 2024 eyes.
The main differences that make the first Alien movie superior (to me at least). In this latest movie there is no “mother sound” in the original Alien the spaceship appear to breathe and live with a constant sound that really put you into the “Alien mood”.
Sigourney Weaver. Both her role and her acting were incredible. That is just decent in this new movie.
Critic about megacorps is visible in this new movie, but felt even more terrible in the older one IMHO.
Still, there are a few things not present in the original movie in this one that are a bit nice. The relation with the androids, some great action scenes. But that’s about it. If you love the alien universe it is a pretty decent Alien. If the first Alien is a 9/10 movie I would give this one a 7/10.
I just want another Aliens vs Predator video game. Those 3-way multiplayer matches were so fun.
Surprised no one in this thread has yet mentioned how this movie very much parallels Alien: Isolation and the huge success that game had by being so consistent with the premise of the first movie.
reason is that historically and statisticwise, sequels make more money then original movies. so there you have it.
Haven’t seen the film yet but I was agreeing with them until the very last part.
There’s some great arguments against these Disney soft reboots that tell the same story as the original films, but throwing all the previous sequels under the same bus as Romulus seems nonsensical to me.
Alien 3 it's the last enjoyable part of this saga, even resurrection if you're bored, nothing later should ever be done.
Lmao I just posted about alien in the moviesandtv shows comm
Money
There are movies that are too successful for their own good. Then someone buys ip rights and milks the cow.
Like latest planet of apes movie. It’s so unnecessary. There’s a yellow sign “cash grab” in every scene
https://youtu.be/T5jSRtwk6iM (0:15) Doctor Who has opinions on this topic.
All the.downvotes are from Alien3 fans, I hope anyway
Please stop making vampire movies.
I saw an ad for this one and it looks like a remake of 2. Woman has to kick ass and protect surrogate daughter
Exactly the same thought I had when I left the theatre, like I just saw Alien all over again (only not quite as good). It was less an homage and more a copy of the original.
Op, first time in capitalism?