Alien: Romulus is ready to terrify us this week in cinemas, and we now have the first reactions to the new Alien movie.
Set between Alien and Aliens, the new movie from writer/director Fede Alvarez sees a group of young space colonists, played by the likes of Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson, come face-to-face with the deadly Xenomorph.
Ahead of its release in cinemas this Friday (August 16), those lucky few to have already seen Alien: Romulus have taken to Twitter to share their first reactions.
So, does Alien: Romulus live up to the first two movies?
Related: Alien: Romulus runtime confirmed
Gizmodo‘s Germain Lussier called it a “bonkers rollercoaster ride” with “glorious gore and scares”, adding: “It gets better as it goes along, ending with a phenomenal big swing of a third act.”
“Has all the great hallmarks of what you would expect in an Alien flick but never feels like it’s pandering to nostalgia or fan service… and even goes into a crazy new direction,” praised The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit.
Variety‘s Courtney Howard was also impressed and said Alien: Romulus is “gnarly, gripping & gorgeously bleak”, while The Mary Sue‘s Rachel Leishman teased that “you never really know where Romulus is headed. The 3rd act is truly WILD. I dig it.”
It seems the final act of Alien: Romulus – which Alvarez teased to Digital Spy as “f**ked-up” – could prove divisive though.
“There’s a lot about Alien: Romulus I like – some truly creative moments in the first two acts that I REALLY dug. However, the finale takes a BIG swing that just didn’t work for me and left me feeling underwhelmed,” noted Jake Hamilton.
IGN‘s Amelia Emberwing was also mixed on the movie, calling it a “curious one” and adding: “Effective scares, but every set piece feels like a video game level, theme park ride intro, or horror nights maze. Character work didn’t hit me at all either, and I’m an easy mark.”
Related: Alien: Romulus director clarifies new movie’s timeline
Talking to Digital Spy ahead of its release, Alvarez explained that the title doesn’t just refer to one of the ships in Alien: Romulus, it also has a hidden meaning.
“There’s many themes in the movie, but one of them is what it means to be someone’s sibling, what it truly means. What are your responsibilities for that? Do you have any or not? They should take care of you; you should take care of them,” he noted.
“Romulus and Remus obviously are a story of siblinghood that didn’t end well. Romulus murdered Remus, so there’s many, many elements that are connected with that creational myth of Rome.”
Alien: Romulus is released in cinemas on August 16.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.