Alien: Romulus thrilled fans – how can its follow-up avoid the saga’s past mistakes?
As Romulus shows, the series is best when it keeps to its slasher-in-space formula – anything more and the old beast starts creaking like a colony ship
Spoiler alert – discusses Alien: Romulus
Back in the 1990s, the Alien franchise’s biggest problem was its inability to dispose of its iconic characters once it became clear they no longer had a meaningful part to play. Remember Ellen Ripley’s unexpected return as a xenomorph-human hybrid clone of herself in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection, at least two movies after she should probably have been retired? Honestly we’d have preferred her to come back from the dead as a holographic robo-zen life coach, floating serenely around a doomed space colony to remind everyone to breathe through their terror as they’re facehugged by an extraterrestrial octopus. Anything would have been better than watching Sigourney Weaver morph into a hybrid space gymnast with the strength of 10 forklift trucks who casually drips acid blood as if she were leaking engine coolant.
But that was then, and this is now. Since 1997 fans have had to sit in disbelief as pretty much the only character we did actually care about in 2012’s Prometheus, Noomi Rapace’s Elisabeth Shaw, was casually dispensed with before 2017’s Alien: Covenant, leaving us with only David the nutty android and an entire army of tedious dead Engineers to kickstart the next instalment. This would have been bad enough if it wasn’t a virtual repeat of the mistakes made by David Fincher’s Alien 3, which killed off Aliens’ Newt and Hicks before the opening credits.
Continue reading...Topics
-
An Alien: Romulus Sequel Is Currently In The Works
Tech - GameSpot - October 25 -
Rebuilding an empire - how Patriots hope to avoid Man Utd mistakes
Top stories - BBC News - October 18 -
5 Bad Leadership Mistakes That Are Killing Employee Engagement (and How to Avoid Them)
Business - Inc. - October 21 -
Alien: Romulus 4K Blu-Ray Limited-Edition Steelbook Preorders Discounted At Amazon
Tech - GameSpot - October 18 -
Alien: Romulus Will Release On VHS, Something No Major Studio Has Done In 18 Years
Tech - GameSpot - October 21 -
4 big gold investing mistakes to avoid this November
Top stories - CBS News - 4 days ago -
How the UK can improve its ‘offer’ to the world
World - Financial Times - October 17 -
How the Navy can solve its submarine shortage
Politics - The Hill - October 18
More from The Guardian
-
US election live: Harris says Trump’s violent rhetoric about Liz Cheney ‘must be disqualifying’
World - The Guardian - 7 minutes ago -
Israeli assault has caused ‘apocalyptic’ situation in northern Gaza, UN warns
World - The Guardian - 3 hours ago -
Supporters of Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales take about 20 soldiers hostage
World - The Guardian - 45 minutes ago -
Jeffrey Epstein details close relationship with Trump in newly released tapes
World - The Guardian - 4 hours ago -
Spain floods disaster: death toll rises to 205 as extra troops mobilised
World - The Guardian - 8 hours ago
Latest in World
-
US election live: Harris says Trump’s violent rhetoric about Liz Cheney ‘must be disqualifying’
World - The Guardian - 7 minutes ago -
Threats, racism, misogyny: Trump’s disturbing final week of campaigning
World - The Guardian - 9 minutes ago -
Botswana Voters Hand Governing Party a Stunning Rebuke
World - The New York Times - 22 minutes ago -
US army soldier charged with murder of female sergeant found dead in trash bin
World - The Guardian - 24 minutes ago -
Brazil's federal police indict 20 in connection with salt mine catastrophe in country's northeast
World - Yahoo News - 26 minutes ago