344: Alien: Romulus (2024)

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Maybe it was the the buckets of KY jelly and the tongue punching.

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Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hack or Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. We need to move now. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

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A total joke? A waste of time.

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Or a slash.

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Totally killer. Pun intended.

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We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly space guy Mac.

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Have you heard about the claustrophobic astronaut? He needed space.

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The classic horror connoisseur Sean.

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I think I fractured my asshole.

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And the paranormal paramour Binks. I'm on a seafood diet. When I seafood, I eat it. This week we're back in theaters to check out a new entry in an iconic sci-fi franchise. Before we get down to business, though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Let's follow up on a movie specifically Alien from 1979. Alright, we held a poll. We wanted to know what you thought. 8% of you hacked Alien and 92% slashed it.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Man, I want to think and believe that the 8% that hacked that movie are just, you know, they want to believe, you know? They want to believe, but they're not there yet.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Let me tell you exactly who that 8% is. It's Paris and Paris' burner accounts because she thinks the movie is ancient bullshit and does not understand how it was preserved by the Library of Congress. What?

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Yeah, I remember that, and that's upsetting.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Yeah, we'll have a link to episode 97 in which we reviewed Alien 1979, and you can cry with us.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Well, we do have some comments from the social media. Rob says, I can't imagine having to explain to someone why Alien is awesome, and Rob, I am there with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

I'm pretty sure Rob was part of the recording, or at least commented on Paris' review of that movie.

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That would add up. Now, Miami Moviegoer says, because in space no one can hear you scream. Ooh.

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And no one can eat ice cream. Killer clowns from outer space. Oh, just see myself helping.

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We love it. We love it.

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Well, Doug Elvridge says chest bursting scene, groundbreaking at the time.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Oh, hell yeah. Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

I believe that. It is pretty intense. Also, chest breaking. There you go. That's the one. Good job.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Little O'Neal's 16 says a gay awakening occurred. Because of who? That's the question I maybe it's little one kneel. I forget. But who had the awakening? Who was it caused by? That's what we need to know.

SPEAKER_04 2:41

Because I know Sigornia Weaver gives many a girl a gay awakening as Ripley, but also were you thinking about the xenomorph? Were you think about the actor who plays the xenomorph? We don't know who you are. And therefore we don't know who gave you a gay awakening in this 1979 film.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Maybe it was the buckets of KY Jelly and the tongue punching.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Oh yeah, there it is. Alright. There it is. It's the tongue punching. And we're already after dark.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Alright, Life of John Paul says it's too dark. Needs more lighting.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

No, come on. Too dark. Needs more lighting. Get out of here.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

It's only effective if it's dark. It's fucking space.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

It's perfect.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

But I do want to commend you for your name, though. Life of John Paul. I almost thought you said Life of Sean Paul. That would have been something.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

I think the comment here from Marina really sums everything up. It says Ellen Ripley, case in point. I'm with it.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Yeah. I did forget her name was Ellen, though. I feel like I only refer as Ripley. She does have a first name.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

At this point, it's, you know, it's like uh it's like Prince. It's just Ripley. I agree. And last one here, shout out to Ruth. She said it's the alien movie, period. And there it is.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Mic drop.

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Cement that shit. And special occasion here, we also have a voicemail to listen to from one of our listeners.

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Oh yeah. We're gonna roll the tape now from the hackerslash hotline.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Hi everyone! I'm Alexandra. I go by Strange and Unusual on Instagram. First off, uh Sigorni Weaver, I adore her. Ripley is such a badass character, and I love this movie for that reason. I became an aliens fan later on in life, and I love sci-fi. I love how badass she is. The aliens, they're like oh metallic and weird, and they don't look scary, but they'll turn your ass into gunk and slime. I do feel like they could have gone way harder with the gore. I needed more blood, I needed more guts and cuffs, and and and I needed more filth. But other than that, I really love this franchise. Not every movie is perfect. I I know we're just you know, we're talking about part one. I will say one and two are my favorite in in the franchise. Like I said, Ripley's a motherfucking badass. So yeah, I'm sure there's more I want to say, but that's all I have for now. So bye guys.

SPEAKER_04 5:03

Wow, I love the enthusiasm here.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Definitely agree. Sigourney Weaver is badass, obviously. I think she's an iconic final girl for a reason, right? So I am 100% with you there.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

I think the real takeaway here is that alien and and other alien movies are really for everyone of every age, you know, they're for the whole family.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Not the family-friendly aliens.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Absolutely. You can start watching this at 10, you can start watching this at 45, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Okay. Well, I mean, you're not wrong. I wanted to go see tonight's movie with Allie and her 11-year-old son, and this is his first R-rated horror movie in movie theater. So I would say fun for the whole family.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Awesome. Absolutely agreed. What a great way to introduce somebody to the wonderful world of sci-fi and sci-fi horror. Well, last thing here, we've got some new patrons. We want to welcome to the family. We've got Thomas, Elizabeth, Ray, Jared, Dalton, Josh, and Kara or Cara. We talked about the other night. It's Kara. That's right. What's up, fam? Guess what? You're part of us now. We exist because of you, and we appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Hell yeah. Welcome, ghouls and gals.

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Our chest are bursting with love for you.

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And that's our follow-up.

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Well, over thirty years ago, a deleted scene from Aliens sparked an idea that's finally come to fruition. Pede Alvarez, inspired by a moment in the special edition of Aliens, began to wonder what life would be like for a group of kids growing up on a colony still decades away from full terraforming. That thought led to the creation of a new story within the Alien Universe centered around younger characters. Now, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company, there was uncertainty about the future of the Alien franchise. But in March 2022, Alvarez pitched his vision. A story that would be unconnected to previous films, yet respectful of the established lore. James Cameron even provided input at the script level, and during the film stayed true to the world he helped create. This film is set between the events of Alien and Aliens, following a group of young space colonizers who, while scavenging a derelict space station, encounter one of the most terrifying life forms in the universe. This week, we're talking about Alien Romulus. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Oh gosh, I was so cautiously optimistic. I didn't want to look at any trailers when I heard there was trailers. I think I saw I caught a peep of one though, because you just have to sometimes. But really, it's hard, you know? Prometheus and Alien Covenant, they were just so try-hard. And I loved them. They're still great. They're just not at the top of the franchise for me. And I was expecting something in between. There's something in between the greatness that is Alien and Aliens, and all the way to maybe Prometheus and maybe Alien Covenant at the worst. I was hoping Fed Averes is going to give us something that's better than those, that's fresher. Of course, going to be better than Alien Resurrection, but that was a given, but hopefully closer to the original greatness.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

We know that this film takes place between the events of Alien 1979 and Aliens 1986. It's set in like 2142, so like 20 years after the events of Alien, and about 37 some odd years, or something like that, before the events of Alien. So what I was curious to see is this installment going to have any direct connections to the predecessors or anything following this timeline. I'm also hoping that we get some really good moments with the Alien, right? Like the xenomorphs or whatever. Thinking of those iconic moments that we get in Alien 1979, I'm really hoping that we get some of that in this movie.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

Yeah, I'll be honest, I didn't have many expectations, but rather some concerns because perhaps this franchise would be oversaturated when I realized how many freaking movies there are in the Alien franchise or Alien Adjacent, right? And would I need to watch a lot of them to be able to understand what's actually going on? You know, luckily I didn't because of its placement in the timeline. But I was also curious to see how having a younger cast was going to tackle these xenomorphs, obviously. Like how was that gonna go on? Was it gonna be a little too cheesy? So some slight hesitations, but nothing that, you know, deterred me from being excited to see this film. And I think in part that's because I'm not a major alien franchise fan, like one of my very good friends, Ripley, who obviously, based on her name, you can imagine, is obsessed with this film. So I got the extreme honor to see it with her in theaters, and I feel like that was very helpful because if I ever needed to know something, she was holding my hand throughout the way.

SPEAKER_04 9:43

Absolutely incredible. And I'm so glad you had that experience with her. See, this is one of those franchises, much like the Omen, which we recently covered, where I respect it, I have some reverence for it, but I don't necessarily have a lot of emotional investment or particular care for it. Ellen Ripley is a fucking badass, okay? There's no denying that. And so you have to really pay respect to a franchise that's built on the back of one woman. However, going into this, I wasn't that excited. I was excited about the experience of it. I was excited about covering it for the show. But I don't have the same fire within me that I would for a new slasher. So while I didn't go in with a lot of expectations, I did go in with a hope. And I went in with a hope that this would not be a rinse-repeat of Alien from 1979, and I really, really hoped they'd make it just a touch quicker paced or a touch more interesting. Because Alien works in the context of what that movie is. It's a slow burn at the beginning, and then things really ramp up, and then all hell breaks loose. And I love that. It's great. However, I don't think it would play the same in a movie today. So I'm at least pleased to report that throughout this whole movie I found myself ridiculously entertained the whole way through. I was tense, maybe not scared, but definitely tense, and actually even momentarily shocked.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

I think it's interesting that you talked about the pacing and not wanting it to be the rinse and repeat and you know, talking about specifically slow start to like really just action-packed third act or what have you. And I do feel like this movie was a little slow coming out of the gate, just like maybe Alien 1979, but it did pick up for sure later on, and to your point, entertained throughout the entire film. That's I think the interesting bit because it wasn't like this was boring or anything like that. It did start off a bit slow, but it definitely was interesting. The characters that it gives you were interesting in it, and the story keeps you entertained. I was also visually stunned throughout this movie. I think it was just a really beautiful film to watch. I had this strange feeling while watching this movie because I know what is likely going to happen to people, right? And I they make a lot of the same mistakes early on that many others have made before them, and I find myself having more fun than anything while watching this one because of that point of view, which I think is a little bit interesting. There definitely was that perfect alien vibe, and they created some fantastic moments that allowed you to really have fun with the movie, but also get that same tense, gruesome feeling that you want in an alien movie.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

It was such a fun movie to watch in a theater, though, let alone in Dolby. The sound design here, the subtle glow of the technology on screen. Everything just felt so cinematic. It really just felt like a movie that belongs in a theater. And the entire time you're watching, you might be able to recline if you got the nice seats, but in many cases, you're gonna be tilting forward because it does kind of keep you so interested. And sure, sometimes you know what's gonna happen, but sometimes that's part of the fun, is because we are informed as a viewer, we've seen other properties, and we know these characters don't know what's going to happen and they don't know the danger that they're in. And so you're sitting there leaning forward, tense. My wife really was just like so caught up in a lot of the moments. She doesn't, she watches a lot of horror movies because of me, but it's not like this is her necessarily her cup of tea on her own. And so we watch these things, she still has that reaction, which is great for me, you know. I because I don't have a reaction whatsoever when I'm watching horror movies anymore, except for enjoying them and and having a little bit of fun, but that doesn't show up as jumping.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

I couldn't agree more in terms of just moving up from your seat, being on the edge, looking to your friends. That's exactly what this theater experience was for me. I felt like, again, being someone who has seen a couple of the films when they were younger and just didn't really remember a lot of them watching it with someone who is basically the female embodiment of Alien. We both aligned on how much fun we were having. I think that this film felt extremely digestible for any fan of the franchise, no matter if you're new or old, lightly have seen maybe some of the films or not, and it keeps the entertainment going. And I know a lot of people are saying that there's like a lot of mega fan service that comes with this film, right? But to be honest with you, of course there is, right? Like this is already the I don't even know what number we're at now in terms of this franchise, but we've been down this road. There's gonna be some nods to the earlier films, but I don't think that it's very much like in your face, right? And and down your throat, trying to make it very evident to you that this is a little nod and Easter egg to something. I dare say that there is another film that's in theaters right now that's not horror. It's actually a Marvel film that I love that is way more in your face and you know fan service-y than this one.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

For sure.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

100%. And that's the thing, you cannot have a franchise as iconic as alien and not pay some level of service to fans. Let's stop pretending that that's a bad thing to do. What is a bad thing to do is to be heavy-handed with that and to completely jam the entire uh DNA of the film full of just moments from the past. I think what Feather Alfred's does in this movie is really sprinkle it and season it well. But this movie stands on its own. The most surprising thing for me was how much more invested I was in this than past alien films. Those movies I was watching for Ripley. But this movie I found myself watching in yes, because to some extent I have to, right? But I was quickly bought into the characters, and that was such a pleasant departure for me for any kind of sci-fi film outside of Star Wars. I usually have a hard time like really grasping onto that. This was a younger cast of characters. I found that a lot easier to relate to and hold on to than watching a bunch of characters I didn't care about in the original get wrecked.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Yeah, I'm right there with you. You know, you mentioned fan service and really not wanting it to be heavy-handed, right? Because that can really take away from allowing this movie to really be on its own. And I gotta say, what I was really surprised with with this film was not the fan service. I was really surprised that this film was able to pull off the same feeling, the same style from the early alien films. The way the set design looked to the way the aliens look, it just feels the way it did when I fell in love with the franchise as a kid.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

Yeah, I mean, listen, our patrons will hear this in B-sides, but this movie really is the Rogue One of the Alien franchise. When you think about a modern film that perfectly captures 70s filmmaking.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah. That was also the biggest surprise for me. I mean, the tone of this movie feels more at home in the alien universe than the past like three alien films.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

100%.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

And that is crazy that like you could legit watch Alien, watch this movie, and then watch Aliens and call it a trilogy and be done with it. And you would be probably very satisfied.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

I love that you said that because for someone like myself that needs to kind of reintroduce themselves into this world, for so many, you know, horror fans that are wanting to get into the sci-fi realm of things, but don't know how to start. Obviously, we're gonna tell them alien, just give them something simple. And I think about it in terms of like when we do our Friday the 13th episodes, and if you're a listener and you've heard those, you know where I stand on those films. But I'm using it as an example because there's so many of them and it's daunting. I don't want to have to watch five billion of them. I already do that with Marvel. I don't want to keep having to do it every single time that I explore something horror-related. Saw is another one, like we could go on and on, right? But I do want to get into sci-fi films. And if you tell me that there's like nine of them that I've got to see, it's like, God, with what time? But if you just give me that the tell me that the first three is all I need and it's just like real good development there, that's gonna get me locked in. And then I can keep going and then I can make my own decisions in terms of whether I want to keep watching the prequels and all the other things that came after it. Terms of my disappointment though, there's some use of CGI here, friends, that I think was a big swing and miss, especially when the film goes back to the use of animatronics, which I thought was amazing. It's almost like why sell out in this way when apparently for lore's sake it isn't even necessary. That's from what I've been told from my source. I'm interested to see what your thoughts are, Mac, on that later in the spoiler zone. But the CGI was just really intense in one particular moment. And I I don't know. I I it seems like why? Why do it?

SPEAKER_04 18:44

I think we are a thousand percent aligned in that disappointment, and I cannot wait to discuss what that is in the spoiler zone.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Agreed. A thousand percent. You know, it's one of those things that bothers you in the moment, but you just you're like, whatever, I'm just gonna move past it, keep enjoying everything else about this movie and not really focusing on that. But I think we also mentioned earlier that this is a film that you enjoy to watch with others, and that is because sure, it doesn't scare me, but my wife jumped and several other people jumped while watching this movie like a dozen times. And sometimes it was a sound, other times it was something happening on screen that they could see happening for seconds, but once it delivered, once we got the actual thing on the full view, they still jumped.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

And I think that just shows like how effective that the xenomorphs are when used properly.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

I am those people. That was me. I jumped, I screamed, popcorn may or may not have jumped up in the air along with me.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

This whole experience of this movie should have been one of the houses at Halloween Horror Nights, and that's a huge miss, I feel like, for Universal Studios. But man, I just think that this movie was able to capture that same fear factor that the alien and aliens did back in the day. You have this gruesome sci-fi creature feature going on, and then it starts to blend in those beautiful and suspenseful moments where the victim is being hunted by the alien, and that's where the horror of it all really shines through. And I think, yeah, you it might not get everybody, but what it gives you visually and what it builds off of, and just the feeling that it has, it is absolutely perfect and absolutely horrific.

SPEAKER_04 20:24

100% I agree with that. This movie manages to make a xenomorph feel somehow even scarier to me than the other movies I've seen in this franchise. And it approaches that fear differently. I think one of the best things that Alien 1979 does is show you very little until you suddenly see a lot, and this movie adopts a similar approach, but there's something about the way this movie delivers this entity as this like ultimate predator that for me felt more threatening. And so it didn't scare me, sure. It did gross me out. There are a few really gross moments in this movie, and I mean just brace yourself going into that, and I can't wait to see how Sean breaks that down to the gore score. But this movie is overwhelmingly refreshing for me. And I say this as someone who generally watches things like, okay, Star Wars, I like the nods to the back catalogue of films, Halloween. We got a new trilogy of films that peppers in moments and nods to its entire franchise and its predecessors. But going into this and not knowing the full scope of the alien franchise, it feels so good to see a movie where if there are nods to it, it feels subtle enough that it's not blatantly hitting me in the head as someone who isn't that familiar with the franchise.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Yeah, I mean, it just feels so grounded in the alien universe. The story is pretty familiar for Space and Sci fi Horror, right? So you get a group of Unwitting people trapped with something really bad and they're not prepared for it and they have to fight to survive. Who gives a crap? That's what made Alien great. You just have a really basic thing and then you execute it really well. Not having the upper hand, that's always fun to watch. There being an actual threat to life and safety up to the very last minute of the movie is what makes alien movies amazing. And I'm glad that it didn't stray here. I'm glad that they stuck to a formula that works really well. They didn't have to go completely formulaic. They didn't have to say, let's just like do alien or aliens and then like recast some people. No. They're like, what what about it is what made it successful? And sure, and you look and you look through here, there's peppered in moments and just the technology they wanted to kind of make it look like the first one, and that's great. They've got just like themes here that I think really tie back to it, and that is a great way to pay homage, but to also stay true to the source material.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah, I do enjoy substance if done right, and I feel like this movie definitely explores the lore of this universe, and I think it was done the right way. I feel like there was just enough continuity, just enough fan service there to keep the older fans really engaged, and it has its own story that it follows that allows for a newer audience to also follow along, because I don't think that you have to necessarily have watched, I mean, I dare say any other alien movie to watch this movie and still have a good time. I think even though this movie sits between Alien 1979 and aliens on the timeline, it puts forward its own simple story, and for that I think it feels original.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Absolutely. And again, going back to the fan service, it's like there's a nods that are going to be so clear to those that are invested in the franchise and have seen all the films and whatnot, but it's so subtle. And even for me that I've seen two or three in my adult life, I was like, could it be? And I look to Ripley and she's like, Yeah, you know, and I love that. I love that the majority of the film feels like I'm watching something fresh with sprinkles of nods to all of these films. In addition, I know that Fede Alvarez is a big fan of Alien Isolation. So that's the newer video game that you were talking about, Mac. That I don't know if you've played it yet, but he is a major fan of that video game. And when I left the theater, I was, you know, looking things up and he even has such a really cool Easter egg that you would never know unless you looked up that article, or maybe you were like a major fan of the game. So much so that Ripley, who loves that game, didn't even catch it herself. It made her feel like, now I gotta go see it again, because I can't believe he even found a way to subtly include that. So I think its originality not only ties to the plot, but also with the execution and how he can seamlessly make this that love letter feel without making it so blatantly obvious.

SPEAKER_04 25:01

Yeah, you know, and something else that stands apart from the rest of the franchise for me is the approach to the ending. Now, in terms of scale, you know, and I know there's a description that we mentioned here just a few moments ago, right? The feeling of danger up until the last moment of the movie. But the predecessor, and even aliens from what I recall, leaves me with a different type of feeling at the end of it. Like I'm walking away from that experience with a certain impression or a certain vision of what could unfold for these characters next. And this one feels much darker. It's a little bit of optimism, but it feels darker. And I think even the tonal difference there makes us feel pretty unique.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

Oh yeah. I love the ending. It felt it felt really right for the franchise for me. And I think it just it went back to the roots of of the alien movies, and I think that's why I liked it. You know, that you mentioned that they do feel a little lighter at the end of those other movies, right? But then the start of the next movie is like, nah, you shouldn't have you shouldn't have felt good at all. And that was a fun way to kind of pick things up each time for the first three movies for Alien Resurrection, you know, just we won't talk about it. But for this film here, sure, it goes a little bit darker at the end, but that just makes me want to see, like, gosh, what could they do if they made a sequel to this? And would it still be before aliens or would it be in the future? Would it be between aliens and alien, you know, three? That'd be really interesting because there'd be some really fun stuff they could throw in there if they wanted to. I'm good either way, but I think that's what it did at the end, because it just said there's so many possibilities. Because you when you watch an alien movie, once you've seen a couple, you realize they could pick this up. It doesn't matter how long it's been, it doesn't matter anything. If they wanted to make another one, they would find a way to make the story work. And if they did that here, it would be one hell of a watch.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Yeah, I mean, if there's one thing we know, they can choose to plug in any timeline and figure it out and just we're gonna watch it. We're gonna watch it. But man, the ending of this movie for me was fantastic. The entire third act of this film was fantastic. It's action-packed, it's emotional, it's gruesome, it has some resolution, it looks great, and it's full of tension. So they're really you could not go wrong with the ending of this movie, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Completely agree. It's phenomenal, the entire third act. Absolutely so much fun. I appreciate that Avres is leaning more into the dynamics of some character tropes that you wouldn't expect versus the typical like romance and and whatnot that you might find in other horror films or sci-fi horrors. I think that that's also so refreshing to see because it really changes how you're gonna feel at the end of this film versus such a blueprint that we tend to find in other films, right? Especially when they lean more into romance versus friendships and you know, family dynamics, all of that. So in that third act, you're seeing all that come to a head and then some. There was a moment there where I was like, wow, yeah, this is I'm feeling light, everything's gonna be okay. Nope. Let's dial it to like a thousand. Let's make sure that the shit really hits the fan real fast. That's when I was like popcorn was flying up in the air. I gotta be real with you. So the ending sticks the landing without a doubt.

SPEAKER_04 28:26

Well, it seems like this bodes very well for our ratings, but before we actually start scoring it, Sean, how would you rate the core score?

SPEAKER_01 28:34

You know, this one really felt like it had a good amount of gore and effects because with an alien movie, we have more than just human guts. You know what I mean? We've got a plethora of different things happening. I honestly think this had just as much, if not more, gore than the OG Alien 1979 for sure. I feel like the goriest of them all would probably be Alien Covenant, from what I remember, but this one had some really great moments with some really gnarly visuals, earning itself an acidic medium, medium-high gore score.

SPEAKER_04 29:08

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Well, unfortunately, PETA would be extremely upset because it's a science fiction horror film, friends, and sometimes rats get caught in the crossfire.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings in. Alien Romulus from 2024. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_02 29:28

I'll start this one off here, and I'm just gonna make it really easy for you. Go see this movie. And if you can see it in theater, go see it in theater. I don't really love going to movie theaters anymore. If I can be at home in the comfort of my own, you know, couch in my living room, that's where I'm gonna be. And some some movies that I get really excited about, I'm like, you know what, I'll just wait till it's streaming. Not this one. Not only did I did I go opening night, which is you know something we do sometimes, I was excited for it. And I brought along like six or seven other people. We just like we set up a little group message there, and we whoever wanted to come, they would buy their ticket, we'd get all together, get close by just so we could experience it together. We didn't even hang out that much afterwards. But when we did, we were all so stoked. We had so much to say about this film, and it was just a really good time. The visuals here are amazing. The story keeps it true to the themes of Alien and Aliens, and even Alien 3, and I definitely respect it for that. This feels like somebody made a movie who really respects the franchise, or at least what the franchise could be, because it has its low moments, and this tried to kind of leap over those and say, let's let's focus on the good and the stuff that keeps the fans happy. And it and it was nice, it was not fan service in the ways that we're used to it. You know, Marvel has really shown if you just throw a face at them, they'll be happy. No, we didn't get that. We had to integrate it into the story, make it work with the mythos, and they did it so incredibly successfully here. It's just all around such a great film and such a good time.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah, I feel like this movie is a perfect example of how you take everything that worked from the successful first couple of films in this franchise and add just enough of its own flavor to really shine and not feel like a regurgitated product or a microwave dinner that just doesn't satisfy the craving. You know what I mean? I loved how everything in this movie felt like the first two films in the franchise, from the set design to the way the alien creatures look, like I said before. It was just fucking badass. I do think it takes a minute for this film to get going, but if you can be patient, I promise you it will not disappoint you. Once shit starts going down, it's just relentless and full of action and emotions. This film is arguably one of the strongest installments in the franchise since maybe I don't know, dare I say aliens. I don't know because I think I don't know, I think Prometheus is really fucking good. So maybe it's right there with Prometheus in a battle for third. This movie has some really great, tense and suspenseful moments. It has a story with characters that you can invest in and isn't afraid to pull on your heart strings or impale your heart with all the glorious gore. So I don't know. If you're an alien fan, if you're looking for something that sticks to the original recipe while also not afraid to reinvent the wheel just a little bit, then you're gonna have a great time watching this one. There's so many nods and Easter eggs sprinkled in here that you can't not have a good time because this felt like, Binks, you said it, a love letter to the early films giving us that old school sci-fi horror feel, and then catapults us into the third act where we get some new flavor that cemented its rightful spot in the franchise. This is an alien tongue punch right to the face kind of slash for me.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

I love it. Look, unlike some other franchises that continue to dish out films and keep failing, the Alien franchise revives itself from the slippery slopes of its prequels and most recent films. There's a couple reasons why. That is, it was a great balancing act. It wasted no time giving you the basic cast tropes while giving you just enough character development required for each character and exploring dynamics you don't tend to see at the forefront. It establishes the circumstances and motives of these young adults in a way that ties into what I would think is like the overarching alien franchise theme that I've gathered so far, and that's basically capitalism sucks, truthfully. And like I said, it's something for any newcomer or seasoned alien fan of the franchise. And if I needed to attribute a film that got me fully re-engaged into this franchise and wanting to explore the whole thing, it's this one. So stop what you're doing, tell your friends and family, just like Max said, go see it in IMAX if you can, if you got the money for it, because I did, and that was one hell of a ride, because this one is for sure a slash.

SPEAKER_04 33:59

Well, I don't know how I could possibly say it better than any of that, but I'll take my own little spin on it. What's best about this movie is the fact that it's a tale of brother and sisterhood. Take a moment, pretend you're me. You don't really care that much about the alien franchise. You're into some sci-fi, but maybe you're not a huge sci-fi fan, and maybe you like slashers, maybe you want a gory good time in a horror movie. This is a movie where the themes of the original are still there. We have the emotional impact of a good drama, but we also have an antagonist in this movie that feels like a slasher slipping in and out of the shadows. And I thought that was an excellent time. What's great about this, it's made with such a high level of quality that it really re-engages me as just a casual viewer in the same way, in the same impact that I think the first omen had for me. I didn't really care about the omen movies overall, you know, you respect them, but the first omen made me actively enjoy it. And the crazy thing here is that this movie, while having some emotional moments, manages to walk this line of being entertaining but not pandering, emotional but not exploitative. And for this to be able to have a moment where it shocked me, and I actually held my chest for a second, I think that's undeniably a slash. And with that, Alien Romulus has earned a universal slash, unsurprisingly. But there is a lot more to discuss when we return from our break. So if you've seen it in theaters, please let us know. What would you rate it? You can join the conversation for free in our Discord server. Now you can find the link to join that conversation in our show notes. And if you haven't seen it yet, and you're listening to this post, it's theatrical run, you can follow the link in our show notes to see where you can watch it right now. Now, when we return from our break, we'll dive deep into the spoiler zone territory and also unpack that hokey CGI moment that Binks was mentioning earlier. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

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SPEAKER_01 37:43

But there are some kills that we do see that are really fucking rad. So I gotta ask, and hopefully, Chris Binks, you have different favorite kills this time, but were there any kills that hit you in the gut, like gravity pulling you down in full force?

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Listen here. I'm sad to say it, and I I'm confident I might be taking a few peoples, but let's talk about Navarro, who had the chest burster scene. For me, there was a couple moments to really dissect here. This is a movie, obviously, it's set between here and the first alien and then aliens. We had that iconic chest bursting scene in Alien. This movie cannot recreate that. If they did the same exact thing, that would be a travesty.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 38:28

So it has to be different in setting, it has to be different in scope. But what this does with making you think, okay, maybe there's a 50-50% shot that Navarro might be fine, except she isn't. She gets to back to the ship and Kay is holding her in her arms, and then you realize that this thing is inside of her. We see the X-ray torch, we see this thing moving around. And if you've seen the previous film, you know what's coming. But what I also love is that it's so different because if you haven't seen this movie, then you don't know what to expect. Is this thing gonna come out of her throat? Is it gonna like completely make her explode? This is a moment where I turned to Allie and her son, and I was just trying to watch their reaction to a chest bursting scene. But to see this thing come out and to not be as explosive, I thought Alvarez was brilliant for not making this the same exact tone as the original.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Yeah, for sure. But and and thank God, because it was super well done the way they did it in this film, just watching it kind of like break through the chest and emerge its little head, you know?

SPEAKER_04 39:39

Definitely thinking wazza! Waza.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

I love that TBT. I was gonna say though, can we talk about a little bit of the logic? It's just funny to me. I I was talking to Ripley about this because leave it to some young adults to put two and two together real fucking fast that you can just cry out that tail and then snap it off. Like or rather, not snap it off, but like, you know, to get them to remove the face hugger when from my understanding it's like when a face hugger's gotcha, that's it, buddy. You're you're a goner. Goodbye, farewell, which obviously is the case, technically, right? But I think it was just funny that in my mind I'm like, yeah, the cryo thing. Like, why didn't these scientists and all these smart ass people and alien think of the same thing?

SPEAKER_04 40:26

You know, the younger you are, the smarter you are.

SPEAKER_03 40:29

True. But I will say, my gripe with that kill in particular is that it was revealed in the goddamn trailer. It was pretty much revealed in the in the trailer, and that's annoying because I made the mistake, I guess, of watching the trailer, which I usually do. But when I'm watching the movie now, I'm just waiting to see. All right, well, I know what happens to this girl, and it sucks. You don't want to go into the movie waiting for the event inevitable trailers just be given too much now, you know.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

I don't remember a damn thing about this trailer, so that's okay for me. But obviously, you know what's gonna happen to her because of the poster. Right. They should have had a few more people with shaved heads, I think.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Yeah, maybe that too. Good point. Well, we don't have the same favorite kill for this one, so that's great. Maybe it's because deep down you knew which one was really gonna be my favorite one, and you're just being kind. Yeah, take it away. All right, let's give it for the vaginal kill.

SPEAKER_04 41:25

Mm-hmm. That motherfucker. Bjorn.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

I couldn't stand that bandana man from the second that he opened his mouth, which is fine because the character tropes are doing the thing, right? We've got one for each person, and we know those typical, you know, setups where there's gotta be someone who isn't likable, that of course has that revenge, you know, aspect to him, but he's such a dick, truthfully, and I can't get over it. And even his own cousins admit it, so that's fine. But what I thought was really funny was that pod, I guess. The setup, what it look like, friends. I'm not even trying to be lewd, but if you saw the movie, you know it looks like a vagina. It's a fucking vagina, and it looks like things are secreting out of the vagina, all right? In this case, acid, which I feel like does that make this movie a feminist film? I think so. Well, yeah, you gotta check out the discharge though.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

Oh, the no, not the vaginal discharge.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Get a gyno appointment, but it was pretty gnarly, it was just a lot, it was a lot. The acid was burning right through him, and I was maybe the only person cheering, perhaps. I didn't really look around, I was in my own element.

SPEAKER_04 42:37

Oh no, I was cheering internally. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_03 42:39

Good, good. I was having the time of my life.

SPEAKER_04 42:42

This was certainly the most satisfying kill of the entire film.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

By far and wide. But I will tell you, can I say just real quick, what someone that didn't die? But I will tell you if he did, I would have hacked this film, and that's Andy. I'll talk my speech about Andy's coming soon, all right? But if he had died, I swear by everything, I would have been like, God damn it, this movie's good, but I just can't I can't slash it knowing this has happened.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Oh gosh. Please go, please go do a an entire binge rewatch of this franchise and see how it plays with your emotions. Just do it.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

No.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

Yes, you know, I think people have had uh a taste put in their mouth because of Prometheus and because of Alien Covenant and feelings about David and whatnot, but no, go back and go back and rewatch everything and get a very different feeling. Really have your heart crushed. I think Bjorn's kill was Bjorn's kill was solid, right? It was a solid kill for sure. But the kill I was waiting for was Tyler's kill. That's what I was waiting for. I want the classic kill to the face, to the back of the head. I want that second mouth to pop out and boom, steal some brain. I I wanted to see it like the whole time, and we really only saw like the effects of it, like it had already happened. Tyler, we got to see. It happened for real. And it looked like he was about to say something really like cool and badass. Nah, game over, dude. It's just, it was so quick. And I I love that. And this whole environment that we're in is so reminiscent of aliens. That's I think where it was introduced. And I love that as well. So we're playing playing a little uh you know fan service there by showing us that that's a lot of fun. But the fact that he's up there, he's doomed. He's not coming out of there, it's not gonna happen. But when he starts to say something, it doesn't matter what he was gonna say. He might have already said I didn't even hear it because I was just focused on that second mouth popping out and punching right into his skull. Doesn't doesn't matter, it's game over now.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Yeah, the tongue punch to the eye is definitely up there with some of the best kills in this movie, but we definitely can't discredit Kay getting killed by her own mutated alien humanoid baby. Because, man, what a turn of events that was. Like giving birth to this thing, one, and it, you know, maybe honorable mention to the baby that was inside of the womb, right? Because we don't know, like she got injected with the weird shit, right? And man, that thing came out like a a mutated monster of some kind of humanslash alien thing.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

For sure. Okay. Can can I just give a shout out, actually, now that we're talking about the mutated monster baby tall thing. Let's give a shout out to Robert Bobrowski. I hope I'm saying it right, but the point is that that was an actual actor.

SPEAKER_01 45:35

I know.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

That was a person who is seven foot seven, all right? Holy fuck. He's giving Javier Bote. I mean, yeah, yeah. So I just want to give a shout out to him because he looks very scary, and I would have believed that that whole entire thing was CGI. I know that was a person, obviously, not like that, guys.

SPEAKER_04 45:54

Not like that, but you know someone being able to move like that is impressive nonetheless. But yeah, for sure. The Kay and her death, but then also just the birth of this thing. It was the first omen all over again. It was we're getting a lot of bodily autonomy action in the theaters this year. However, I I do want to give a little asterisk a little 0.5 because there's absolutely no way Kay's actual baby survived that gravity fall. She was no longer pregnant. I can't I refuse to believe it.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

Yeah, okay. So that's a that's a hot take because maybe, yeah, maybe it did die in the womb, and then that thing brought it back to life and then infused and morphed into what it ends up being. That's okay. That's a good take. I like that.

SPEAKER_04 46:43

I think it took over the the form of the baby that was on its way, which is heartbreaking nonetheless. Either way, R.I.P. Decay in her baby and the baby that could have been.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

Yeah. What what's great about that whole setup though, it was it was a hundred percent in reference to Alien Resurrection. I am sorry, you can't convince me otherwise. The look of it was very Alien Resurrection, the dispatching of it was legit. Like I can't wait for you both to watch it because it's gonna be so much fun from one of the uh one of the kills in that movie. But no, it's it's so cool. It this this one was weird. I am still torn about how I feel about the look of that of that baby alien thing, whatever it it I it's gonna get a new name. Every every xenomorph has a name. So I'm curious what this one's gonna be called. You know, the the predator alien combo when an alien like is born from a predator is called a predalian. So there's names for everything. So I can't wait to see what this one is named.

SPEAKER_04 47:41

Maybe it's the uh Genomorph.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

Oh my perfect.

SPEAKER_04 47:45

He looks like a gene, you know?

SPEAKER_02 47:47

Yeah, I don't know. I could buy it. I'm here for it. I do have to say there's something that made this movie look so spectacular, and that we've mentioned going back to the roots, right? It's the practical effects here for me because you can see CGI when it happens, and they're the the the look of the face when it was CGI'd was so bad and so so cheesy. But when the stuff is actually done with practical effects, it is classy, it is so real feeling. The aliens look fantastic, their movements look fantastic. There's like a clip from behind the scenes where they show the actual like robotic version of this thing moving, and I'm like, holy cow, it was so it's so much better than anything CGI could come up with, just having real stuff. And I I think Rook had to be practical as well, and during during many parts, right? Because if not, they just got better all of a sudden, the look of that. But no, I just the practical effects here I think made the movie for me. Had it been 100% CGI, I I don't think I would have enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Yeah, I think you're right on there. I loved that they used the special effects team from Aliens 1986 to bring this movie to life because they ultimately were invited to work on the set design and the practical effects of the creatures, which I think is why we were able to have that same feeling that we loved from the earlier films. And yes, practical effects, you know I'm a sucker for practical effects. That's always going to be at the top of my list. But the set design also and the way the movie looked, just because it fits so well into how the early films looked, and I feel like it was a nostalgic experience that really, I don't know, it made me more excited as I was watching the film. It was one of the first things that I noticed when this movie came on, and I was just like, oh man, this is so cool to watch. It really brings me back to watching those films back in the day.

SPEAKER_03 49:40

I think that aside from, of course, like you guys are saying, the practical effects which are incredible, we could obviously talk about the cinematography here and how it pays homage to so many of the other prior films. You know, when we we talk about the blue mist in reference to Alien or like that dark contrast that I know one of our listeners had mentioned is too dark, but in my opinion, I think it's great because that's what creates this like mystique and fear about the xenomorphs. But I wanted to also highlight like just the set design is insane. It is so freaking good. The way that um Alvarez makes these vastly large hallways seem so small when they need to be. These spaces and these rooms that seem so gigantic, but in terms of when there's chaos or when you're running away from a massive ass alien, you feel like you you have nowhere to go. I love that. And I think it has a lot to do with the set design. And I wanted to go back to what I was mentioning in terms of alien isolation to reveal, if I may, what the cool perk was about, or rather, the cool homage to that was. So in the movie, there are lots of phones in every scene where there's about to be something terrible. So anything that's about to like, oh shit, something's about to happen, whether it be the alien is gonna show up or something to that effect, right? Where things are not gonna be going great, you're gonna see a phone. And the reason is because in the game, Alien Isolation, that is kind of where you save, I believe. Like that and it takes so long for you to save in the game. So in the game, apparently you're like on the phone and it takes a while, so it builds up that tension. You hope that you're saving and before the alien gets to you. So that was his little homage, and you can barely see the phones, but they're there every single time to whether whether it's to like warn you of what's to come or to create that unsettling feeling. So I thought that was really nice. And again, great job on the production team for including even that small bit of a Easter egg to a video game. That's awesome. That's great.

SPEAKER_04 51:37

I feel like I need to give that video game a shot. I haven't played a single piece of Alien Property.

SPEAKER_03 51:42

I watched Ripley play it and my other friend Jonathan play it once, and uh it seems like something that would scare the shot of me for sure. So I don't know if I'd play it in the dark or anything like that, but if you do it, I'll I'll watch. In the dark, in the night? Hey, nice. Other thing that I wanted to highlight is Benjamin Wallfish scored this film, and the tension between me and the checkout button tomorrow when the vinyl drops is real high because he scored it chapter one and two. So I know that man was fire from the moment I saw in terms of the crew when I was looking up this movie on Letterboxd. So when I actually heard the score, I was like, God damn it, he did it again. He's got my money again.

SPEAKER_04 52:27

Again. Yeah. I can't wait to see how much money you drop tomorrow on that. Listen, there's so much in this movie to appreciate visually, even you know, the auditory experience of this. It was a bit loud for my taste, but it was still effective, and I think it it really plays with your sense of safety, and I think it builds a little bit of anxiety. But my absolute favorite thing in here, and maybe it's not a lot of credit to this movie, is the creature design and the scale of the aliens. This is something that could have looked absolutely terrible. But when I say the scale, I mean the sheer amount of aliens in this movie. We saw an entire ship get wrecked by one xenomorph, one chest burst, one face hugger. So imagine my surprise when my favorite scene comes and we have all these face huggers escaping in the cryo chamber. Holy shit. I ha okay, look, I've seen alien I've seen aliens, so I know there's more of these bitches out there. But to know that these things were just frozen on ice, like it's a microwave dinner in this cryo chamber? Sir, come on, what are we doing? It feels reckless even. But when these things are escaping, you know, we have Alien was described as Jaws in space. That whole scene felt like Jaws in space.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

It was such a cool scene, but even the moment that we get right before all of those like parasite face hugger things escape or start running amok, right? It's the scene where they put the chip or whatever from the other synthetic into Andy, and the way he looks when he reboots was completely fucked. Like that dude looked like he was possessed. He just went just like head back, eyes rolling, looking up at the skies, arms like it just looked so crazy. And then with the lighting in that room, man, that really set the tone for what was gonna follow.

SPEAKER_04 54:27

That shit was spooky.

SPEAKER_02 54:28

I absolutely loved that. And when we actually get to hear him speak, and they're like, what the heck? What's wrong with you? Who are you? That moment where he starts speaking is so good because that's gotta be fun as an actor to be able to play like two completely different characters, like change your accent up, you know, like really go for it. And that was great. It was such a huge payoff because now we have that original threat back that we didn't really know about an alien until towards the end. And now we have it from pretty much the start of the film that at any moment he could turn on them and they wouldn't know, or he could get them into a really impossible situation and they and they don't really know that that's what he's there to do. When it's revealed to them that he's just different, and they're like immediately like bing, that little hair on the back of their neck stands up, like uh-oh, what did we do? It's feeling a little bit off now. And it really, I just think like pays off so much later, but to like show us to show us that change in such a dramatic way was such a great choice.

SPEAKER_04 55:28

So yeah, he is one of many ticking time bombs for the plot in this movie.

SPEAKER_02 55:32

I did notice that. They made ample use of those.

SPEAKER_03 55:34

Well, this is a great segue to my favorite scene. If I could please have Siri play Andy, you're a Star by the Killers, because in truth, my favorite scene is any scene that involves Andy. So, ladies and gentlemen, settle in because the monologue is about to begin. Andy is probably one of my favorite characters of this year. Maybe I'm cheating by saying any scene that he's in is my favorite because sure. But David Johnson played the fuck out of this character. I beg of you to please watch Ry Lane. That's another film that he just did last year. It's a romantic comedy, but it just goes to show you how incredible of a range this actor has and up and coming, because he nails it two in a row, fantastic. But more in particular, I think it's so interesting that at the start of this film they're making you almost feel empathetic, they're making you feel like you want to root the hell out of a synthetic that are notoriously n antagonists in this film outside of the xenomorphs, obviously, right? Like I've seen Prometheus and I've seen Alien. I know that synthetics are not real great people, or you know, not people. So wow, do I love this character so much? And I feel conflicted about it because even when he is rebooted with with Rook's chip, I'm still like, but he has something in place. He's still making the wise decisions, guys. Like, not for anything, but in some cases he is smart and equipped with statistics and knowledge of whether they're more probable to survive or not, considering the circumstances. So if I had to pick one scene in particular that's my favorite, it really is that reintroduction because it's almost like, you know, like let me reintroduce myself. I'm this badass. I'm not a helpless, broken synthetic. I'm about to be the one that saves all of you. But not, but will. I just love it. I love the duality in that. And I think it goes so well with not only seeing a synthetic in a way that you haven't before, from my understanding. That's me going off of the movies that I've seen, but you're seeing them with a dynamic of having a sister, right? Uh someone that they care for. And I know, Chris, I'm sure you have so much to say about that because it was what you highlighted. I thought that was really cool. We're not focusing on a romantic trope about Rain and Tyler and their history and blah blah blah, who's the dad of Kay? None of that matters. Let's lean into siblings, let's lean into friendships. I really, really like that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

Yeah, it's just so good. I do think there were some moments in the film that added a little bit of much-needed humor because there was the scene where the crew first gets on the ship and starts taking off, and Tyler lights up that joint or whatever. Maybe it's a cigarette, a rolled hand-rolled cigarette, I don't know, but the gravity allows them to literally smoke the whole thing in one go. The actual one hitter quitter.

SPEAKER_03 58:45

Not that having a name.

SPEAKER_01 58:48

It's so good. It was so funny. That was one of the moments that made me laugh out loud in the theater.

SPEAKER_04 58:54

Listen, man, we love a good laugh. And one of the things that actually made me laugh was a really petty moment from Andy being I have to echo so much of what you said about Andy as a character. The fact that we see Andy as an endearing android, and it wastes no time revealing to us that that's the case. Obviously, he's getting his robotic ass beat in the middle of the street and we see the leaking milk for blood. I love that we got to have this different play on not only who he is, not only who this protector character is, but just redefining synthetics within this context. But there's that moment where you question how much was he actually feeling? Obviously, he's not supposed to have any feelings, but she is you know yelling at him after he refused to open the door for Kay. She says, How could you do that? He said, What? Leave someone behind? There is no damn reason that synthetic should have been that petty. He fucking dragged her. He absolutely dragged her. And I love the depth there. Being you also mentioned this uh bond of siblings, right? This brother-sister dynamic. I absolutely love that because to completely remove any chance of objectifying anybody in this movie, not having to worry about the burden of romance in this movie, it honestly just removed so much distraction from what I think are really excellent characters. Down from Rain being almost like the Han Solo of this movie who's just trying to find a way off planet and move on to a better life. It was just top-notch all around.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:31

Such a good call-up because you don't even think about it. I mean, you watch Alien, there's no romance there, really, right? You know, when you make it to Aliens, I think we're still pretty much the same. When you make it to Alien 3, it's not even about romance. It's it's about a friendship and can companionship, really. It's about having that that other person, and that's what I think led us to actually feel connected to these characters, is because like they had each other's backs and they had a history with each other, and that's effective there. It it's not about like I love you, dude. Oh my god, it's whatever. Kissy, kissy. No.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:05

Well, a hundred percent. Like it's this is loyalty through and through. People can be separated and people can be bought. But what you had in this movie was a sense of loyalty from a girl and her robot, a girl and her android, and then family, right? So, yeah, we had Navarro, who's also a part of this, but we have Bjorn to be the cousin of Tyler and Kay. But even down to this the station that they're on, Remus and Romulus were two twin brothers who were critical and crucial in the foundation of the Roman Empire. So this movie is very layered with that bond and the power of that bond throughout it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:44

Yeah, I think it just speaks to Andy as a character because I feel like, man, it's just hard to play an android, I would say, in the first place, and to be able to successfully do that, but also play two different androids, you know, there's not much more we can really say about that performance, but it is just worth notating how talented this actor is for being able to pull that off. But I also think that, man, Rain is such a badass in this movie. She does some pretty fucking cool shit, right? I'm just thinking of, you know, towards the end in the third act where she's really just shooting up all of those fucking aliens, zero gravity, just shooting them up with the brilliance of the like zero gravity not allowing that acidic blood to really hit them, but then having to travel through this like tunnel of acidic goo, you know what I mean? What a fucking crazy moment that was. But man, Rain, such a fucking badass.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:48

I also just have to compliment this movie so fucking highly for giving us the consequences of acidic blood. The first alien was acidic.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:59

And sure, we have we saw how that movie turned out. But the fact that this movie knows the rules of its universe and its world and then actually has consequences to that and a momentary pause to say, let's maybe not let this fucking acid burn straight through the whole of the ship to then fucking decompress our entire vessel. Please let's not do that. But then also, I really fucking love the fact that we had an explanation for why this final girl can fucking shoot any alien. It was a moment that in any other film may be unnecessary. Guy teaches girl how to shoot a gun. It could have been a moment where it was a little bit predatory, a little bit romantic tension, sure, but we get the actual explanation of hey, you point this thing in the general direction, and then the auto aim is gonna do the rest, and you're never gonna miss. Even that little line helps the believability so much for that entire scene.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:56

Oh, and that's also, I feel like, a nod to previous films and to video games, because like when you watch aliens and the Colonel Marines have these weapons that like help them auto-aim and stuff, they have the really, the really big ones that fire a ton of rounds. Those are so much fun to play with in video games. But having played only one of the recent alien video games, it's kind of like that. It was like a moment for me where I was like, oh man, that's what I got to do, right? Is you you put it in the general direction and it snaps, auto-aims, you just fire away and it's and it's gonna lay them out. And that was so much fun to see her use that. I didn't even think about that, Chris. I didn't even think about the fact that it's like it's not even it's not even a throwaway line necessarily, but it was such just like a line that seems believable between people who know each other and have built a rapport. It's not like, all right, hold it like this, not like that. No, it was just like, all right, dude, here's how you do it. All right, you got this from here, no problems whatsoever. It was so perfectly done.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:53

It was, but I think the other element of this is them going the extra mile to say, okay, what are all these fuck boys gonna say about my movie? And I'm thinking about Ray, Finn, and Poe. And I could have just imagined them saying, Whoa, Rain can suddenly use a gun, even though she's never used a gun before. She's never even getting off the planet. I fucking know that that's that bullshit.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:16

Oh my gosh, so funny. Well, what would you guys say? Like Rain, does she hold up to Ripley? Do you feel like she's bad? I feel like she's badass enough. I don't know if she over overtakes Ripley by any means because Ripley is iconic, but I think you know, you gotta have that badass final girl. And how do you think it compares to Ripley in this movie?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

I think it needs no comparison. I think they're two women standing in their own power, and I think they're both you know valid options. I think she is young, vulnerable, and fragile, and I think the fact that she doesn't get quite a happy ending, she doesn't know if she'll ever wake up again. She doesn't know if she'll reach her destination.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:54

I don't I don't think a comparison is necessarily like helpful here, but I think the flavors. Are very different, you know? And that really ties back to how the movies are different because the characters in the first one, everything felt kind of isolated. Once the terror began, you know, we'd have like one or two people in the room at the same time, except for the notorious chest bursting scene. Everything else just felt like only one or two people. Maybe a third person might say something before they are dispatched. Here it's technically like that, but because of maybe the editing or because the walkie-talkies, it really felt like everybody here was like a closer-knit group. And so you didn't have to seem as like as isolated, you know, as you do in the in the first movie. The first movie, the pace really helps with that as well. It truly feels like the ship is massive and you're really far away from each other. And here everything feels just a little bit closer together.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:45

Alright, I'm so glad that you mentioned the first movie. Because what the fuck were they thinking? Put in this man's face. I get it, we want to bring back Ash, but do we really have to have his face looking that fucking weird on this half robot? You can't tell me with the technology isn't better because for as much shit as people talk about Rogue One, Tarkin and Leia looked better in Rogue One than this motherfucker looked on this half robot.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:13

Preach it. Absolutely preach it. I'm right there with you. We have the same worst part. Bilbo Baggins full on scared the shit out of me when he hit the screen. What should have been like, oh shit, no way, was like, oh my god, Ian Holm, what happened to you? And and honestly, it's a shame because they could have just aged him and damaged his face. And Ripley was telling me that some synthetics are based on humans and could age technically or something to that effect, right? I don't know. Somebody fact check me, I think, but I'm pretty sure that's the case, regardless. If that's not true or if it is, if it isn't, just age him, dude. I don't think anyone really cares that that much. It was far better than that.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:57

Well, the the interesting thing about this universe is that they didn't need to use his face or anyone else's face at all. They could have, just like they did for Andy, pick a different actor and have a completely different look to them. And it was a clear choice to try to tie us back to Alien from 1978. Right. It was a clearer choice to carry like that same look across because then it would be more believable about their motives, right? That's I think the choice here was to really instill in us that this android is gonna do the exact same stuff, and now he's gonna make Andy do it. And I get that choice. I don't think it was necessary. I think it felt a bit weird, and it's like, well, you know, because rest and peace and home, right? I mean, it's been a couple of years now, and it seems, even though it's been four years, kind of soon to use someone else's likeness, but it also wasn't necessary because, again, this universe establishes that there's a bunch of different models that they could go with, and you didn't have to go that route. You also probably could have talked to Lance to Lance Henrickson, and we could have started to phase in the bishop character in this film here, since we're in between movies. We could have made that happen. Yeah, we could have gone for anybody, and it would have been it was nice to be reminded of him, right? But it just it took you out of the film. I'll agree, it was my worst part of the movie as well, because it takes you out. Everybody laughed, or though was just like, huh, when we got to that moment, and that's you don't want that, you want to break your tempo. The stride here was just like caught, you know, like tripping on a banana peel.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:28

Yeah, I mean, while I can appreciate the fan service and really trying to, you know, tie it back to the original alien 1979. We probably could have found a way to maybe have that moment, but take the chip out and then let that be the end of it and not really venture off into the whole smart house vibes, you know what I mean? But either way, it wasn't the worst thing for me. I think I could honestly say it was mostly just maybe that it was a little sluggish to start, and that's being just like really picky because I don't think that the story was boring, or even the first act of this movie was really boring. I think it's interesting enough. I think it introduces characters, it builds character development and puts you into this world in this time period, but I think that they could have found a way to maybe get closer to an hour and a half, and it would have still been probably really, really good. But it's either that or the parasite face hugger tank that looked an awful lot like the lobster tank at my local Red Lobster.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:38

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:39

You know?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:39

Where's the lie? Not one to be found. Listen, flaws aside from this movie, it's good enough for a rewatch, absolutely. Because it is a little bit longer than I would personally like, I don't know if I'll go see it in theaters. If I do, I'm definitely gonna try to see it in IMAX like being recommended. But also, I'm so glad that I had such a love for it that I also really want to get the Reebok and Aliens collab for the shoes inspired by this movie.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:08

Yeah. Heck yeah, that's awesome. You know, if there's anything to take away from this film and all the films that preceded it, this is it. Don't trust the company, don't trust the fucking robot, and if you see a fucking alien egg, fucking run for your goddamn life. Like just follow those steps, and you might have a better shot at staying alive. But let's face it, people are always going to break the rules, and that's what makes this film and this franchise fun. I will definitely be re-watching this one. It would be interesting if I could find the time to see it in theaters again. I would probably try to go to Regal because I got the AMC popcorn bucket, which is cool with the face hugger on it, but the Regal one that glows is also fucking sick. And if I do happen to be at a Regal, even if I'm not seeing the movie, I'm gonna try to scoop that up.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:01

Okay, if you can find it, let me know and I'll send you some money. I've heard they've been sold out.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:06

Oh shit. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:07

I definitely want to keep watching this franchise. I wasn't able to re-watch a lot of the films prior to seeing this one, so I've timed it just right. I had only seen Alien before this. I can just keep going and then maybe fuck it. I'll go back to the theater, I'll see it again, so that I can really get to experience what it's like to watch this film now having seen all of the alien films, so stay tuned. But this is high rewatch value.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:35

Just get your popcorn ready, okay? Because when you make it through Aliens and you make it to Alien 3, you're gonna have gone through a couple pounds of popcorn. Just saying. It's such a fun franchise to get into because you can get caught up in the whole alien-ness of it and the whole, you know, space sci-fi thing, which is where it kind of draws me in. But as a horror film, it's just so much fun. And I can't wait to be able to watch this at home from the comfort of my own home. I would love to rewatch it tomorrow if I could. I just don't have the time to go to the theater again. So when it's available for streaming, count me in. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:08

Well, this certainly makes me more excited for the franchise and what lies ahead in future episodes. But for now, there you have it, folks. Alien Romulus from 2024 has earned a universal slash. Now we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but the conversation doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:25

Yeah, if you want to go further than the episode and join us for some fun and off-the-wall conversation, consider becoming one of our patrons to check out the B side of this episode where we discuss our love for the alien franchise and try to figure out this wild timeline together. You can visit patreon.com slash hackerslash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:50

And if you love all our banter about aliens, xenomorphs, and the crazy order of which you should probably see this franchise, you can leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcasts. This helps us continue to deliver great content for all you whore fiends out there.