Yahoo News Alien: Romulus lands fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating after first reviews
Alien: Romulus has earned a fresh Rotten Tomatoes score ahead of its cinema debut tomorrow (August 16).
The latest entry in the sci-fi franchise from writer-director Fede Álvarez, who previously helmed the 2013 grisly Evil Dead remake, currently sits at an 83% critics score on the review aggregator website.
This makes Romulus the third highest-ranking Alien film after the first two entries in the saga, Aliens (94%) and Alien (93%).
Set 20 years after the events of Alien, Alien: Romulus follows Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and other space colonists on a scavenging mission to a decommissioned station where they find themselves face to face with threatening lifeforms.
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Critics have praised Romulus' loyalty to the first films in the series as well as Álvarez's flair for body horror, while also highlighting the new movie's lack of originality. In our three-star review, Digital Spy described Romulus as "faithful to its own detriment".
Let's take a look at what other critics made of the newest facehugger adventure below.
"[Álvarez] has triumphed with a clever, gripping and sometimes awe-inspiring sci-fi chiller, which takes the series back to its nerve-racking monster-movie roots while injecting it with some new blood – some new acid blood, you might say."
"A technically competent piece of work; but no matter how ingenious its references to the first film it has to be said that there’s a fundamental lack of originality here which makes it frustrating."
"What's onscreen is neither a haunted house nor a roller coaster, but a standard theme-park ride based on a movie — an Alien-flavored attraction that doubles as an overly respectful homage."
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"Alien groupies will be cock-a-hoop, as the metal-mouthed, acid-dribbling creature is as terrifying as it’s ever been. As will the gore-hounds... Álvarez does it all with mighty oomph and relentless, cold, hard menace."
"A gorehound whose tastes and talents are much better-suited to the Grand Guignol splatter of Evil Dead than they are to the suffocating dread of Alien, the director would rather torture his cast than develop their characters."
"Maintaining a low orbit makes this one of the best in the franchise in years."
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"An efficient addition to the 45-year-old franchise, Alien: Romulus draws on the strengths of the sci-fi/horror series without ever suggesting that the property's best days are ahead."
"Álvarez puts the horror first here, with exquisite craftmanship that immerses you in the insanity."
"Alien: Romulus has the capacity for greatness. If you could somehow surgically extract its strongest sequences, you'd see that beautiful, blood-quivering harmony between old-school practical effects and modern horror verve."
Alien: Romulus is released in cinemas on August 16.
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