David Jonsson stars as Andy in “Alien: Romulus” (Photo Credit: Getty Images).
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(“Alien: Romulus” trailer courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
These science fiction demonstrations on the big screen have begun to hit too close to home because of the advancements of artificial intelligence and private space travel.
Combine that with the way that governments have historically oppressed the have-nots and movies like “Alien: Romulus” might become more of a hybrid of horror and true story movies as opposed to horror and sci-fi.
And although “Alien: Romulus” is not a great movie, the harsh realities that might confront the world because of artificial intelligence and greed should make viewers watch and worry because anything is possible in today’s world.
In “Alien: Romulus,” Rain (Cailee Spaeny, “Bad Times at the El Royale”) and Andy (David Jonsson, “Industry”) share a special bond in a harsh and rugged landscape that looks at them as basically slaves to the system.
Though they look nothing alike, they are more like brother and sister than friends or associates.
Rain and Andy have each other’s back in a community that wants to marginalize them both, but one more than the other.
The brother and sister embody the term loyal to the soil.
In fact, Andy’s only objective is to do what is in the best interests of Rain because that is what Rain’s father instructed him to do.
But the loyalty works both ways as it should in a friendship or relationship.
When Andy is attacked by local hoodlums, Rain comes to Andy’s rescue as one would expect from “family” members.
Despite their predicament, Rain has hope for a better tomorrow.
Rain and Andy have completed the necessary work hours to earn their freedom.
And Rain hopes that she can leave the planet that they inhabit and return to her home planet so that she can be reunited with her family members.
However, when Rain makes her petition for her release, the government/company has suddenly moved the goal post, making her imminent release all but impossible.
Despite, the broken promises and plans, Rain and Andy might find some hope when they reconnect with some of their friends.
In “Alien: Romulus,” Rain’s friends like Tyler (Archie Renaux), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), Kay (Isabela Merced) and Navarro (Aileen Wu) have discovered an abandoned spaceship out in the cosmos that they believe still has some working parts and fuel.
If they can get to that spaceship, they could use the parts and fuel to get away from their current planet and predicament.
At least, they could get to a planet that has some sunlight.
Living on a planet that is all gloom and doom must do something extremely detrimental to one’s psyche and outlook on life and the world.
One thing is for sure, Rain and her friends do not want the same lives for their generation that their parents had, which is basically toiling away for the benefit of others.
Like all daring missions, their plan comes with some major risks.
To get to their final destination will take years because it is not like they are just moving from one state to another or even one country to another.
They are traveling many galaxies away.
And if they cannot get to the abandoned spaceship in time, they might not have enough fuel and other necessities to get to their promised land.
While normal NASA-like space travel is great, a movie is not called “Alien: Romulus” for no reason.
Outer space comes with thought of alien life.
Although current society might not have proof of extraterrestrial life, if aliens do exist hopefully, they will be of the friendly variety and not the ferocious kind so often depicted in Hollywood big-budget movies.
The visuals in a science fiction movie like “Alien: Romulus” are what one would expect.
Additionally, the acting in “Alien: Romulus” is solid.
However, the standout star of “Alien: Romulus” is Jonsson.
His character arc is what terrifies people when it comes to the rabid technological advancement throughout the world.
When the technology is doing good for humanity, then all is good.
But when the advancing technology begins acting out on its own, possibly putting humanity in danger, then the world (and not just Houston for those who quote “Apollo 13”) has a problem.
Jonnson’s character Andy also represents humanity as a whole.
His early scenes represent the innocence that people are born with.
However, the more they experience of this crooked and corrupt world, more contorted and warped views seep into their personality.
The question is can a person hold on to enough blamelessness to avoid the world turning them into a totally nefarious individual?
“Alien: Romulus” also represents one of Mike Tyson’s most famous quotes.
Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Many people have plans to make their lives better.
However, many probably do not plan for the hurdles and obstacles that stand in their way.
What will Rain and the crew do when things do not go as planned and their travels must take a detour through outer space?
And in that way, “Alien: Romulus” hits close to home too even without the advancements of artificial intelligence.
Possessing stories that people can relate to makes “Alien: Romulus” a solid picture.
However, it is not great.
Some of the storyline drags at times and some of the hard accents are hard to understand from audio perspective.
Nevertheless, it is worth a watch considering that people do not have regular season football games or the Olympics to occupy their time this weekend.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
