alex-mott

An apocalyptic virus is ravaging the planet and this one makes people do stupid things which get them killed. The unlikely survivors of this event include a narcissistic musician, a flower power hippy, a hard-nosed businesswoman, a loner survivalist, a lucky code breaker and a mostly mute schoolgirl (who may not be exactly what she seems). Some of this dynamic team are only a couple of IQ points higher than the 'dumbies' (not zombies) they are evading and, somehow, they've also been tasked with protecting and delivering the cure-all vaccine to a community of elitists holed up in a secret government facility (and completing Frode's faecal story arc along the way). Dumbsday has plenty of chuckles, snappy dialogue and also includes some surprisingly clever 2nd level of meaning references to the events of recent years. Another season would definitely be welcome and if TEOTWAWKI ever actually happens, you can forget about the bunkers and gated communities - I want to be out there with Frode's misfit team of bumbling incompetents.

In terms of pacing, tension and atmosphere it's a very well directed horror film. The opening premise - where a group of twenty-somethings who have never seen the sun and desperately want to leave one of Weyland Yutani's hellhole colonies - is also strong and highly relatable to a younger, more rebellious audience. However, if you wanted to see the Alien universe expand and evolve into something new, you're going to be left somewhere between disappointed and unsurprised as Alien: Romulus relies again on the now standard formula of dark corridors, teeth, blood, acid and goo. In fact, there are SO MANY references to the first three films (props, sets, lighting, characters, costumes, music, sound effects, camera angles and even lines of the script) it's more like going to see a tribute act of your favourite band, rather than watching a film. The performances are all fine, particularly David Jonsson as Andy, but Bjorn didn't even scream as his fingers were being dissolved right in front of him, and like so many other Alien sequels the sterile, scientific logic of the original has been ignored leaving some obvious plot holes: The Nostromo was reduced to atoms in three detonations, but wreckage somehow survived? And the retrieved Alien just happened to be floating nearby? If only a queen can lay eggs, where did all the facehuggers come from? There is also no way Weyland Yutani would have simply left the Romulus station unguarded and open to this kind of breach in security. All in all a good sci-fi/horror romp which does a great job of introducing the Alien universe to a younger generation - but the praise being heaped on this film seems to be coming only from die-hard fans of the franchise who literally just want to see the same thing again and again and again.