Fede Alvarez has returned to cinemas in full force with ALIEN: ROMULUS, and he brought a unique twist on AI with him.
ALIEN: ROMULUS has proven to be one of Fede Alvarez’s (Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead (2013)) most divisive and stunning works yet. The Uruguayan director has made a name for himself in the last decade with the abject horror curated within his films and, of course, ALIEN: ROMULUS is no exception.
The franchise’s latest entry seems to follow suit with the philosophical themes of Artificial Intelligence permeated in the original 1979 film and its 1986 sequel ALIENS as well as Ridley Scott’s controversial return to the franchise with 2012’s PROMETHEUS and 2017’s ALIEN: COVENANT. Alvarez’s attempts to further the thematic concept give way to an interesting conversation for many people.
SPOILERS FOR “ALIEN: ROMULUS” BELOW
The Sympathetic AI
ALIEN: ROMULUS finds Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her friends traveling to an orbiting space station in search of cryopods to prepare for a journey to a new world. However, they find something more disturbing and deadly onboard the derelict space station: an infestation of Xenomorphs. With the space station wobbling out of orbit within hours, Rain and her crew must brave the Hive to survive long enough to find a new home.
Onboard the space station is the controversial character brought back to life through artificial intelligence and practical effect in the form of Rook, a Hyperdyne Systems Model 120-A/2 Synthetic that appears to be the physical recreation of the late Ian Holm. Holm, known by science fiction fans as Ash from the original ALIEN and as Bilbo Baggins of the Lord of the Rings franchise, passed away in June 2020 from Parkinson’s at 88.
In 2023, the question of AI use in film and other media was raised through the SAG-AFTRA and Writer’s Guild Strikes as AI had recently advanced to the point of being able to convincingly recreate deceased and still-living actors to avoid paying real actors for their roles in Hollywood. Since then, the question of the use of AI has been controversial, to say the least, not to the point where reviewers of ALIEN: ROMULUS would state that Holm’s recreation in the film bordered on ruining the film altogether.
A Resurrection of Sorts
“The whole thing started with me calling the estate and talking with his widow. She felt that Ian was given the cold shoulder by Hollywood in the last years of his life, that he would’ve loved to be part of more projects after The Hobbit, but he wasn’t. So she was thrilled about the idea of having him back.”
Alvarez also revealed how he used Weta FX (the New Zealand-based company that did many of the effects for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings franchise) and Legacy Effects (known primarily for their work on The Mandalorian) that allowed Alvarez to bring the character back to life, if you can call artificial living.
I won’t lie to you about your chances…
Right now, Holm’s recreation has caused a bit of an uproar within the online community due to the seemingly disrespectful nature of using Holm’s likeness after his passing. However, Alvarez made it clear that ALIEN: ROMULUS was always intended to give Holm’s career respect, as he stated previously that he spoke with Holm’s widow and children about recreating Holm’s iconic likeness for the film’s plotline.
The question can be posed, “Was it necessary? Why not use another android?” Using a new actor as an android was feasible, as ALIEN: ROMULUS introduces David Jonsson’s Andy to the franchise. That said, within the franchise, only four actors (and one actress) held the distinction of being a synthetic, including the late Ian Holms, the aging Lance Henriksen, the insurmountable Michael Fassbender, the aforementioned David Jonsson, and the beautiful Winona Ryder. The franchise has limited its amount of androids, so to stay true to the franchise’s roots, picking an android from the time period seemed logical.
Also worth mentioning is the say of Ridley Scott himself, as Alvarez stated it was Scott’s idea to bring back Holms’ likeness to the franchise. But how does it fit within the story of ALIEN: ROMULUS?
A Fitting Portrayal, despite the milky blood
Daniel Betts (Fury) provided the voice of Rook, the new old android from the film. Alvarez took care to use animatronics to create the character’s physical portrayal and added minor CGI to enhance the character’s look. It made sense to bring the character back in this way. Even Holm’s family confidently stated that Alvarez’s recreation of their late family member was faithful, giving the family some much needed closure.
As for the story of the film, no other character would have held the same weight. With the backlash towards Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of David and Walter in Scott’s controversial prequels, and with the only other familiar synthetic in the franchise requiring an even higher amount of CGI to recreate Bishop’s look from ALIEN, paying respect for the cold synthetic from the classic film was one of the best decisions Alvarez could make.
As for the future of the ALIEN Franchise, Alvarez himself has stated in interviews that he wants to continue to produce some content for the franchise, even mentioning a potential crossover film with the PREDATOR franchise in a co-direction with 2022’s PREY director Dan Trachtenberg. He did admit, however, that a sequel to Romulus is a few years off, stating in another interview that he hopes to let ALIEN: ROMULUS stick with people’s minds before setting off into the next installment.
That said, fans of the franchise won’t have to wait too much longer for more Xenomorph action, as this year marks the release of ALIEN: ROGUE INCURSION, the franchise’s first VR Video Game and next year marks the release of Noah Hawley’s FX Exclusive series ALIEN: EARTH.Want to be the first to know of future installments in the Alien franchise? Or, do other nerdoms suit your fancy? Follow The Illuminerdi on Twitter and turn notifications, we’re always watching.
