Sci-Fi
Alien: Romulus (15)
Review: In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin brothers of noble heritage, who are abandoned as infants to die on a riverbank but eventually realise their destiny with fatal consequences for one sibling. Fede Alvarez’s reboot of the sci-fi horror franchise launched by Ridley Scott in 1979 is also a twin. A script co-written by the director, and frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues, opens shortly after the events of the first Alien and meticulously replicates props and production design elements including the creatures imagined by HR Giger.
The kitchen area of a spacecraft that flies unsuspecting characters to their grim fate here is an exact replica of the kitchen of the Nostromo from the original film, controlled by an updated MU/TH/UR computer mainframe. A Weyland-Yutani corporation-issued flashlight that appeared in Alien also illuminates Alien: Romulus and an oft-quoted line of Sigourney Weaver’s dialogue from Aliens is awkwardly recycled in similarly dramatic circumstances.
Ties that bind the series are strong but echoes of a glorious, nerve-shredding past also highlight the sleek superiority of Scott’s first journey into a hellish vision of space where everyone can hear the characters’ bloodcurdling screams. Scuttling facehuggers that hunt by heat signature and sound merit two energetically staged set pieces and Alvarez heightens suspense by toying with the effects of gravity before the obligatory bursting of a chest.
Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a biomechanical humanoid created by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, are determined to escape the Jackson’s Star mining colony before she falls victim to the same deadly lung disease as her parents. Andy has been programmed by Rain’s late father to follow one directive: do what is best for his sister’s protection and survival. Consequently, he joins Rain on a mission to scavenge cryogenic sleep pods from a decommissioned space station called The Renaissance, which is orbiting their planet.
The mission is the brainchild of Rain’s ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), who has assembled a ragtag team comprising his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and their tech-savvy pilot friend Navarro (Aileen Wu). The treasure-seeking twentysomethings are blissfully unaware that the abandoned facility is home to the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Alien: Romulus is a standalone chapter that reverentially honours a legacy stretching back 45 years and confidently melds practical creature effects and digital trickery to eviscerate human flesh at regular intervals. Priscilla star Spaeny wholeheartedly embraces her role as the Ripley for a new generation, down to replicating tactics for survival. Alvarez orchestrates frequent jump scares as the script skitters over timely questions about the role of artificial intelligence in mankind’s steady self-destruction. The greatest threat to our long-term survival is not acid-blooded predators that slaughter without mercy.
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Animation
Ozi: Voice Of The Forest (PG)
Review: One voice can start a choir, lift your voice up to the sky. One heart can change the world. The sincere lyrics of Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren are heard twice during Ozi: Voice Of The Forest and neatly underline an urgent ecological message that courses through the veins of Tim Harper’s animated odyssey. Screenwriter Ricky Roxburgh repeatedly addresses younger audiences as harbingers of meaningful change, most bluntly when an older orangutan pleads with his daughter to forget about the destruction she has witnessed and retreat into blissful ignorance inside a man-made dome where animal sounds are piped through speakers. “It’s not happening here, it’s not happening to us. Best not get involved,” urges the elder.
Social media is actively harnessed by the eponymous orangutan to draw attention to fictional palm oil behemoth Greenzar, which wages a PR war using a cute cartoon tree named Mr Palm (voiced by David Dawson), professing to plant two new trees for every one felled on the other side of the world. It sounds too good to be true. Animation lacks the realism and detail associated with powerhouses Pixar and DreamWorks, particularly in sequences set in and around water.
Harper’s picture overcomes obvious technical limitations to speak plainly to its target demographic and pointedly displays University of Reading Professor Ed Hawkins’ climate stripes over the end credits, which visualise the progressive heating of our planet from 1850 to 2021 as a single bar of vertical coloured swatches.
Baby orangutan Ozi (Amandla Stenberg) has an insatiable curiosity about her rainforest home and is a handful for proud parents Jo Jo (Djimon Hounsou) and Seema (Laura Dern). A fire started by Greenzar as part of its profit-driven deforestation delivers Ozi to an orphanage run by conservationists Kirani (Marissa Anita) and Robert (Ivanno Jeremiah). They teach the traumatised orangutan sign language and her hand gestures are translated into spoken words using a bracelet strapped to Ozi’s wrist.
The “little hairy tweenager” becomes an internet sensation and embraces her influencer status alongside fellow poop-slinging orphans Peanut (Josh Whitehouse) and Jelly (Kemah Bob). By chance, Ozi discovers her parents are alive inside a gatored community run by hulking reptile Mr Smiley (Donald Sutherland) and his flamboyant son Gurd (RuPaul Charles), home to animals displaced by Greenzar’s devastation. Cheeky monkey Chance (Dean-Charles Chapman) and fiercely loyal hippopotamus Honkus (Urzila Carlson) join a defiant Ozi on her quest to reunite her bloodline.
Boasting Leonardo DiCaprio as a producer, Ozi: Voice Of The Forest is both heartfelt and heavy-handed but the outraged title character would argue there is scant time remaining for subtlety. Vocal performances are solid with lightly effervescent comic relief. Chapman’s rebellious ape sounds like Russell Brand in a few lively exchanges. The rainforest is a multicultural melting pot.
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