Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Film Roundup! Each week we take you through the biggest cinema releases and why you should be excited for them. This week is dominated by aliens, with a side helping of an influencer ape.
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these films. All of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Alien: Romulus
Ridley Scott’s original Alien film was a masterpiece of sci-fi horror filmmaking, building suspense and dread around a terrifying monster that barely needed to be seen. James Cameron’s sequel Aliens took the concept and world-building of the original and adapted it into a war movie, upping the threat and the stakes. The sequels, prequels and spin-offs that have followed have been a mixed bag, never quite reaching the heights of those first two films, but they’ve never been bad enough to make the franchise feel stale. Now throwing its hat in the ring, and aiming for a cross between Scott’s suspenseful horror and Cameron’s epic action, comes Alien: Romulus.
The basic plot here is no more original than it needs to be. A group of colonisers travelling through space investigate an abandoned space station and find themselves up against the deadliest organisms in the universe. Cailee Spaeny (Civil War, Priscilla) is in the traditional badass female lead role, following in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver and Noomi Rapace. Beyond that, the trailer doesn’t give too much away about how this will pan out, beyond the usual face-hugging, chest-bursting, running and screaming. What it does convey is that director Fede Alvarez seems to have done an incredible job of capturing the tone and atmosphere needed for an effective Alien film. This looks really quite terrifying. Special mention goes to the close-up of a face-hugger going all in on the sexual innuendo of H.R. Giger’s original designs, and the backlit horror of a chest-burster working its way through an unfortunate victim’s ribcage.
I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, and if the film lives up to the quality of the trailer then it could be one of this summer’s best films. Whether you’re a fan of the original franchise, or of horror or sci-fi in general, this is absolutely going to be a must-see.
- Alien: Romulus on IMDB
- Alien: Romulus on Rotten Tomatoes
Ozi: Voice of the Forest
Ozi, an orphaned orangutan raised in a Borneo rescue centre, has achieved online fame through her ability to sign and her social media presence. When she discovers the extent of deforestation and encroachment of palm oil plantations in her rainforest home, she decides to use her influence to raise awareness of the issue.
Although it looks like a pretty cheap animation, this has an important message and a lot of star power behind it. With a cast including Amandla Stenberg (fresh from her dual role in the much-maligned The Acolyte) as Ozi, Dean-Charles Chapman (also fresh from The Acolyte), Djimon Honsou, Laura Dern, RuPaul, Hugh Bonneville and, in his final role before his death earlier this year, Donald Sutherland. It also boasts Leonardo DiCaprio as one of its producers. The idea of a social media influencer, even a simian one, as the hero of a story does slightly give me the ick, but it might chime more with the younger target audience. And this is a cause that’s close to my heart after a trip to Borneo several years ago – there is something sinister about seeing a proper jungle give way to neatly ordered lines of palm trees that’s hard to appreciate without seeing it, and the trailer captures that sensation well.
If you have kids who need some entertainment this week, you could do a lot worse than this (it’s certainly a more appropriate choice for them than the alternative this week!).
- Ozi: Voice of the Forest on IMDB
- Ozi: Voice of the Forest on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
Despite Ozi’s worthy environmental message, there is only one choice this week. Run…
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Trap
- Twisters
Trailer of the week
Last weekend was the D23 expo, where Disney previewed a massive swathe of its upcoming slate. The most exciting was a trailer for the upcoming sequel Disney’s best post-revival movie, Moana (yes, better than Frozen – let it go, Elsa fans…). Originally intended to be a Disney+ series, the producers were so impressed with the early footage that they recommissioned it as a theatrical film release, which has to be a good sign that they’ve got something special that will capture the magic of the original. With returning cast including Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Nicole Scherzinger and Alan Tudyk, plus new additions including Rose Matafeo, this is definitely one to look forward to. We’ll see how far it can go when it reaches cinemas in November.
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