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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus.
Alien: Romulus is the seventh mainline movie in the Alien franchise, and it’s a solid film. Directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead), Romulus has some great set pieces, bringing the xenomorphs back to their franchise roots. However, it also has some extremely low points. The film struggles when referencing the previous movies, notably Alien and Aliens. While Romulus takes place between those two movies, the references that are the most egregious parts of the film are the ones that feel too forced.
The worst part of Alien: Romulus lies with one character, the synthetic named Rook. The film’s main characters are a team who come together to scavenge technology from a ship called the Romulus so that they can leave their planet. Rook is Romulus’s science officer and becomes the film’s secondary antagonist, much like the original Alien with Ash. This wouldn’t be too offensive if Rook’s likeness wasn’t a digitally inserted Ian Holm, who played Ash in the original.
Too Synthetic
Talking to The National, Alvarez explained how Rook was brought to life, “we hired an actor named Daniel Betts, a British actor, who’s amazing. He lent his voice to this performance and we used the animatronic and some CG to bring him to life.” Holm’s likeness was used, and the effects are some of the worst digital reincarnation/de-aging we’ve seen. Holm died at the age of 88 in 2020. Because of the terrible effects, the character manages to be off-putting in all the wrong ways.
It’s important to note that Rook isn’t even supposed to be Ash, as he died in Alien when Parker (Yaphet Kotto) incinerated him. There have been several synthetics throughout the Alien franchise, portrayed by Holm, Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Winona Ryder (Alien: Resurrection), Michael Fassbender (Prometheus), and in Romulus, by David Jonsson (Industry). Jonsson plays Andy, an android close to the main character, Rain (Cailee Spaeny). To allow Andy to bypass some security protocols, Rain installs Rook’s chip which overwrites his directive and essentially makes him as evil as Rook and Ash.
Casting any of the other actors to play Rook would have been a better decision than what’s in the film. Even though we already saw Fassbender act against himself as Walter and David in Alien: Covenant, Jonsson was great in Romulus and he could have easily played Rook too. After all, he does turn after the installation of Rook’s chip. Alvarez revealed to The National that the idea for Holm’s portrayal came while collaborating with Ridley Scott, commenting on how Holm had only ever played a synthetic once.
Did Alien: Romulus Need Another Synthetic?
Understandably, the thought behind the use of Holm in the movie was for the audience to instantly realize that Rook was a bad synthetic. And while Fassbender or Jonsson could’ve played the part instead, did we even need the character to be a synthetic? He’s nearly dead when Rain and the others find him, so it might have worked better if they just happened upon his destroyed body. Instead of talking to him, what if the malicious being wasn’t a synthetic at all? The original Alien and Covenant both deal with an AI supercomputer named MU-TH-UR, or Mother.
A rogue AI as a villain might have been more timely, and it would have been less gaudy than using Holm. It goes beyond the usual effects of the uncanny valley because his character is a synthetic. He’s supposed to look unquestionably human, and that thing doesn’t look human. Romulus could’ve used any of these options instead of using Holm, and the film probably would’ve been better for it.
You can watch Alien: Romulus in theaters now.
