After the original "Alien" in 1979, it seems that every subsequent film had certain elements that immediately resulted in a backlash from audiences. James Cameron's sequel was criticized for removing the horror and replacing it with silly action, while Alien 3 represented fan discontent on a grand scale by killing off beloved heroes Newt and Hicks... before doing the same to its leads. lady, Ripley. (The less we say about Alien: Resurrection, a movie I'm actually having a lot of fun with, the better.) Both of Ridley Scott's prequel films rubbed many viewers the wrong way, despite gaining a growing following over the years . but it's safe to say that last year's Alien: Romulus was intended as a much-needed return to form.

In many ways, it did just that—perhaps a little also well, as /Film's Chris Evangelista writes in his review — but also continued the franchise's grand tradition of alienating (pun, definitely intended) audiences with yet another divisive creative choice.

This time, it had to do with spoilers a twist about halfway through Alien: Romulus where our new protagonists discover a very familiar face on the derelict space station Romulus. Meet Rook, a newer model synthetic creature that still has the same face as the late, great Ian Holm, who memorably portrayed Ash all those years ago. Although not quite the same character, the same malevolence of Weyland-Yutani remained firmly woven into his system. But the scene didn't come without all kinds of controversywith fans crying foul over cartoon-like visual effects work, along with the whole idea of ​​digitally recreating yet another dead actor. For the home release, however, director Fede Alvarez claims to have "fixed" the problem... but that doesn't tell the whole story.

What's the Xenomorph equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig? Whatever it is, it appears to be the "solution" to what has easily become the biggest sticking point surrounding the release of Alien: Romulus. While many fans (myself included) took issue with the very concept of Ian Holm's character being used as a cheap easter egg in a legacy sequel, it seems that the anger directed at this scene was a bit misguided on its way to landing on Fede Alvarez's doorstep . . Instead of turning to real In the new interview, the director only addressed the most superficial criticisms Empire. Admitting that the visuals weren't up to par, Alvarez explained:

"We just ran out of time in post-production to get it right." I wasn't 100% happy with some of the shots, where you could feel the CG intervention a bit more. So for people who react negatively, don't blame them."

So what's different this time? Apparently, 20th Century Studios (now owned by Disney, of course) made a rare commitment to put additional resources into improving the VFX, upon release. According to the director:

"We fixed it. We've made it better for publishing right now. I convinced the studio that we should spend the money and make sure we give the companies that were involved in making it the proper amount of time to finish it and do it right. so much better.”

That's all well and good, but it doesn't exactly solve the main problem at hand. It's worth pointing out that Ian Holm's estate signed off on the decision (and presumably agreed to be compensated for the film's box office success), but does that automatically make it OK? It turned out to be this discussion a major sticking point in the 2023 Screen Actors Guild strike and the debate, to say the least, isn't dying down anytime soon.

Now that I've gotten off my soapbox, readers may be wondering: How exactly did the creative team recreate Ian Holm's character for Alien: Romulus in the first place? To help, director Fede Alvarez sheds further light on this in the same interview with Empire. Much of the film brought back the same sense of tactility that the original Alien boasted, opting for practical effects and sets as much as possible, which were then enhanced by VFX work. The same goes for Rook's character, although Alvarez admits that the balance between practical and digital in the final cut doesn't fully reflect their intentions from the start:

“(Animatronic puppeteer) Shane Mahan actually made this Ian Holm animatronic based on the Lord of the Rings cast, and it was the only one that existed. What we did (for the home entertainment version) was a lot more brought back to the doll, it's a lot better."

Apparently, during production, this initial "mix of techniques" ended up leaning much more towards digital as the creative team rushed to finish the film in time for release. In addition to Mahan's animatronics, actor Daniel Betts was credited with providing the facial and vocal performance for the shoot. Add in the digital work used to recreate Holm's face and expressions in motion, and it really took a village to bring this entire sequence to life. Was it worth it in the end? Again, I'd argue that it's very much not the case and actually throws off the entire movie, which was otherwise enjoyable (and really, really gross) watch. Either way, you can experience Alien: Romulus all over again on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and digital right now.