Aliens, twisters and the precarious art of fan service

More than ever, blockbuster filmmaking depends on references, callbacks and nostalgia for previously successful products.

The old product need not be “beloved” to be referenced … cases in point: “Deadpool & Wolverine” and its numerous callbacks to 2000s-era superhero duds like “Fantastic Four,” or how “Alien: Romulus” pulls disliked plot strands from something as divisive as “Prometheus.”

Unfortunately, most filmmakers, even those technically proficient at telling cinematic stories, fumble onto the most obvious callbacks. The cringiest of the bunch tend to make a slight change to an iconic moment or line of dialogue so that even the most inattentive moviegoer can sit there and say, “Hey, that’s from the movie I like!” (Take a bow, “Star Trek into Darkness,” for your catastrophic callback to “Khhhaaaannnnnn!”)

The latest installment in the “Alien” franchise, subtitled “Romulus,” is the most recent perpetrator to conflate a “back-to-basics” approach with an obnoxious reliance on unnecessary (and unsuccessful) references to better “Alien” movies. Without spoiling the film too much, “Romulus” contains a regurgitated line reading on the level of that “Khan” redux, as well as the inclusion of a CGI recreation (i.e. deepfake) of a deceased actor.

The film’s director, Fede Álvarez (“Don’t Breathe,”) while not exactly Ridley Scott or James Cameron behind the camera, is more than capable of crafting a suspenseful, back-to-basics movie in line with the “haunted house thriller in space” premise that made the original “Alien” a classic in 1979. You can still use the facehuggers and xenomorphs without repeating memorable dialogue or resurrecting familiar characters. Rather than use the “Alien” sandbox to tell a fulfilling story with dynamic new characters, “Romulus” wastes its efforts reminding us of things better executed 40 years ago. Even the film’s gory “surprise” fourth act cribs on ideas better executed in past movies.

While it’s easy to pick on “Romulus” for its egregious choices, Hollywood regularly misunderstands the audience’s affection for past success. Those behind “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” for example, decided that simply reassembling the original cast was all they had to do to guarantee box office success. Financially, those movies performed fine, but good luck finding many audience members who can fondly recall moments from those movies that aren’t already better executed in the original installment.

Occasionally, filmmakers find the just-right blend of fan service to fuel a new installment. Say what you will about what happened to “Star Wars” in recent years, “The Force Awakens” successfully leaned on nostalgia (and the basic core plot of “A New Hope”) to launch a new era of the franchise with new characters that at least had the potential to one day rival the likes of Luke, Leia and Darth Vader. Pity the franchise essentially destroyed that opportunity by the end of “Rise of Skywalker.”

“Top Gun: Maverick,” probably the most successful legacy sequel besides “The Force Awakens,” suffers a bit in the beginning from referencing too many elements of the original. Then Tom Cruise and Co. take to the skies and deliver a spectacle that’s only possible after 30-plus years of technical advancements.

A more recent retread also serves as a proper model for success: “Twisters.” Sure, it’s another movie about storm chasers in the American Midwest, just like the 1996 original. You get a few brief shots of “Dorothy” from that movie, as well as a basic plot outline, but the movie tries to create new arcs for characters unrelated to the previous movie. No Helen Hunt cameo. No flying cows. We all know the movie is a retread, but at least it’s trying to deliver a story that doesn’t rely on an audience’s knowledge of the original.

Unfortunately, “Top Gun” and “Twisters” remain outliers to the model. The next big test comes from Tim Burton in the form of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” out Sept. 3. Michael Keaton’s return as Batman didn’t exactly work out, but even if “Beetlejuice” fails too, don’t expect Hollywood to deviate from its obsession with retreads.

•••

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

    This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Xenomorph in a scene from "Alien: Romulus."
  

    This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Archie Renaux, left, and Cailee Spaeny in a scene from "Alien: Romulus."