"Alien: Romulus CGI Improved for Home Release, Fans Remain Unimpressed"

*Alien: Romulus* has been a resounding success with both critics and fans, raking in an impressive $350 million at the global box office and sparking immediate interest in a sequel. However, one aspect of the film drew widespread criticism: the CGI used to bring back the late Ian Holm, who played the android Ash in the original *Alien*. Holm's posthumous appearance in *Alien: Romulus* via CGI was met with disapproval for being unrealistic and distracting, so much so that a popular fan-edit completely removed his character from the narrative.

Director Fede Alvarez has acknowledged the backlash and took steps to address it for the home release. In an interview with Empire, Alvarez admitted that time constraints during post-production led to subpar CGI: "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 a bit more the CG intervention. So, for people that react negatively, I don’t blame them." For the home release, Alvarez ensured that additional effort was put into improving the CGI, leaning more on practical puppet work. He stated, "We fixed it. We made it better for the release right now. I convinced the studio we need to spend the money and make sure we give the companies that were involved in making it the proper time to finish it and do it right. It’s so much better."

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Despite these efforts, fans have mixed feelings about the updated Ian Holm CGI. While some acknowledge a slight improvement, the consensus seems to be that Holm's appearance remains distracting and the decision to bring him back is still questioned. On Reddit, user Kwtwo1983 remarked, "Better, but still awfully uncanny… and for no sound reason." Thelastcupoftea added, "Should’ve messed his face up much more. It looked awful in theaters and it looked awful when I rewatched it on Blu-ray." Smug_amoeba commented, "Still such a needless and distracting part of the movie…" and Worried_Bowl_9489 noted, "Both look bad and one is a bit darker lol."

The home release version does indeed focus more on the practical puppet work, reducing the visibility of the CGI face. However, as TheUrPigeon pointed out, "Let's be real, it's still awful and garish to resurrect a dead man so needlessly. They can only improve upon it so much because the initial effort was so poor."

Despite the CGI controversy, *Alien: Romulus* has successfully revitalized the franchise. Following its summer debut, 20th Century Studios announced in October that they are developing *Alien: Romulus 2*, which will continue the story from the first film, with Fede Alvarez potentially returning to direct.