In 1979, director Ridley Scott teamed up with writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett to create one of the more gripping, sophisticated sci-fi thrillers in years. Mixing elements from old 1950's "B" sci-fi flicks like "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" (featuring a lone space creature hunting down a spaceship crew), "Twenty Million Miles to Earth" (with a space creature that just keeps on growing and growing), and adding some cool new features (acid for blood), they created one of the most menacing threats ever to hit the big screen.
The film was a big success and the inevitable sequel followed. Director James Cameron, however, didn't retread the monster in the haunted house setting, but instead turned "Aliens" into a thrilling action film that opened in 1986. Both films featured Sigourney Weaver as the unlucky lady who constantly has to battle the critters, and the second film was overflowing with them. Weaver received an Oscar nomination for her role and the movie did big business at the box office, meaning yet another sequel was on the way.
The third film, "Alien 3," arrived in 1992 and director David Fincher (who later went on to great critical success with "Seven" and "The Game"), took a different approach with it. Jettisoning any weapons the humans could defend themselves with, along with all of Weaver's hair, the film had a highly stylized look. The fact that the humans couldn't blast the aliens, however, left audiences rather dissatisfied. Additionally, by making Weaver perish in the finale, everyone figured the series was finally done.
Yet with the three films grossing more than $200 million domestically, 20th Century Fox didn't want the series to end. After all, there had to be plenty of aliens left out there. The problem was, the series' heroine was dead, and Weaver had grown tired of playing that role (especially after having to shave her head). What was the studio to do? Well, after a lucrative contract and a little bit of resourceful sci-fi writing, Ripley is back in "Alien Resurrection." Helmed by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Delicatessen"), the film goes after the style and feel of Cameron's "Aliens."
For the most part, and without taking into consideration the previous films, this is an okay sci-fi horror feature. Comparing it with the other three, however, it comes out better than the last, but pales when measured against the first two. Its main problem, like many sequels -- particularly when the numbers extend beyond "2" -- is that we've seen just about all of the material before. There's the crew that's being hunted down, the macho fighting men, the alien queen, a flame thrower scene (torching mutants instead of egg pods) and of course, the rest of the "sneering," drooling aliens, one of which always manages to make it onboard the getaway ship for a suspenseful ending. Die-hard fans of the series will love to see all of this material again, but the rest of us will have something of a "been there, seen that" feeling.
To its credit, the film does offer some unique new material, something that's quite rare in this high of a numbered sequel. The scenes we're referring to are the ones where the crew must swim underwater through several flooded compartments to safety. Of course, that's taken right from "The Poseidon Adventure," but unfortunately it's done without Shelley Winters who would've found her upside down boat swim easy compared with the "obstacles" this film introduces.
For what we get here are aliens that can swim underwater. Using some spectacular computer generated effects, the sequence is quite thrilling, and like a good roller coaster ride, follows that up with more back to back thrilling scenes. There are also some fun touches such as a door sentry panel that uses the smell of one's breath as the entrance i.d. Sure makes you wish you didn't eat all of that garlic for lunch when the aliens are breathing down your neck. And a man with the obligatory alien in his chest makes everyone mighty nervous when he has a bout with regular indigestion.
The aliens look as superb as ever, although a new addition that appears near the end is nearly comical in design and nowhere near as menacing as the ones we've seen in the past. Additionally, its concluding "showdown" with Ripley pales in comparison to the endings of the first two movies. Regarding our old "friends," they've been given what I'd call the "Jurassic Park" make- over. Whereas the aliens in the past had a high pitched "scream," these guys have been given a shot of testosterone and now have deep, guttural growls and behave in somewhat of a raptor-like fashion. Of course they still "sweat" and drool like there's no tomorrow, and it makes you wonder how much water (or rocket fuel, or whatever) they have to drink to replenish those liquids.
The film does have its share of unintentionally silly or stupid events. While a clever scene has several aliens spilling the blood of a third to escape via its metal dissolving acid quality, this film, like the second and third, has forgotten the extent to which that acid will bore through many levels of a spacecraft. While that's somewhat shown in the above scene, it -- like all of those in the other films -- ruins the wonderfully wicked setup the original film offered. There, a small bit of blood ate through level after level of the craft, endangering the crew by possibly making it to the outer hull. The crew obviously had to figure out a different way to deal with the alien, and that gave the film a much more intelligent thrust. While the adrenaline pumping mayhem of the latter films was thrilling to watch, it dispelled that initial clever setup.
Likewise, the whole bit of Ripley being cloned is a bit far-fetched, even for a sci-fi film. While we can accept that her body could be cloned and she'd look like the original, the film makers have taken the easy way out by keeping her memories, skills and behavior intact as some sort of biological, predestined code. They easily could have gotten around this, but when Ripley sits down to pilot a spacecraft (and others comment about her "knowing" how to), the film sinks into laughable preposterousness.
Granted, they've thrown in a bit of alien genetics to make her a super crossbreed, but that also diminishes the impact her character once had earlier in the series. In the original film, she was a frightened, but capably determined woman who overcame great odds and survived due to her wits and pluck. The second film added a mothering aspect where she cared for the orphaned girl Newt. Now, we have the acid bleeding Ripley who's something less than human, especially when she shreds back steel with her bare hands. While it allows her to be even more of a take charge, kick butt character, it lessens our involvement with her.
The rest of the cast is standard issue for this type of film, with the glaring exception being Winona Ryder. Not only is she horribly miscast, but her role becomes more laughable as we learn more about who she really is. None of it's at all believable, even for a sci-fi film. I've liked Ryder in other roles, but here she sticks out like a sore thumb, although her appeal (noted by hormone- raged adolescent male outbursts at our screening) is unquestionable to this film's target audience.
If you're looking for a fun-filled ride that doesn't require much brain power, you'll probably enjoy this film. Mixing the series' obligatory retreaded material with enough new and occasionally clever moments, this feature should please die-hard fans and entertain others who enjoy this genre, thus resulting in what should be a promising box office future. We give "Alien Resurrection" a 6.5 out of 10.