Alien Resurrection
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Movie Reviews of Alien Resurrection
Movie Review: Spectacular return
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit to being stupefied by the level of hostility aimed at Alien Resurrection in some of these reviews. True, there were flaws, but in my opinion the bonuses so greatly outweighed them that I was able to forgive them for the most part. Oddly enough, it seems to me that with just a little more attention the plot problems could have been easily solved--why put the crew of the Betty in a situation where they are able to sneak weapons aboard a military vehicle in spite of being searched by both man and machine? Why introduce a character whose shooting skills are superhuman--better in my view not to put the characters in situations where that kind of escape is needed (like avoiding Rambo-esque characters need to avoid outrunning machinegun bullets, one of my pet peeves). And why have the bad science--acid eating through inert glass, the entire "genetic memory" bit is completely bogus (knowing how to fly a spaceship is not contained within one's DNA!), it is very questionable as to whether Ripley's blood sample would contain any alien DNA, and a vaccum strong enough to suck a very large object through a tiny hole is not strong enough to suck out all the air in the compartment, killing those left behind? In spite of these crudities, though, there was much to recommend in Alien Resurrection. In general I'm not a fan of sequels--in fact I hated Aliens (Alien 2)--because all too often they simply rehash the same story, the same characters both good and bad, the same sets and special effects, etc. But Alien Resurrection twists the Alien series in a unique way. We get plenty of the familiar but updated superbly--the alien is back, redesigned to move somewhat differently and a bit sleeker, the face-huggers and chestburster make cameos, the queen returns with a much more terrifying mouth, and of course Ripley is back again, this time as a human/alien hybrid, colder, less compassionate and more distant, much harder to empathise with. Special effects are more than superb, as is a consistent hallmark of the series. The new creature, and the hybrids 1-7 (the most harrowing scene in the film!) are spectacularly monstrous. The crew of the Betty, especially Winona Ryder as the new empathetic character Annalee Call, Ron Perlman as Crewman Johner, Dominique Pinon as the wheelchair-bound Chief Mechanic Vriess, and a very brief appearance by Michael Wincott (who recently stole the show as Gary Soneji in Along Came a Spider), are a superbly cast lot of misfits seemingly as alien as the creatures themselves. The film revels in the quirky, too; with the casting of Dan Hedaya as General Perez, in the camera shot down the throat of a "cannon-fodder" character, and in Brad Dourif's eerie mugging with the alien. Some viewers might well have found these touches distracting, but they gave a real sense of individuality from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Some critics have decried the film as simply a chase through empty rooms in which aliens occassionally pop up, but it was so much more than that--the film was an exploration of the interplay of relationships between characters, and between characters and aliens, which was far more than just kill or be killed. It has always been noteworthy that the Corporation is as inhuman as the creatures; but now the creatures are more human, with jealousies, erotic drives, planning, revenge, teamwork, murder, and natural childbirth(!); while the humans are more physically alien than ever before. Ultimately it is probably that Alien Resurrection delivered something unexpected, with subtleties beyond the typical Hollywood sequel fare, that has led to the number of unfavorable reviews. But for me, it was not only the best of the series (at least since the first) but unquestionably one of the best horror films yet made. Most highly recommended.
Movie Review: Yes, I gave it 5 (count em 1-2-3-4-5) stars.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most bashed films I have ever seen. I am what could be considered a hardcore alien fan, my fandom stemming back to about '91. And yes this film wasn't exactley The Piano but it was a good film. It really showed off the aliens intelligence, however, the were very poorly designed in this film, being very abstract from H.R. Gigers origional design. But the film was riddled with highs and lows. For the lows the top of my list was the special effects. I can't emphasize who poor CGI can look when done improperly, as done in this film, if 95% of all onscreen aliens weren't CGI this film would have been much better, The aliens were cartoons panted into live action, it was like big grotesque Roger Rabbits walking around. Instead of spending millions of bucks on CGI why not guys in suits? It worked in the two most successful films within the franchise. The other two beefs with this film are Winona Ryder (AKA Call) and the Newborn (AKA The worst looking monster ever to curse the silver screen) both were mistakes in ever since of the word, Winona Ryder sold this film in no way, the directors attempts at having her give a nervous glance when someone say something in order to foreshadow something she completely misses her mark and doesn't sell it at all. I swear the Olsen twins would have been better suited for the part. Now we come to the Newborn, this atrocity, has to be one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen, and not the good disgusting either. First it killed the queen, and there was no retaliation by the drones in the hive, then it went on a kill crazy rampage for no apparent reason. I found the design poor H.R. Giger was quoted as saying "That looks like ....", and he was not incorrect. However, I feel the good in this film out weighs the bad. This is by far the most visually stunning alien film, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet gave this film great style. The film had a great DP, Darius Kondjis work is the stuff of legends nowadays. A great set design, second only to Alien in the franchise. A fun and revitalizing script, yes that's what I just typed, you people dog the script so much, you would be thanking the lords above if you ever read Joss Whedons origional draft for the film... heres a hint, think Jurassic Park with the Aliens as the Velociraptors, in space. A nice performance by sigourney weaver, and an open ending, leaving way for yet another sequel.Movie Review: Good Film, But A Missed Opportunity
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a good movie -- but the writers missed a great opportunity to present science fiction with a way-things-ought-to-be theme. Life as it SHOULD and OUGHT to be.These alien creatures attack and begin killing members of the crew on a space ship, along with some guests in transit and Officer Ripley. Ripley takes charge, and leads everyone in the effort to simply kill these creatures. In the end Ripley and her gang of cowboys prevailed, and all the creatures were dead.
The writers overlooked an excellent chance to demonstrate how life SHOULD be. When Ripley and her compatriots were first attacked, they should have asked themselves, "Why do these creatures hate us?" And then they should have spent a significant amount of time examining their own behavior, to determine what faults or misdeeds of theirs had provoked the creatures to attack and kill them. Next, Ripley and her bunch should have sought to form a coalition of some sort, dealing with a space equivalent of the United Nations, to pass resolutions against the creatures' violent behavior -- not against the creatures themselves, mind you, but only condemning their behavior. Then, they should have sent inspectors to the creatures, to monitor compliance with the resolutions. If the creatures had continued killing then, by golly, they could have given those inspectors more time.
THAT is how this story should have played out -- with the creatures living according to their own cultural/religious rules, and everyone else having to accommodate the fact that the creatures simply are going to kill/terrorize people from time to time. That is the creatures' culture, and it was up to the others to understand, appreciate and accept that culture. The sad fact is, Ripley and her people did not make enough of an effort to appease these creatures. They showed absolutely NO signs of tolerance, diversity, inclusion or compassion. Well, that's not wholly true. That character portrayed by Brad Dorff was extremely compassionate in his last scene toward the end of the movie, praising the creature as "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful" just before the thing bit off his head.
Movie Review: renews the series with fresh meat
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviewers are pretty hard on this one. I think it offers the series new life, with a fertile battery of new ideas and possibilities of plot development, with new characters and an implied political configuration. Plus, the story works extremely well and the gore is kept to a minimum though enough new meat is dished up to satisfy those who hunger for imagined violence.
200 years after the demise of Ripley, she is cloned from the blood sample that was obtained when the addict doctor discovered she was "infected" in the third film. However, it is Ripley with a difference: her dna has been mixed with that of the alien queen, producing a mysterious hybrid of super strength whose own blood is acid but whose mind is largely human. She wakes on board a military research ship, administered by a group of sociopaths and secret from whatever political authorities there are on Earth. The arrival of the Betty, a mercenary ship bearing the research meat, brings a mix of criminals and an idealist who is thinking of the good of mankind, or so we would think. Of course, the alien life bursts out of its constraints and wreaks havoc, made infinitely worse by the human evil on board the ship.
I enjoyed the theme of the film: evolution, with the creation of an array of hybrids between alien and human. Their variations represent potential evolutionary futures. After all, the key is survival. Another theme is the balance between loyalty and ideals. Will the humans stick together and survive? Will the new Ripley chose aliens over humans? What will the robot operatives - another evolutionary line possibility - add to the mix? Does the future belong to the mercenaries? To the political order on Earth? To the corporations?
REcommended as one of the best of the series. It is by far the richest in terms of concept, very fun food for the imagination, which is one of the strongest arguments in favor of hard scifi. And this is very hard scifi.
Movie Review: one of the best of the alien series
Summary: 5 Stars
alien resurrection is one of the best in the series.
lesberotic - definitely a winner - go to imdb and check out the images of sigourney weaver leaning over winona ryder and holding her by the jaw...nice bit of tension here.
that alone would make the 5 stars for me. but beyond this...
philosophical - once again ripley is back and sufficiently bad-ass. this continues the theme in the series of perceptions of good and evil and also deepens the well of character development of ripley and her relationships. while the movies started out much more subtly, this one leads you to much more direct and obvious questions regarding which "aliens" are good and which are bad (aliens vs. humans) by presenting ripley as a a genetic half alien half human and by presenting call as synthetic - both of whom demonstrate more feeling, deeper connections, and moral conflict than any of the pure human or alien characters. it calls into question the motivation and feeling of ripley as a mother to her alien offspring... this brings obvious philosophical fodder about the impact of identity and feelings of duty or purpose and how these things play into choices and interactions, human nature, good vs. evil, etc.
lastly, aside from the philosophical aspects...
action - the film is rich in visuals, has decent special effects sequences, adds the aquatic aliens which are awesome, and still leaves the ultimate "ending" to your imagination.