Since I examined the gorgeously shot suckfest that was Alien 3 last week, I thought I'd move on to its sequel, 1997's Alien Resurrection.
As I mentioned last time, the third Alien film was a massive disappointment for me, as I'd been led to believe (through no fault of my own, mind you - d'ya need to see that teaser again?) that we'd get a true continuation of Aliens, wherein there'd be some sort of battle between xenomorphs and humans taking place on Earth. Instead we got a languid, uninspired retread of the first movie, with one alien killing off humans in a confined location, Ten Little Indians-style. Then Ripley dies. I hated it. I hated it all. The franchise that should really have ended after two films got a completely unnecessary, tacked-on third installment just so Ripley could be killed off.
Fast-forward five years, and suddenly the series was resurrected (I see what they did there...), with a Ripley clone having been created 200 years after her death, on a military/scientific vessel that has begun experimenting with the aliens. As part of the breeding process the scientists on board have illegally purchased cryo-frozen humans for use as hosts. A mercenary ship arrives, delivering said hosts, but before long the aliens escape captivity and all hell breaks loose. That's about all there is to the plot of this film, though I guess that's about twice as long as the premise of the third film.
My hope going into this was that it would really be something different and maybe even right the ship. We'd finally see something in line with my expectations for Alien 3, or so I thought. As it turned out Resurrection was just as poorly received as 3 (if not moreso), and the possibility of ever seeing another truly good Alien film again was all but gone.
Still, Resurrection did have some intriguing elements, some amusing horror-action, and plenty of gooey xenomorphs. Let's take a closer look at this awesomely shitty movie....
(Note: I think if I were making a fourth film around this time I'd have simply revealed at the outset that Alien 3 was a dream, and have Ripley wake up from cryosleep to find Newt and Hicks still slumbering in their pods. Then the story would adhere closer to the original Alien III script, where the xenos end up on Earth and the company actually intends on exploiting them for their Weapons division. But that's just me.)
The Awesome
Something Different
After the dull, lazy retread that was Alien 3, it was nice to see the franchise go in a different direction with this film. Ripley is back, but as a clone of the original character, and with a bit of xenomorph DNA which gives her some superhuman abilities. It's corny, it's a bit comic booky, but hey, at least they tried something new with this film. Setting it 200 years after Alien 3 also adds an element of the dystopian future, where the infrastructure is breaking down and mercenaries like the Betty crew have become commonplace.
Sigourno-morph
Sigourney Weaver clearly has a lot of fun with this new incarnation of Ripley, getting a chance to show off her newfound skills but also to convey the conflict arising from her longtime arch-nemesis now being a part of her. This creature that has ruined her life is now ingrained in her biology. A smarter, more thoughtful script would've done a lot more with this, but it's a start. That theme comes into play later in the film when the alien queen seems to treat her almost as a loved one and the alien/human hybrid regards her as its mother. Joss Whedon's script introduces some novel concepts for this franchise, and it's refreshing to see that at least.
 |
| Oh, Ripley 8 will fuck you ups.... |
