*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
*Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
*Starring Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Gary Dourdan, Dan Hedaya
The Plot: Taking place 200 years after the events of Alien 3, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is now remade as a clone that includes an alien host inside of her in which a group of scientists use the host to create more Xenomorphs, run tests and, heck, even attempting to create a new breed mixed with her human genes and a Xenomorph's. When a crew is sent aboard the science group's space vessel their mission is to kill Ripley, but Xenomorphs manage to escape and the crew with Ripley have to escape themselves and detonate the vessel containing the aliens before it automatically crashes towards Earth.
Boy, did I hear so much negativity about this film before I sat down and watched it. Nowadays, we know in some, not all, franchises there's always that one sequel or many sequels that cause a franchise to decline. It might've had one, two, or maybe even a handful of films where the franchise starts out incredibly great and innovative, but then it tries to pump out more sequels and the issue that proceeds is the idea that the sequel/sequels can't recapture the magic found in the original film/films.
Fans might still support said sequels that aren't as great as its predecessors, but even if most don't agree the franchise hits like it used to, then to some it's probably considered a dead franchise. So when Alien: Resurrection released in 1997 there was no doubt that after pretty mediocre responses with Alien 3, that it could either be a step up or a step down for the franchise. Unfortunately, this film was yet another step down for the franchise, however, I am actually a little surprised how much negativity this film gets.
Is this film a bad movie or even an awful movie? I probably wouldn't go that far, but in the end it still wasn't very good and I was kind of expecting to really hate myself watching this film. My viewing experience turned out to be pretty decent due to the fact that it was actually a rather entertaining film. Once the second act hits and the Xenomorphs escape and the crew is running away from said Xenomorphs I was actually pretty shocked how semi invested I was in the action. Granted, the action and more suspenseful scenes in Alien and Aliens were done better because you were invested in characters and truly cared about their fate regarding the situations they were in. The characters aren't really well written in this film and are basically over exaggerated stereotypes. It was kind of hard for me to take these action/chase scenes seriously when I couldn't connect with the characters on an emotional level. Yet if you watch the second and third acts of Alien: Resurrection as just a fun popcorn guilty pleasure sci-if action movie you'll definitely have a great time here.
I spoke about taking characters seriously and that aspect pretty much relates to my biggest issue with Alien: Resurrection and that is I can't take the entire movie seriously. Why? Because the overall plot of this film is really dumb for a franchise that's been so intelligent in the past. I get that the film is trying to have you invested in Ripley's story and the struggle of knowing she's used for experimentation, but just the idea that she was a freakin' cloned after her death to run tests on Xenomorphs is very odd. First of all, why clone Ripley to run tests? Why does it strictly have to be Ripley? Also, this aspect is where I think the film is as dumb as they come, WHY WOULD THESE SCIENTISTS KEEP XENOMORPHS CAPTURED ABOARD THE SHIP? Do they not know the consequences of what these vicious creatures are capable of? It just seems so obvious that you'd know they would break out, so maybe they should've done more research about what these creatures have done in the past? Not to mention when the aliens do escape, the movie's so stupid in retrospect, that it becomes hilarious when crap hits the fan.
The film does have it fair share of scenes that are supposed to come off as horrible and suspenseful, but end up being really hysterical. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud when certain moments went down. The funny moments of this film could probably warrant a post of its own, but just to name a couple, one of my favorite moments is when the guard checks the aliens' quarters to see how they escaped underground using the acid blood of another creature. The alien sees the guard through the window of the small space and uses its second mouth to hit the ice mist button to freeze the guard. I guess the idea that the alien used its second mouth to push a button was just hilarious to me. I don't know what it is.
Also, the scene when the Xenomorph is about the burst through one of the newer stragglers of the group. Before anything happens the guy just starts losing control and goes flying towards one of the corrupt members and in an over the top manner beats the crap out of him as the alien tries to break through. It just made the victim so high energy and apparently an alien host inside of you can make a person do that before it bursts through their chest. Go figure.
Like the predecessors I do think the practical and animatronic creature effects looked really decent this time around. There were probably times when the green screen seen through the windows of space looked rather hokey. Also, the film was released at a time where computer animation was becoming a trend, so that means, you guessed it, we get CGI Xenomorphs. I will say that I was surprised that some of the CG shots looked solid compared to today's standards, but there were moments where it was that horrible 90s CGI where the textures looked artificial. We were at that point where photo realistic effects were pretty non-existent and textures couldn't be mapped out properly and at some points in this film, boy, does it show!
For what it's worth Alien: Resurrection was a really disappointing movie compared to Alien and Aliens, but arguably I'd say I had a better viewing experience watching this film than Alien 3 for its entertainment value. Alien 3 is probably a better made film on a technical level and had a better plot in place, but with Resurrection I could have some more fun with it. I don't really have a desire to watch Alien 3 nor Resurrection again because there was really nothing new that could be offered as innovation to sci-fi cinema or cinema in general as we saw in the first two films. When I watch Alien and Aliens my mind is still blown to see how those films still hold up. I can't look at these films and say I got anything out of the story and characters. Alien: Resurrection is a film that can be fun to sit through, but impossible to gain an emotional attachment towards the elements that made Alien and Aliens very memorable through incredible direction, clever originality, and great characters. The same can't be said for the films that followed.
I could probably still watch this film okay and I don't hate it as much as everyone else, but I can agree that compared to two sci-fi masterpieces in Alien and Aliens that this film doesn't come remotely close to quality of those films. This will probably be another film to ignore when I sit down and have an Alien marathon and thank god the plot is so ridiculous to the point where it's not a necessary viewing in an Alien series binge.
Now, to cap off my series of Alien reviews before Alien: Covenant stay tuned very soon for my review of Prometheus, which I actually can't wait to revisit after a very long time. Cannot wait and for more updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below as well as a linked playlist to my other Alien reviews:
Facebook.com/thealexcorey
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Alien Reviews Playlist
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this review! I love you all! As always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff!
Take care. :-)
*Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
*Starring Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Gary Dourdan, Dan Hedaya
The Plot: Taking place 200 years after the events of Alien 3, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is now remade as a clone that includes an alien host inside of her in which a group of scientists use the host to create more Xenomorphs, run tests and, heck, even attempting to create a new breed mixed with her human genes and a Xenomorph's. When a crew is sent aboard the science group's space vessel their mission is to kill Ripley, but Xenomorphs manage to escape and the crew with Ripley have to escape themselves and detonate the vessel containing the aliens before it automatically crashes towards Earth.
Boy, did I hear so much negativity about this film before I sat down and watched it. Nowadays, we know in some, not all, franchises there's always that one sequel or many sequels that cause a franchise to decline. It might've had one, two, or maybe even a handful of films where the franchise starts out incredibly great and innovative, but then it tries to pump out more sequels and the issue that proceeds is the idea that the sequel/sequels can't recapture the magic found in the original film/films.
Fans might still support said sequels that aren't as great as its predecessors, but even if most don't agree the franchise hits like it used to, then to some it's probably considered a dead franchise. So when Alien: Resurrection released in 1997 there was no doubt that after pretty mediocre responses with Alien 3, that it could either be a step up or a step down for the franchise. Unfortunately, this film was yet another step down for the franchise, however, I am actually a little surprised how much negativity this film gets.
Is this film a bad movie or even an awful movie? I probably wouldn't go that far, but in the end it still wasn't very good and I was kind of expecting to really hate myself watching this film. My viewing experience turned out to be pretty decent due to the fact that it was actually a rather entertaining film. Once the second act hits and the Xenomorphs escape and the crew is running away from said Xenomorphs I was actually pretty shocked how semi invested I was in the action. Granted, the action and more suspenseful scenes in Alien and Aliens were done better because you were invested in characters and truly cared about their fate regarding the situations they were in. The characters aren't really well written in this film and are basically over exaggerated stereotypes. It was kind of hard for me to take these action/chase scenes seriously when I couldn't connect with the characters on an emotional level. Yet if you watch the second and third acts of Alien: Resurrection as just a fun popcorn guilty pleasure sci-if action movie you'll definitely have a great time here.
I spoke about taking characters seriously and that aspect pretty much relates to my biggest issue with Alien: Resurrection and that is I can't take the entire movie seriously. Why? Because the overall plot of this film is really dumb for a franchise that's been so intelligent in the past. I get that the film is trying to have you invested in Ripley's story and the struggle of knowing she's used for experimentation, but just the idea that she was a freakin' cloned after her death to run tests on Xenomorphs is very odd. First of all, why clone Ripley to run tests? Why does it strictly have to be Ripley? Also, this aspect is where I think the film is as dumb as they come, WHY WOULD THESE SCIENTISTS KEEP XENOMORPHS CAPTURED ABOARD THE SHIP? Do they not know the consequences of what these vicious creatures are capable of? It just seems so obvious that you'd know they would break out, so maybe they should've done more research about what these creatures have done in the past? Not to mention when the aliens do escape, the movie's so stupid in retrospect, that it becomes hilarious when crap hits the fan.
The film does have it fair share of scenes that are supposed to come off as horrible and suspenseful, but end up being really hysterical. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud when certain moments went down. The funny moments of this film could probably warrant a post of its own, but just to name a couple, one of my favorite moments is when the guard checks the aliens' quarters to see how they escaped underground using the acid blood of another creature. The alien sees the guard through the window of the small space and uses its second mouth to hit the ice mist button to freeze the guard. I guess the idea that the alien used its second mouth to push a button was just hilarious to me. I don't know what it is.
Also, the scene when the Xenomorph is about the burst through one of the newer stragglers of the group. Before anything happens the guy just starts losing control and goes flying towards one of the corrupt members and in an over the top manner beats the crap out of him as the alien tries to break through. It just made the victim so high energy and apparently an alien host inside of you can make a person do that before it bursts through their chest. Go figure.
Like the predecessors I do think the practical and animatronic creature effects looked really decent this time around. There were probably times when the green screen seen through the windows of space looked rather hokey. Also, the film was released at a time where computer animation was becoming a trend, so that means, you guessed it, we get CGI Xenomorphs. I will say that I was surprised that some of the CG shots looked solid compared to today's standards, but there were moments where it was that horrible 90s CGI where the textures looked artificial. We were at that point where photo realistic effects were pretty non-existent and textures couldn't be mapped out properly and at some points in this film, boy, does it show!
For what it's worth Alien: Resurrection was a really disappointing movie compared to Alien and Aliens, but arguably I'd say I had a better viewing experience watching this film than Alien 3 for its entertainment value. Alien 3 is probably a better made film on a technical level and had a better plot in place, but with Resurrection I could have some more fun with it. I don't really have a desire to watch Alien 3 nor Resurrection again because there was really nothing new that could be offered as innovation to sci-fi cinema or cinema in general as we saw in the first two films. When I watch Alien and Aliens my mind is still blown to see how those films still hold up. I can't look at these films and say I got anything out of the story and characters. Alien: Resurrection is a film that can be fun to sit through, but impossible to gain an emotional attachment towards the elements that made Alien and Aliens very memorable through incredible direction, clever originality, and great characters. The same can't be said for the films that followed.
Verdict: C
I could probably still watch this film okay and I don't hate it as much as everyone else, but I can agree that compared to two sci-fi masterpieces in Alien and Aliens that this film doesn't come remotely close to quality of those films. This will probably be another film to ignore when I sit down and have an Alien marathon and thank god the plot is so ridiculous to the point where it's not a necessary viewing in an Alien series binge.
Now, to cap off my series of Alien reviews before Alien: Covenant stay tuned very soon for my review of Prometheus, which I actually can't wait to revisit after a very long time. Cannot wait and for more updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below as well as a linked playlist to my other Alien reviews:
Facebook.com/thealexcorey
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Alien Reviews Playlist
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this review! I love you all! As always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff!
Take care. :-)
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