Rating of
3/4
"Alien Resurrection" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/01/12
200 years after the death of Ellen Ripley she is cloned by yet more misguided scientists in order to breed the species for their research on board a military vessel. Alien 3 tried to follow the template of the first film with some flawed success and Alien Resurrection does the same for its sequel Aliens with similar results. The very contrived premise is one that you have to accept considering Ripley died at the end of the previous film but the whole alien hybrid concept is a little harder to swallow. Joss Whedon actually disowned the script after various studio rewrites but it does have some very nice moments; particularly the scene in which Ripley confronts "herself" and the idea of self aware androids consumed with self loathing. Jeunet also stamps his own brand of attractive visual invention on the proceedings and the effects are streets ahead of Alien 3's. The aliens also have a lot more character and the set pieces are executed with some real panache, especially the underwater pursuit that reminded me of a futuristic Poseidon Adventure! Unfortunately it falls down at the last hurdle with the afore-mentioned hybrid that's a slightly ridiculous idea and the creature itself looks rubbish. The journey there is very entertaining though and despite being the least inventive of the series it's still a creditable addition to the franchise. But inevitably, it's once again nowhere near as good as the first two.
