There’s a reasonable chance you’ve clicked on this expecting me to give Alien: Resurrection a hard time. As a part of the Alien franchise, it’s absolutely middling. But it’s not bad, and despite being pretty silly at times can also be entertaining. Sorry to disappoint.
Watching it reminded me a couple of things. First up is Dead Space, which is ironic as so much of that series is inspired by Alien. USM Auriga, meet USG Ishimura. As I write this I realise just how similar they are in both name and design; surely not just a coincidence. The second one is weirder. Resurrection was giving both myself and my brother a certain vibe. He couldn’t place it. But then it clicked! Halloween 5. I wish I could explain it, but since we both watch that series once a year, he got what I meant. There’s a certain “European” feel to it that is tough to describe.
Once again we have a single location, and a Ripley. There’s a team of cooky individuals. But there are differences. For one, there is no Weyland-Yutani. The even bigger difference is that this time around, rather than treat the Xenomorph as a lone killer, or a hive, they’re outright monsters. And I mean monsters in a more “Universal” way. They scheme, they surprise, and some of them even seem to feel. It’s a pretty bold change following 3, and I don’t entirely mind it. With next to no mystique surroundings the the creatures by now, Resurrection doesn’t feel as different as it no doubt did in 1997.
Weaver does a nice job of giving us a different Ripley this time around. Once again she gets to show some of the character’s maternal instincts, but it’s tempered with a far more predatory nature this time. She knows the deal whilst struggling to reconcile her human and alien sides. Pretty good with a basketball too.
Everyone else is fine. You don’t/can’t flesh out every character in a film like this, so at least make the broad strokes interesting. You’ve got a couple, the mouthy badass, the gunslinger. All reasonable tropes. They’re drinking and swearing mat be looked down upon, but they’re loyal and they can look after themselves. Skilled or unskilled though, the first four films proves the Xeno doesn’t care.
I think we’re well beyond spoilers with this one, which means I a happily point out how cool I think swimming Xenos are! The perfect survivor adapts well, whilst also giving us a new visual and a tense scene. Killed or drowned? Neither sounds great. But it well staged. CGI has come on a bit since Alien 3, though there are still plenty of physical effects.
There’s a decent pace to the film, with the characters already down to the crew of the Betty and a couple of others by the halfway point. Some cool deaths, with some goofy moments mixed in. Ricocheting bullets and one character holding part of his brain seems ridiculous when thinking of Alien and Aliens, but I think it works OK here.
Because this is a silly film. Cloning a human and expecting that to carry over the alien they were impregnated with? How can known pirates so easily smuggle weapons aboard a military vessel? The trick is to not worry too much. Alien: Resurrection is a fun ride; the antithesis of Prometheus. Apart from it’s not followed up on sequel bait ending, it doesn’t ask any big questions. Just enjoy it.
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