Movie Info
Movie Name: Alien: Resurrection
Studio: Brandywine Productions
Genre(s): Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): November 26, 1997
MPAA Rating: R
Um…I just wanna know…are we going to kiss?
A group of space pirates have landed on a military vessel with a crew of bodies in cryogenic storage. When the pirates encounter a woman claiming to be Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a member of their group named Call (Winona Ryder) decides she has to kill her. Call discovers Ripley is an alien/human hybrid and that the military has managed to retrieve a queen alien. The pirates find themselves trapped on the space station as an alien outbreak occurs and the only hope of getting off the station might be from Ripley.
Alien: Resurrection was directed by the French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and like Alien3, wasn’t well received by critics. It was written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s creator Josh Whedon and featured pirates very similar to his characters in Firefly. The movie was a financial success, but was still torn apart by fans and seems to have ended the series as of now.
The newest show at SeaWorld
The movie is very fast moving and does have a lot of aliens…something that most complained about Alien3. The weird thing is that the movie is too fast. Alien3 was very slow paced and Alien: Resurrection moves at rocket speed. The aliens are off and running quickly into the movie and it doesn’t stop through the whole movie. This doesn’t allow the pirates to develop as individual characters and besides Call, they become throwaways.
The other problem with the movie is Ripley. Throughout the Alien series she was deconstructed and now reborn. Unfortunately, the rebirth turns her into not much of a likeable character…something she always was. The new Ripley has aspects of alien and human DNA and which apparently causes to act like an unlikeable psycho that sympathizes with the aliens.
Really? Why mess with a good thing?
With the problem of Ripley, comes the continued message of motherhood that has been a theme throughout the movie. The final result of the mother theme is the nasty horrible hybrid alien-human baby birthed by the alien queen. The thing is pretty gross, but also feels pretty stupid. This is how they decided to solve the whole series? (I did like however the vacuum sucked into space portion.)
Alien: Resurrection pretty much solidified the series end. Weaver indicated that she’d be ok on doing more Aliens but the Alien/Predator (quite-dull) franchise kind of ended that dream. With the 2012 summer release of Prometheus by original Alien director Ridley Scott, the Alien series is getting a bit of a prequel (no aliens are supposed to be in the movie, but the ship that is found is). Maybe that will reboot the franchise and take it in a new direction.
Related Links:
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
