Movie Minx

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn
Directed by: James Cameron (he of the big ship)

Plot: The only survivor of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley is discovered in deep sleep over half a century later by a salvage ship. When she is taken back to Earth, she learns that a human colony was founded on the same planet where the aliens were first found. After contact with the colony is lost, she finds herself sent back to the planet along with a team of warriors bent on destroying the alien menace forever, and saving any survivors - if any remain.

But is it any good?

A few years ago, an aghast friend of mine discovered that I hadn’t seen any of the Alien movies. She sat me firmly down for a look at the first three, back to back. She made me promise not to watch any more of the sequels, “for the love of God”, because only the first three counted. And I was interested - Ripley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher are all very respectable. So we sat down, munched on popcorn and watched some aliens get their extra-terrestrial asses kicked.

Aliens is the second movie out of five (and counting), and along with The Godfather Part Two it is considered one of the best sequels ever, and I must admit that this is the one I liked best - which surprised me, because David Fincher is my favorite of the three directors. But Alien, while very good - the chest-bursting scene is classic, of course - was a bit ridiculous (”We must stick together…okay, now you go explore that area, and we’ll go this way”). And Alien³ was just too dark and dull in my opinion.

James Cameron had a tough act to follow making this sequel, but he pulls it off by providing a sci-fi action ride which includes a solid plot, punchy dialog, believable characters and some bloody scary scenes too. Don’t watch it if you’re not into multiple kicks of adrenaline. It looks good, as well - Aliens was apparently only made for $18 million, but seems to have held onto its looks even though 20 years have passed.

Sigourney Weaver deserves kudos for bringing some kick-ass attitude to the Alien movies, proving that women heroes can be powerful and sexy (without having to look like Lara Croft). And how many ’80s movies had women in a lead role? Plus Weaver would have been about 37 when this sequel was made, and her final showdown with the alien queen is spectacular. Sigourney Weaver, you rock.

But of course it’s not all about Ripley, and the other characters, while pretty stereotyped, all come across as vital and welcome additions to the team. Paul Reiser is the brown-nosing Burke, Bill Paxton is the outwardly redneck/inwardly scared Hudson, plus there’s a tough-as-nails female, a loveable robot, a cigar-smoking sergeant and a young girl called, uh, Newt. Newt and Ripley share a bond that softens all the yee-hah action, aka things being blown to pieces.

But the trouble with good sequels is that their success will inevitably lead to another sequel, and another…until one bombs so badly the funding ends. Films with multiple sequels never end on a high - the only example I might consider is Return of the Jedi/Revenge of the Sith, but that’s a little different. Look at The Matrix movies, the Godfathers, the Back to the Futures, the Terminators, the Shreks plus all the horror franchises. (Lord of the Rings is different because it’s based on the three books. But I welcome any other examples).

So watching the first two Alien movies is enough, I think, unless you’re like me and will stick with David Fincher through the lows as well as the highs. But you must see Alien before giving this film a go, otherwise you might be sitting there going “huh?”.

My rating: 7.5/10 (a good time and delivers on all counts, but not one of my favorites)

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