Movie Title: Alien: Resurrection
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott, Kim Flowers, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, Raymond Cruz, Leland Orser
Review: Believe it or not, 200 years have passed since Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) sacrificed herself to keep the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from getting their greedy hands on the dreaded alien. Now, thanks to cloning technology, she's back as an human/alien hybrid - and so is the alien queen that was inside her! With the help of some space pirates can Ripley stop these deadly creatures from being unleashed on Earth? Should this series just have stayed dead like its protagonist? Yes! Can Joss Whedon write some new life into this frightening franchise? No! Get ready for the return of Ripley and the xenomorph in Alien: Resurrection.
Where to begin? This movie is not good and hasn't aged well since its release. Well, the set design and creature effects look great (not the newborn alien creature - LAME!) - but that's about it. Alien: Resurrection doesn't even feel like an "Alien" movie like its three predecessors. This one tried to be too quirky, weird, and goofy. Because when I think Alien quirky, weird, and goofy immediately come to mind, right? Wrong! Oh, so wrong.
This entry seems more like fan-fiction. Joss Whedon can be a good writer, but his brand of humor and characters are a sharp contrast from the horrific realism and intensity that has always been a part of these stellar Sci-Fi/Horror films. And French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet brings a really unique, wild visual style to this outing, but ultimately his over indulgences removes the fear factor and replaces it with visuals that distract from the story rather than enhance it.
And you'd think with a great cast of actor's like Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Michael Wincott, Dan Hedaya, Brad Dourif, Raymond Cruz, and Leland Orser you'd have a ensemble that could really make this story fun, exciting, and memorable... but just exchanging quippy dialogue in-between uninteresting action scenes just makes the runtime drag. Although I will say Sigourney Weaver is quite good as this new version of Ripley. She is cool, confident, and cunning as a sort of bad girl. The only problem is she never really shows off this new side as the movie progresses. Probably because the script doesn't have much for her to do, except tell other characters that they are gonna die at some point. Such wasted potential. It's kind of a shame.
The best scene in the movie is when Ripley discovers the seven failed clones that preceded her "number 8" clone. It's creepy, scary, and kind of sad. A good scene in an otherwise forgettable movie. The worst thing about Alien: Resurrection is that the aliens are not scary. That's a huge problem in these movies! If the alien or aliens are not scary - THEN WHAT THE HELL AM I WATCHING IT FOR?! That's the big reason this one fails, and fails hard! A lot of fans don't like Alien 3 because it's too dark, depressing, or confusing, but at least in that one the alien is still terrifying. And make sure to watch the Assembly Cut - it's so much better.
I'm not gonna lie, I almost didn't finish watching Alien: Resurrection, but then I was determined to see how bad it was going to get - and oh boy did it - I'll never do that again! Life is too short to sit through this misguided, uninteresting, unnecessary quirky creature feature. Skip it at all costs and just stick with the first three and you'll be just fine. What a monster disappointment.
Fun Fact: Jean-Pierre Jeunet wanted to have a scene where a mosquito stings Ripley, then vanishes into smoke because of her acid blood. Eventually, he dropped the idea after the SFX team told him how much it would cost.