Alien Resurrection Review
by Scott Promish (scottjp AT cris DOT com)December 3rd, 1997
ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997)
Reviewed by Scott J. Promish
(c)1997
Two hundred years have passed since the events depicted in ALIEN 3. The Company is gone, but a similarly corrupt and greedy military operation has risen up in its place. By taking samples of Lt. Ellen Ripley's blood immediately after her death, they have been able to both breed alien creatures in captivity, and clone Ripley herself.
Shortly after the new Ripley has reached adulthood and been brought up to the standard educational level, a band of mercenaries bearing mysterious cargo arrives. One of them seems to have a hidden agenda. Inevitably, the alien creatures are freed (in a very creative and surprising fashion), and they begin to wreak havoc and death on board the space installation.
If just any old director had been helming this latest chapter in the ALIEN saga, I wouldn't have been looking forward to it nearly as much as I was. But ALIEN RESURRECTION is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose previous features included the darkly delightful DELICATESSEN as well as the fantastic THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (both with Marc Caro, who gets a design credit here.) Not even considering story and characters, just seeing one of these films is a wondrous experience. Just the thought of what he could do with an ALIEN picture...
RESURRECTION certainly lives up to its promise. It is nearly as gorgeous as CITY, something which also owes to the use of cinematographer Darius Khondji. Khondji's previous non-Jeunet work has included STEALING BEAUTY and SEVEN, both visually stunning films. One sequence which particularly stands out is an underwater chase through flooded chambers. The swimming aliens look fabulous, and not a bit computer generated, though of course they are.
After the film was over, I wasn't sure if I liked this or ALIENS as the best of the four. The more I think about it, the more RESURRECTION comes out the winner for me. The more involving story is one reason (as fun as ALIENS was, there wasn't much to it); the other is the characters.
I really liked the mercenaries: Call (Winona Ryder), "a little girl playing pirates"; Vriess (Jeunet & Caro regular Dominique Pinon), a cripple confined to a tank-like wheelchair; Johner (Ron Perlman, who was also in THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), a likeable loudmouth obsessed with guns & ammo; Christie (Gary Dourdan), a sharpshooter with built-in weaponry; Elgyn (Michael Wincott - THE CROW, STRANGE DAYS) and Hilliard (Kim Flowers). They all have distinct personalities, though the last two aren't given much development or screen time. They're all a lot more interesting and colorful than a bunch of grunts, and none of them got on my nerves like Bill Paxton did. Sigourney Weaver, of course, returns as Ripley, but she convincingly plays her as an altogether different Ripley. The cloning isn't just a way to bring back and rehash an old character. There are familiar elements, but this version is a hybrid of human and alien, and the ambiguity she radiates gives the film an added layer of suspense - and to the writer's credit, her dual nature never leads to a predictable Jekyll/Hyde situation.
ALIEN RESURRECTION is a successful comeback from the disappointing, bland ALIEN 3. I recommend it and give it 6.5 out of 8 clones. (I don't usually give "star" ratings, but I couldn't resist this one. You'll understand when you see it.)
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