Alien Resurrection Review
by Phil Brady (PHLBRADY AT concentric DOT net)December 9th, 1997
When we last saw Ellen Ripley, she was.. Dead! And she took the alien with her. This was not a good business decision for a promising franchise. Director David Fincher (Seven, The Game) had been undercut by the Fox studio, and his Alien3 was not up to expectations. At that point, wrapping it up may have seemed like a good idea to all concerned. But, much like the Frankenstein monster, the Alien character was too compelling to just fade away. Many Alien graphic novels continued to flourish, showing that the faithful were out there, betrayed, but waiting patiently. Scripts with and without Ripley were tossed around, and one story finally emerged, resurrecting the franchise AND Ripley. You sorta have to look the other way when they clone Ripley, but hey, it’s a small price to get our story back on track.
The movie opens 200 years later, when the evil Weyland-Utani corporation has turned everything over to the military. On a special lab-spaceship, a secret team of doctors is trying to clone Ripley. Using a blood sample taken back on the prison planet in Alien3, they bring back Ellen AND the Alien, so that they can harvest the Alien. This is fast-and-loose Sci-Fi science, so why not let Ripley retain memories, too? The scientists get their alien queen specimen, and busily start to bring about their own demise. The Ripley clone is kept as a curiosity, and indeed she is. With some alien DNA in her, she has uncommon strength, her blood is caustic acid, and she has an eerie, alert demeanor. It is probably formed as much by predator instincts as by the condescending treatment from the doctors. She maintains her alien-fighting chops, but also displays a disturbing empathy with the beasts.
A cargo of human victims is acquired from some space pirates, who sell the cryo-tubes from a hijacked ship. These colorful characters are still aboard when the aliens predictably break loose and overrun the ship. Lots of military-types are killed and many get away in escape pods. This leaves Ripley, the pirates, one evil scientist, and one impregnated victim - embarking on their own Poseidon Adventure to get back to the pirates’ ship. Additional urgency is added by the fact that the lab-ship is programmed to return to Earth in an emergency. This last detail is unnecessary to the story, but essential to the set-up for Alien 5.
Nigel Phelps’ production design is good, retaining the grungy, lived-in look for the spaceships. The casting is quirky. Winona Ryder seems out of place, but her character deserves more attention as the story develops. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet brought along his two stars from City of Lost Children: Ron Perlman is colorful playing an pirate bully, and Dominique Pinon adds a lot as a resourceful paraplegic. Dan Hedaya does a good job as the pragmatic military commander. He runs a tight ship but comfortably deals with the pirates under the table. B-movie ghoul Brad Dourif gets an A-movie, but they saddle him with a lot of the embarrassing scientific explanations.
Successful sequels need to reprise signature elements, but they must improve them to justify the effort. We get Sigourney Weaver back, but she’s not really Ripley. The pirates are certainly more colorful than the prisoners from Alien3. Much of the action is obligatory and predictable. There’s some new stuff showing a swimming alien, and the puzzling addition of a new, mammalian alien. Other alien appearances are mostly head and teeth, rarely showing us the exquisitely grotesque creature designed by H. R. Giger (who is more than a little miffed by not being mentioned in the credits).
Individual evaluation of these offerings will vary widely. Those hungry for another episode will be happy enough, especially when they see the built-in Alien5 potential. Skeptics worried about the mercenary motives of the producers may be less patient. Newcomers may be lost, since the screenplay does not provide them enough exposition. Alien3 has had the impact of a baseball strike. The franchise may recover, but Wynona Ryder is no Ken Griffey Jr.
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