Alien Resurrection Review
by "David N. Butterworth" (dnb AT mail DOT med DOT upenn DOT edu)December 9th, 1997
ALIEN RESURRECTION
A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1997 David N. Butterworth
Rating: ** (Maltin scale)
Been there. Done that.
"Alien Resurrection" feels less like another episode in the popular Alien series and more like a predictable, visceral walk down memory lane, reminding us--with its almost casual approach to brainless humans being gored by big nasty monsters--what made the first three films much more memorable.
And that *does* include "Alien3."
Fans of the series are strongly divided between two camps: whether Ridley Scott's original was better than James Cameron's sequel (it's a debate that seems senseless, given how different these two films are in terms of style--Scott's played like a classic monster movie set in deep space; Cameron's was a testosterone-laden, hardware-heavy shoot-em-up). On the less successful end of the scale, David Fincher's 1992 "Alien3" was unanimously dismissed out of hand as the bleakest and weakest chapter, but with "Alien Resurrection" there's finally new hope for Fincher's effort.
This time around we get the typical rag-tag band of heavily-armed space derelicts who happen onboard a scientific research vessel. Here they mess with an equally rag-tag band of covert military operatives engaged in some not-for-prime-time experimentation with--you guessed it--those drooling skeletal creatures with the stainless steel teeth. Head of the group is General Perez, played in flamboyant fashion by Dan Hedaya, whose furry shoulders are probably the scariest thing in the film.
Sigourney Weaver is back as Ripley, even though her character died in the third Alien picture. Watching Weaver in a bad Alien movie is always more interesting than watching her in a good, non-Alien movie ("The Ice Storm," for example) so whenever she's on camera, there's hope. But perhaps because her character is a clone (like everything else in the film), Ripley is lacking a vibrancy and passion the film badly needs. We can't blame Weaver, since the Ripley character has been genetically mutated, but her new spiritual relationship with the aliens just doesn't drive "Alien Resurrection" as effectively as her tough, human compassion did in the earlier films.
Call, a space pirate with very much her own agenda, displays some of the emotions missing from Ripley, but as played by a miscast Winona Ryder, she's too wimpy and simpy to be of any real value.
The aliens are as slimy and single-mindedly menacing as usual but with no audience empathy for the crew members, the buffet can't start fast enough.
"Alien Resurrection" is directed by the provocative Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("City of Lost Children," "Delicatessen") but you'd hardly know it. The film has a very standard look, as if the production team used leftover sets from "Event Horizon" (another disappointing science fiction thriller that wastes a decent cast). 200 years on, we're still looking at the same old grungy, mechanized interiors with lots of escaping steam; the only notable technological advance appears to be breath recognition! Jeunet should have given us something a little more surreal or at least imaginative. Writer Joss Whedon's script is definitely lost in space.
Although "Alien3" wasn't the most satisfying end to the trilogy, "Alien Resurrection" reminds us that sometimes the kindest thing you can do is let the dead rest in peace.
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David N. Butterworth
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