Alien - A slow burning, atmospheric sci-fi/horror masterpiece and one of Scott’s best. Great performances from Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, and Ian Holm (who almost always gets forgotten. He’s Ash, not Bilbo!). I don’t think I really have much to say about this that hasn’t already been stated. It’s a classic.
Aliens - In my opinion, just as “classic” yet vastly different than the first. Cameron realized that any attempt to recreate the original would just turn out as a lesser quality rehash. Instead he injected a completely different style into it. Great character work from Weaver, Lance Henriksen, Jeannette Goldstein, the underrated Michael Biehn, and the girl who played Newt, who’s name escapes me. Also loved the Alien Queen concept and the “hive” related story bits.
Alien 3 - While not as good as the first two, it’s damn close. I won’t criticize Fincher for killing off Newt and Hicks, but I WILL criticize the manner in which he did so. Killing them was necessary to completing Ripley’s isolation/lack of reason to live. However, they should have survived the crash and been killed by the alien itself. He owed the characters at least that much. Yeah, we would have had to recast the role of Newt, but it still would have been worth it to the characters. The destruction of Bishop was needed however. I absolutely love the mood and depressingly dark tone of the film. The look and style is wonderfully gothic. Good work from Weaver, Henrikson, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Daniel Webb, and Charles Dutton. Perfect ending.
Alien Resurrection - Hmm. I have a small soft spot for this film. That aside, it’s just really damn weird. Very European Art Cinema-esque, which is not surprising considering who the director is (Jeunet). It contains a great group of actors and some really interesting concepts, but all are ill-used. One of those “could have been great” films. It is very visually stunning, however. Winona Ryder is out of her element and as stated somewhere above, some of the most interesting characters get a small amount of screen time or are killed off too soon. Killing Michael Wincott so early on is a big no-no. What I liked: Weaver, Ron Perlman, Dominque Pinon, Brad Dourif, Michael Wincott (in his "cameo"
, JE Freeman, and most of the concepts. Disliked: The look of the Alien hybrid (very un-Giger) and the entire execution of the project. Wasted potential.
Alien vs. Predator - At last we come to it. This is the single worst installment in either franchise and anyone who thinks differently is seriously delusional (Predator 2, while no classic, is very underrated). Continuity my ass. When this was given a PG-13 rating because the violence was supposed to be more “creature on creative” with non-red gore flying, though kinda silly, I accepted it because it kind of made sense. What doesn’t make sense is when you have 6 films of openly shown gory slayings, that almost all human deaths are done in cut away shots. First off, I don’t have a biased towards one species more than another because I loved both series equally. That said, the other two predators died WAY too quickly and easily in combat with a single alien. The Alien designs for this film were fine (although the Queen was WAY too big). The Predator designs were poor, especially in the faces. Now we come to acting. You can tell when an actor thinks that they are slumming it in a film and that is the vibe I was getting from Sanaa Lathan. I liked Colin Salmon and Lance Henriksen, but other than that, this is the worst cast of any series installment. Also, what’s with the complete and total redesign of the Predator ship interior? Again, continuity my ass. This film is even more wasted potential than Alien Resurrection, and I fear that even though it did very well, that it has buried both franchises instead of giving them a boost. I haven’t read a single thing about an AVP 2, Alien 5, or Predator 3 since this film was released. Not a good sign. While I am quite aware of how much time and effort Anderson put into making this film, none of his ideas are translated properly or are fully developed on screen. The execution is horrible. I bet Stan Winston is now glad that we wasn’t apart of this travesty.
While I know the long rumored Alien 5 dream project (Ridley Scott directing, with James Cameron writing) will never happen, I really hope that the series is not finished. I would love to see one final installment with Weaver as Ripley again. I am not too sure if the series would work without her involvement though (the Predator concept, however, has unlimited possibilities. Set in space, Ancient Epypt, Colonial times, Medievel Europe, etc.). I just hope our last theatrical memory of a new installment in each series is not of Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator. I would definately be willing to give an AVP 2 a shot as an alternative, if it actually had some talent in front of and ESPECIALLY behind the camera.
By the way, please explain to me WHY everyone has a hard on for giving Joss Whedon the reigns to the X-Men franchise. Now I’m not familiar with his comic works, but if his television projects are any clue this is a big HELL NO!!! I have not seen Firefly, so I cannot comment on that (and I’ll probably base my opinion of it off of Serenity when it comes out). I have, however, seen episodes of Buffy and Angel. What about those TV shows inspires anyone to let him loose on X-Men 3? Of course I am one of the people that’s of the mind that the only decent aspect of the Buffy/Angel media franchise is the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. And if none of that convinces anyone, look at Alien Resurrection. That’s Whedon’s answer to taking on a film franchise. That script was absolute shit! I blame the failure of Resurrection more on Whedon and the producers than on the director. Jeunet did his job in making a visually stunning film, it was the script that reeked. Don’t give me that “he should have vetoed it” crap. Somehow I think that if Jeunet had the clout to do such a thing, that it would have been done.
Alright, that’s it. My fingers are tired.