Alien: Resurrection (1997) review

15. Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Produced by: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Sigourney Weaver, Walter Hill, Bill Badalato

Screenplay by: Joss Whedon

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, Michael Wincott

The kind way to describe fan reaction to “Alien 3” was that they were unhappy with the choices to kill off some of the most beloved characters in the opening minutes for no reason; James Cameron called it a “slap in the face,” David Fincher regretted his involvement, and Michael Biehn—whose Bishop was originally envisioned as the main character in one of the rejected scripts—demanded as much money for the use of his likeness in one scene as his entire salary from “Aliens.” Nevertheless, the international box office success led to Fox commissioning another sequel they hoped would satisfy viewers much more. Written by Joss Whedon—then a hot young screenwriter who’d worked on “Speed” and “Toy Story”—we have “Alien: Resurrection,” which returns Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley for the last time. It’s a movie that eschews the serious tone that personified the first three films in favor of an inane sci-fi plot loaded with over-the-top performances, although it’s aided by highlight-worthy effects and scenes.

Taking place a whopping 200 years after the events of “Alien 3,” in which Ripley died by falling into a furnace as a new alien queen burst from her chest, we open with military scientists on the Auriga spaceship successfully cloning her through blood samples. The Xenomorph’s DNA has apparently been combined with Ripley’s, so they extract it from her womb, intending it to lay eggs and breed more aliens through human hosts for military use, which is basically what the Weyland company had tried previously. Ripley is kept alive more or less as a scientific curiosity, as while her personality is different, she also has enhanced strength and reflexes, acidic blood, and is apparently really good at basketball; don’t ask. Anyway, the Auriga is boarded by a team of mercenaries on their ship Betty, who carry a bunch of abducted humans in stasis. Big surprise, however; the aliens escape and run amok killing most of the crew until Ripley, scientist Dr. Wren (J.E. Freeman) and the mercenaries remain. With the ship on emergency default route to Earth, they must find a way to destroy the Xenomorphs before they’re unleashed on an unsuspecting planet.

So this ends up as a basic, generic monsters-on-the-loose story, and to be fair, it feels like the movie is aware of it. I mean, the idea of main characters intentionally breeding these death machines with such blatant sacrifices of human life yet showing such lack of preparation is ripe for ridicule. I will say that cloning Ripley adds an interesting variable to it, since she’s the one that knows how to deal with them, and it’s an excuse to have Weaver back again; but like I said, this isn’t the same Ripley. She’s a little more primal and instinctual; I like that this gives Weaver much more to do, as she felt the character had outlived her interest, and wanted her to die in the last movie. There’s also a running theme of Ripley’s true allegiance, if she’s more human or alien; but I don’t think they do enough with the concept, and a lot of her actions seem really hammy and awkward, although she certainly sells the emotional moments.

The supporting characters are at least more memorable than the last bunch, with Ron Perlman as Johner, a particularly short-tempered mercenary, Dan Hedaya as General Perez, who supervises the cloning experiments, and Brad Dourif as Dr. Gediman, who gets especially up close and personal with his work; trust me, he really goes all out with the facial expressions and voice. However, many of the actual performances are just really shouty and bloated; it’s like they went with the first take on a lot of these scenes. One who really doesn’t come out of this looking good is Winona Ryder as new Betty crew member Call, who recognizes Ripley for who she is, and therefore gets a lot of interactions with Weaver. Back then, Ryder was a young two-time Oscar nominee; but I think she’s woefully miscast in this role, just seeming lost and jittery, and not portraying the deceptive charisma I feel this character needed. It doesn’t matter anyway, because they’re all just a bunch of silly stereotypes; I like that there are a few nice bonds that develop, but you know their only purpose is to fill up a body count.

The action is a mixed bag; I like how shadowy and grungy the setting is, and the editing certainly has a lot of energy. You can tell they were going for the war movie vibe that “Aliens” had, but it ends up just looking cartoonish, with a lot of goofy reactions and bizarre cinematography. Thankfully, there’s still some time for creativity; one of the most visually disturbing scenes is when Ripley walks through a lab and finds all the rejected clones of herself. Although there is some pretty bad CGI in this movie, many of the practical effects are really impressive; the ships are all miniatures, while the Xenomorphs have some original designs with terrific detail created by Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis. I’ll also give this movie credit; this is the first time in the series we’ve had an underwater battle, as the ship starts flooding and the group gets surrounded by aliens. Sure, it makes the action look pretty slow, but there’s something I find rather tense and claustrophobic about this scene. It all at least amounts to one heck of a showcase of effects and gore, with a massive hive of cocooned victims and entirely new creations; it’s overblown and has kind of a hilarious resolution, but pretty unforgettable.

In the end, what would you prefer? A movie like “Alien 3” that tries really hard to be about something and fails, or one like “Alien: Resurrection” that goes straight for dumb entertainment value and succeeds? Objectively, this is probably a worse film than the former, but I think more fun to watch on a shallow level. Stepping back, I can see this as a mishmash of concepts that really don’t go together: Whedon’s tongue-in-cheek script, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s fantastical direction—he went on to direct “Amélie,” so he clearly knows how to do intentional comedy—and a Saturday morning cartoon tone. Weaver has stated that she’s open to playing Ripley for a fifth time if she likes the story, but in 25 years since, it seemingly hasn’t come close to happening; I’d say too much time has passed, but if we can get Jamie Lee Curtis returning to “Halloween” and Linda Hamilton returning to “Terminator” after long absences, then never say never. This movie never quite falls to “so bad it’s good” levels, but if you feel like watching some cliché, overwrought sci-fi trash, it’s relatively fun and harmless.

My rating: 5/10