Review of Alien Nation (1988) by Taylor S — 07 Mar 2009
Cheap and cheesy but cheerful cop buddy movie with a twist that being that one of them is an alien.
James Caan and Mandy Patankin have good chemistry as the grizzled alcoholic cop and his newcomer partner and there are some remarkably witty exchanges in a movie which takes it's time to lay out a thoughtful plot along with a decent amount of action including a gripping car chase.
Terence Stamp's bad guy is the atypical cop buddy movie villain, lots of cash and corrupt in the system but he plays it well.
The film gets the balance between sci-fi and cop movie just about right and Patankin is especially good as the alien detective, seemingly the inspiration for Kryten in the series Red Dwarf.
Alien Nation only has the substance of any standard cop movie and does take a little while to get going but builds to a suitably dramatic finish.
A good idea, well executed, a good movie.
This review of Alien Nation (1988) was written by Taylor S on 07 Mar 2009.
Alien Nation has generally received mixed reviews.
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