Review of Alien Resurrection (1997) by Jc E — 14 Jun 2012

This is pretty much the sequel that wasn't deserved and nobody wanted to see. After the sense of closure that the third entry provided, it was just weird that the series would continue with a reincarnation of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley.

Now, after the massive success of a fantastic little movie called 'The Avengers', I watched this with a fresh pair of eyes when I saw "Written by Joss Whedon" come across the screen in the opening credits.

Now, while you can see little pieces of what makes the man a writing genius come across in the final film, the majority of his work was undone by the direction of the film - helmed by first-time director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie).

Under his leadership, the film took a much more serious tone than was probably intended, but the actors certainly didn't help. Weaver played the park a little too off-her-rocker, while the other lead, Winona Ryder (Black Swan), had trouble even conveying the tiniest bit of acting ability.

Other small roles went to actors like Ron Pearlman (Drive), Brad Dourif ("Deadwood"), and Michael Wincott (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), but none elevate the flagging material above mediocrity.

And as if the film weren't bad enough, the third act twist involving hybrid theory/genetic evolution got weird quick. Sure the cloning thing was almost intriguing, but that last little plot twist was just creepy.

Fortunately, the series pretty much dies after this dismal entry - that is, with exception of the 'Alien vs. Predator' entries, and of course the "Alien DNA"-infused 'Prometheus'.