Review of Alien Resurrection (1997) by Julian T — 08 Dec 2011

Definitely the bottom of the barrel when it comes to this franchise. (unless you count the thoroughly awful AvP).

Starts out promising, showing 'the company' finally getting their hands on the creature they've been chasing for the first 3 films. The best scenes of the film are early on, depicting the in lab study of the aliens, and their capacity for learning and thought process.

A terribly weak plot line is crippling, as the film should never have been made in the first place. The 3rd film had an ere of finality to it, and any sequel should have moved on as a continuation removed from the Ripley plot line. But no, Ripley is forcibly brought back in a ridiculous and offensively blatant backpedal with more holes in it than the first 3 films combined.

Director Jeunet dulled the film down to the lowest common denominator, caving to all pressure from Fox Studios, and trying to appeal to the summer action crowd. The 'Alien' franchise is NOT a summer action movie, and this installment suffers horribly for a forced sense of genre.

The entire alien-human hybrid aspect of the film is one of the most embarrassing sequences and subplots I have ever experienced. I remember face-palming in the theater as a 7th grader. As far as the effects and the creatures, they have never looked worse. The 'effects team' of Woodruff Jr and Gillis has done nothing but destroy the mystery and authenticity of the alien creatures since they took over the job during 'Alien 3'. For the first time, CGI is introduced to the effects toolbox. None of this does anything to help, instead it cheapens the overall effect terribly.

Another huge complaint is the cinematography and lighting. Neither of which are in pace with the previous installments. The score is one of the more interesting spots, but is very overpowering and obvious at times. One highlight is the underwater scene, which is original, and filmed terrifically. However it feels strange and extremely out of place.

All in all, this is an exceedingly sub-par entry into the franchise. It is full of plot holes, laughable instead of scary, badly written, badly executed and badly acted. It was a film that should have branched out from the original series instead of trying to continue it, if they decided to make it at all. It gets 2 stars due to a few decent scenes, affiliation with the original trilogy, and the fact that the vomit inducing 'AvP' was released afterwards makes it look much better by comparison.