AuthorGreedo AlieWhere to watch:
HBO; the carapace of an ancient space traveller Impression: Aliens has always been a franchise to me. Around 1997, a solid 5 years after Fincher released the 3rd Alien movie, I was at Universal Studios in Hollywood, enjoying the ride versions of Backdraft and Jaws and otherwise being made aware of the work of Todd McFarlane. A life-size Alien graced the gift store entrance, the iconic mouth-within-a-mouth emerging from the drooling maw of the frozen creature. Was it there though? Or, did I adorn that memory with the image because it fits? I don't know. Nobody knows. The point is that, in the milieu of my cinematic mindscape, Alien exists with other archetypal images of terror like Jason's mask, Freddie's claws and the Leprechaun's jaunty cap. Aliens is one of those things an 80's/90's kid was culturally familiar with even if they were too scared to actually watch the movies. The iconic alien from Ridley Scott's original movie, like Freddie Krueger or Jason, is woven into the very fabric of childhood nightmares and probably 80% of threats from older brothers. Maybe the Sunken Place or Brahms has overtaken the the Chuckys and Poltergeists of contemporary nightmares, but I doubt it and nothing I've seen in several decades has maintained the same level of terror as the creature that torments Ripley across space and time. All of that cultural cache from a single low-budget, horror flick following the studio frenzy for original sci-fi following the release of Star Wars. Who would've guessed? Reaction: To be clear: I am reviewing the entire Alien franchise here. I did not have the prequels available to stream and the fourth movie was so bad I quit before the third act, so much of this will be me telling you the lies I've told myself. Part I: Alien Alien is the anti-Star Wars. Its characters undergo no arc. The universe it occupies is large but the scenes are claustrophobic. There is no light and dark, just shadows and the things that lurk therein. There is no good or evil, just varying degrees of evolutionary fitness. Where Star Wars revels in the potential for redemption, Alien seeks only destruction. Alien is similar to Star Wars in taking a well-worn genre and giving it such a fresh take that it inspired decades of poor imitations. Sometimes Hitchcock films are hard to watch because they innovated so many contemporary plot devices and film techniques that the movies appear to consist entirely of the cliches they spawned. Alien is a jump-scare horror movie with a monster that has no motivation but to destroy. As far as I can tell outside of Jaws and Halloween, that kind of movie didn't really exist before 1979. While the plot is fairly predictable, the depth of the universe and its characters make you feel anxious as the titular alien slowly picks each crew member off one by one. Alien as a whole is much more than its genre parts. It is one of the best sci-fi movies I think I've seen and I don't know why it took me this long to actually sit down and watch it. Probably because some form of the movie had already existed as a preconception in my mind that has now been replaced with a film that goes down in the pantheon of sci-fi greats. Part II: Aliens James Cameron directs movies people like. He can't help himself. He just keeps putting out entertaining, excellently executed cinema that is delightful and fun no matter how many times you've seen it. Have you seen T2? I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle. Delightful! The same goes for Aliens. This is a much more accessible film than Alien. The characters have witty banter, the pace is taut, there are action set pieces that still hold up today. But in a lot of ways I found myself getting bored with this version. As the name suggests, this isn't Alien 2. It's Aliens. Plural. While the first movie was horror, the sequel is more of a zombie flick with aliens coming out of the rafters, the floor and the kitchen sink. More alien encounters mean each one is less interesting. The set design is correspondingly spacious. If you're going to have Bill Paxton game over a bunch of aliens, he's going to need room to move, man. Most people could probably just visit Aliens to get the gist of the franchise. It is a great action sci-fi. It doesn't have the depth of feeling of the first one but don't let good be the enemy of great. One small complaint: the ending is a beat for beat recreation of the first film. Ripley escapes just in time then oh no! It was a predictable ending in the first movie so recycling it for the second was odd. A head scratcher. Part III: Alien III Fincher's first film! Before this, Fincher appears to have been plying his trade in the music video industry. Remember music videos, kids? They were like the pet rocks of the 80s. You don't remember pet rocks, kids? What is the matter you kids? Too busy with tomagachis, pogs and skip-its... Like the first sequel, Alien III flips the script. While the first movie was horror and the second delved into action, the third film is a mixture of a prison drama with a creature feature. Think Escape From Alcatraz meets the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The prisoners have assumed the primary plot points for better or worse, and the alien (back to singular) has become the plot device that moves the mystery forward. This film isn't remembered kindly. Whatever happened on it, Fincher's next three films (Se7en, The Game and Fight Club) were awesome. Just working out the kinks, I guess. There really isn't much to remark on. The characters are poorly developed such that when they start dying, there is no real emotional catharsis. Bad people killed by a bad alien. The ending is pretty cool. Overall, Alien III is not a bad movie. Unless you're determined to immerse yourself in Alien lore, I recommend skipping. Part IV: Alien Resurrection This is a garbage movie. Casting is bad, dialogue is bad, plot is bad, pacing is bad. A low point in the writing career of Joss Whedon, Alien IV doesn't include any of the hallmarks of the Whedon-verse: smarmy banter, sarcasm, character development and well-timed emotional payoffs. Ripley has been cloned or something and gains superpowers or something. There is an alien, obviously, but something, something, something, I stopped watching and I'm not going back. You can't make me. I have to wash the dishes or something. The movie does look great and the set and costume design looks like it was made a liberal reference point for the Matrix two years later. Part V: Prometheus and Alien Covenant (the prequels) Prometheus is gorgeous to look at and features an intriguing story that leads up to the events that begin Ripley's first fateful encounter with the aliens. It goes into the weeds at some point and gets very explainy in ways that don't explain anything useful. More dumb action scenes would have papered over the intellectual poverty of the prequels or just a more simple character arc in general. Alien Covenant? I don't even remember the plot to this movie and I know I've seen it. At some point, Ridley Scott should have stopped returning to the Alien well as it had run quite dry. The mud was long dried up and the rocks being pulled up in that bucket attached to the rope were just useless sand stone. Oh well. That man is a treasure. Let him make garbage. He has given us so much already. Favorite Line/Scene: Just see the first two movies. Not really a quote worthy movie outside of the ones you've probably already heard and which I'm not going to repeat here, man. Conclusion: Ridley Scott is a legend. It took him all of two movies to cement his status. Arbitrary rating: Five fingers and ten toes up.
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