ALIEN RESURRECTION
SYNOPSIS:
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is back, 200 years later, to discover
that her ‘resurrection’ is the result of a scientific
experiment, cloning her preserved blood samples in order to give
birth to the alien creature she was carrying – for
scientific exploration. Ripley's DNA gets mixed up with the alien
Queen bug’s and she begins to develop certain alien
characteristics. The scientists begin breeding the aliens, which
manage to escape. Soon the Xeno-morphs are running amok on the
ship, which is on course to Earth. The Queen gives birth to a
deadly new breed of alien, which could spell disaster for the
entire human race. It's up to Ripley and a band of space pirates
to stop the ship before it reaches earth.
"This film will have a lot to answer for if it sets a
precedent for resurrecting dead characters from movies past. Just
did a dash of DNA cloning, guys, saves us having to use our
imaginations! Tried and true characters re-used! The ultimate in
human recycling! Anyway, what about the film: it’s a
confusing story in many ways, not that anyone is interested much,
because the THING here is the look and feel, the effects and the
stunts – and the chase. Will the boogies get the good guys
and gals? Yeah, it’s that simple. It’s dressed up in
space fantasy, with rather predictable bad-mother army scientists
who are not only insensitive but moronic. That’s the bit I
find hard to take: simplistic baddies. Like everyone on this
page, I think, Winona Ryder is miscast. The few good things that
French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, City of Lost
Children) brings to this otherwise American enterprise is a
European eye, with his trademark close ups and navel level camera
angles. He also uses two of his favourite actors, Dominique Pinon
and Ron Perlman, who would not have appeared otherwise – and
they are welcome. But when it comes to the overall emotional
impact of the film, I’m reduced to praising the effects, no
matter who good Weaver looks in the part. This is partly because
she has more of a relationship with the aliens (and they’re
not what you’d call sympathetic) than with any human.
Actually, I got more emotional vibes from Pinon’s crippled
character and his pragmatic, idiosyncratic manner than anything
else. Over to you Louise -"
Andrew L. Urban
"Yes - Jeunet’s distinctive style is showcased to
advantage with arresting effects, bold direction and a strong
lead performance. The dark, dank journey is filled with dark,
edgy thrills. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, the plot
premise is imaginative, embracing great leaps in advanced
technology to change the totality of Ripley’s character into
a more complex and unpredictable one. While this in itself is
fascinating and brings its own rewards, the change in character
lessens the emotional impact, making the film less engaging that
its predecessors, despite its entertainment value. Sigourney
Weaver is bold and forthright, every bit the monster’s
mother. Her inner conflict is effectively gauged, while the bond
formed with Call (Winona Ryder is appealing in the role) has a
good dynamic. The use of very tight close ups creates an almost
surreal feeling, while the camera effects dazzle, the dark-edged
music score heightens our senses and the underwater scene
thrills. Alien Resurrection is a visual feast of motion, colour,
thrills, action and music, which allow our imagination to run
wild, with a spine tingling mixture of horror and
fascination."
Louise Keller
"Sequels are Hollywood's regrettable recipe for assured
success, but enough is enough with certain films. One would have
thought after the dismal failure of the third in the franchise,
they would have stopped, but no, given countless failures by Fox
of late, a fourth in the slimy creature feature series must have
been irresistible. While a considerable improvement on its
predecessor, Alien Resurrection remains a glorified chase movie
with a few one liners to give it an extra bit of punch. But it's
a chase movie just the same. So we're on a derelict space ship
this time, with over-zealous aliens after the silly humans who,
if they'd bothered to have seen any of the other movies, would
have thought twice before bothering the creatures. Pumped up
Weaver is in strong form as the now deceased but cloned Ripley,
and she remains a dynamic presence on screen. Winona Ryder,
however, is way out of her element, and is positively dull beyond
belief and monotonic. Alien Resurrection has some fun moments,
and visually, it's exciting to watch, but it's a matter of been
there, done that - and far better. This is one group of aliens
that by now, should have remained out of sight and in another
world."
Paul Fischer
|
 Email this article
ALIEN RESURRECTION (MA)
(US)
CAST: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique
Pinon, Michael Wincott, Gary Doudan, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman,
Brad Dourif
DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
PRODUCER: David Giler, Walter Hill, Gordon Carroll, Bill
Badalato
SCRIPT: Joss Whedon (based on characters created by Dan
O’bannon & Ronald Shusett)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Darius Khondji
EDITOR: Herve Schneid
MUSIC: John Frizzell
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Nigel Phelps
RUNNING TIME: 108 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Fox
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: January 1, 1998 See Lynden Barber's SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
Video Release: March 3, 1999
Video Distributor: Fox
RRP: $24.95
|
