Brilliant and powerful, far better than one could expect

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2000)

It could have been a plain sequel, like it happens often. But the third (out of four) movie of the "Alien" series is definitely far better that I ever expected. Very different from what Ridley Scott, James Cameron and Jean-Pierre Jeunet did, "Alien 3" is a very powerful drama. The dark fate of poor lieutenant Ripley is beautifully told and almost matches a Shakespearian tragedy. "Alien 3" is a story with very strong characters. A story about tolerance, courage in danger, the fear of the unknown, the danger of misled science, the importance of religion: all interesting subjects. "Alien 3" is a splendidly directed movie, with many magnificient pictures and perfect actors. Sigourney Weaver is more impressive than ever as Ellen Ripley. Charles Dance is subtle and moving as Dr. Clemens. The others (especially Charles S. Dutton) all have a very strong presence and make their characters no easy to forget. All the same, "Alien 3" does not forget about the chase with the monster. In that part, the film has good ideas (like the way the alien moves and the shots that show its viewpoint) and produces real good suspense, just like the the others three episodes. To sum up, "Alien 3" is so brilliant that I think it deserves to stay in the future as a major science-fiction film, just like the first episode (directed by Ridley Scott) did in 1979. It was shot in 1992 by a unknown 28-year old man, who was directing his first movie: David Fincher. A man who proved with just one film how great a director he was (he did again later, especially with his recent "Fight club")