Criminally overrated sequel, pathetic monster movie

Rating: 1/10 (11 April 2001)

I'm very tired of hearing so much hype about Alien 3. The movie is criminally overrated; here's why....
First, the writers failed to go a different direction with this plot. After James Cameron's brilliant first sequel where Ripley and crew had every weapon imaginable at their disposable, it is a very tiresome move that Ripley would be now be stuck to fight the Alien creature again with no weapons at all (Alien, anyone?). This is the direction this epic saga should never have taken. In order for a series to evolve, it needs to make progress and break new ground. Alien 3 failed to do so.
Sigourney Weaver puts in the worst performance of the series as Ripley. Charles S. Dutton ruins this movie with his constant overacting. His speeches are terrible! In fact, I think all the actors did a below average job in their roles. The dialogue is awful and basically consists of f-words.
Some credit goes to Fincher, who at least tried to give this movie decent cinematography and art direction. On the other hand his approach is often too heavy-handed and his ultra-dark atmosphere does not fit to a survival horror series.
The special effects are pathetic... how this movie was nominated for an Oscar for best visual effects is beyond me.
In short, an abysmal script, bad actors playing one-dimensional characters, facing an all too well-known enemy, worst special effects ever and a lame alien creature that cannot hold a candle to the truly terrifying Alien Queen.