Poor old Ripley

Rating: 7/10 (23 March 2014)

In Alien, Ripley was the sole survivor of the Nostromo when it inadvertently brought brought a murderous parasitic xenomorph off a distant planet. In Aliens, Ripley was prevailed upon to return to that planet only to discover the xenomorphs decimating a terraforming colony: Ripley, the child Newt, a single marine, and half of artificial person Bishop were the sole survivors, journeying home on the Sulaco. As Alien3 starts, the Sulaco has ejected its escape pods onto a prison planet and Ripley is again the sole survivor. And goes what? Yes, a xenomorph hitchhiker starts wreaking its havoc among the prison inmates.
David Fincher kicks off his always interesting career as feature director with this not entirely successful third entry in the Alien franchise. While it wraps up Ripley's story with a satisfactory, if not happy, resolution (and as such, brings the original trilogy to a conclusion - subsequent movies, including Alien: Resurrection can be regarded as afterthoughts), it is not as satisfying as it should be.
I'm not entirely sure why this is. Perhaps it is the setting, perhaps it is the characters. Neither has much warmth and it is difficult to find a character to identify with other than Charles Dance and Ripley herself. And even Ripley leans much more towards snivelling victim than the ass-kicking survivor of the earlier films. And the xenomorph, interestingly demonstrating DNA adaptation towards non-human lifeforms, is delivered care of fairly unsatisfactory CGI.
It is worth watching, but it disappoints.