The Begininning of the End of the Great Saga

Rating: 1/10 (27 January 2012)

For me this movie should never have been made. Firstly this movie lacked an emotional depth that both Alien and Aliens had and as such the journey of Ripley which in essence was her facing fears and growing into the powerful leader she was destined to become became muted.
There were many problems during the production of this movie and Fincher, who is an excellent movie director struggled to put forward a film which could carry the emotion of Ripley's journey and the mysteries of the alien creature and it's origins.
Alien played out our fears of loneliness in the vacuum of space and the played out a simple story in the most beautiful fashion that watching the movie can be the most unsettling experience but an unforgettable one.
Aliens expanded the story of Ripley and was the perfect antidote to the helpless loneliness of the first movie. Cameron didn't try to emulate to first movie but did what any good director would do and created something bigger and upped the tempo. Ripley played the parent role in her relation to Newt after finding out her daughter had died of old age while she was in hyper sleep which gave her that protective role and also gave the platform to face her fears of the original movie on a bigger scale.
Alien 3 would never have been able to top Aliens in terms of pace and action and going back to basics, which it did gave it direct comparison with the original Alien and it of course fails in its comparison.
Firstly the story is depressing as Newt, Hicks and Bishop are killed off, though Bishop does make an appearance. Ripley is doomed from the word go as she is impregnated with an alien queen so all her previous heroics were essentially for nothing and I felt a sense of loss in the saga. The characters bar Dance and Glover are pretty forgettable and despite the attempts to create an atmosphere like the original movie this just doesn't work and instead I felt disappointed. The CGI effects are also just abysmal, why did they do that? They look fake and spoil an already dour movie.
On a more positive note this movie in my eyes is a masterpiece when compared to the even more dreadful Alien Resurrection which is a cinematic disaster!!
My advice is keep away from this movie as its the beginning of the decline of the saga which was so brilliantly enjoyable with Alien and Aliens. Fingers crossed Ridley Scott's Prometheus is another epic to add to the saga. If anybody can pull it off though it's Ridley Scott.