Not perfect, but misunderstood and underrated

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2009)

I love all four Alien films. Each are so unique and different from one another. Yes, they are all installments in the same series, but each director managed to bring something new to the series. Newcomer David Fincher had the daunting task of creating a film that was supposed to live up to the brilliant previous efforts of Ridley Scott and James Cameron.
Does he succeed? Well, in many respects, he does. This Alien film is much more like the first one than it's action packed sequel, and I'm glad the decision was made not to make an action packed rehash of "Aliens".
The biggest problem with Alien 3 is it's inability to prompt genuine suspense or fright. The scenes where the Xenomorph attacked the prisoners were mind-numbingly predictable, and the early CG effects were far less effective than the puppetry and stunt-men in costume from the previous films.
It's biggest strength is it's human apocalypse angle. This is much more fleshed out in the superior Assembly Cut, my preferred cut of the film. The dark tone and grit is wonderful, and you feel true empathy for the character of Ripley, once again brilliantly portrayed by the incomparable Sigourney Weaver.
This film is probably considered worse than it's predecessors because it wasn't what audiences were expecting, especially after the action-fest that was "Aliens". They were expecting something along those lines, not the bleak and depressing human journey presented here. But when viewed in it's own light, it stands quite strong, and is a worthy addition to the Alien Legacy.