A Devil's Due

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2006)

This film (if we overlook the fact that it was handicapped from the beginning in terms of script, budget, and too many cooks in the kitchen), is a movie that was supposed to be the end of Ripley's journey through hell. It's not about a glorious last stand or starting her life over after the threat has past. It is the end of her long nightmare.
As Lance Henriksen points out on the commentary, "it's nihilism on top of nihilism, I didn't know who to care about..." There are no heroes on Fury, there are no innocents, just flawed, hard people awaiting their fate. Keeping Hicks or Newt (or Bishop) would have compromised that, that couldn't have had the same ending. This film could go only one place with these kinds of characters.
SPOILER WARNING
Alien 3 is all about the last ten minutes of the film, with her suicide to save humanity (and to finish the dance with her devil), and her transmission from the Nostromo (at the end of Alien) echoed, ending the series in an heartbreaking way. The moment the Nostromo lifted off from LV-426, everyone on board that ship was already dead. She was doomed from the beginning and in Alien 3, she finally realizes that on many levels.
Not saying I'm happy about certain things, but over time, the movie grew on me and ultimately I'm glad that they went the route that they did. It's a very dark film that was supposed to cap the series and I'm sort of sad the studio didn't just let it be (Resurrection was fine but even Joss Whedon regards it as a bad movie.) The film, to me, is unconventional by setting itself apart from great predecessors, instead of simply copying them. That took guts on Fincher's part and I respect that.
Alien 3 is a gritty, fatalistic movie that dared to show not every story about monsters has a happy ending.