The sad decline of what started as a brilliant & creative series...

Rating: 5/10 (17 November 2019)

Alien 3 is one of the purest forms of Hollywood stupidity that can exemplify in every facet why you NEVER kill off a hero - particularly a female lead hero built up by the brilliant work of your predecessors. To prove Hollywood hasn't learnt the lesson, exit Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise. But that's another story.
To start with, there were few solid leads for this third instalment. So they killed off key characters from the second movie; real dumb. So dumb that in fact they had to pay one of the "Aliens" actors a sum greater than his role in that film commanded - just so they could use his likeness in the third movie.
Good actors and good acting just can't save it. The movie appeared desperate at best. Some good ideas and creativity like all the movies in the Alien/s franchise, but ruined by rushed production, release deadline pressures and slaughtered by the weight of expectation. Alien 3 took us for a ride it should never have taken us on to begin with. And the unfortunate result of this is that the series has struggled to recover ever since.
It must be noted that perhaps the first two movies and their demi-god directors set the bar too high for anyone to follow. But to bring the magic of HR GIgers' monster to life, one needs a brilliant script and storyline; not just a "we need to make another one to keep the fans spending" effort.
If there's a lesson to be learnt - for your sake and that of future up-and-coming movie makers; never kill off a hero. You destroy the ability of future generations to "take up the torch." And you leave a franchise listless and suddenly devoid of all the emotion that audiences experience as they share the journey with those heroes.
Alien 3 failed in ways it should never have.