Totally Underrated Sequel

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2005)

It was a shock to the system when I had originally heard Alien3 that they killed off Ripley. After the two amazing successors: one an amazing horror classic and the other a brilliant action film, it's hard to imagine adding a third film. I was curious to say the least. I liked the trailer.
Fincher at the time was only a video director. He had made Madonna's darkly somber 'Bad Girl' video. A personal favorite, even now. I loved the way he opened the film with cuts back and forth as a hidden stowaway alien egg hatches, disrupting the safe trip home for the survivors of the 2nd film. A very well executed, and choppy opening. It's really well shot. I immediately knew Fincher like Cameron, had respect for the series and sat back to take in his ideas.
The characters on the planet Ripley crashes on are a series of hardened criminals. They aren't very appealing characters minus two of them, so the main hole in the plot becomes obvious soon as to why this film doesn't work as well as the others. The lack of interest, passion, or sympathy for the characters. There are no Hudson or Vasquez characters here.You really like the cast of both previous films. Here the priest and doctor are the only two you root for aside from Ripley. The new alien is neat though. Its origins from dog DNA was an interesting change from human DNA.
Ripley is alone and she is raw now. I loved her in this film. I felt her performance single-handedly saved the film from utter disregard. The strength from the series has always been Ripley. Here she shines as humane and fleshed out. Discovering she has become host to an alien, she doesn't freak out, she knows it won't help. It's her greatest fear come true. Instead she wants to kill the other one to save the remaining inmates. In the end, she knows what to do. Her death actually made me cry, it was powerful because of my love for the series, and the character.
Early on in the film, as she watches Hicks and Newts bodies drop into the burner and she is intensely emotional. Fincher captures the moment beautifully. It's a great scene, as she says goodbye without speaking to the only family she had come to know since the aliens first plagued her life. There are great editing cuts to a guard dog erupting and Ripleys nose bleeding, as the bodies burn.
More like Alien, and nothing like Aliens I can see why people would be put off by the pacing, but I really enjoyed the film as is. Usually people who like the 2nd film hate the 3rd and like the 4th. I like all of them for different reasons. This one is Ripleys most exposed role. She is the center, and the most afraid. She is also the most determined to overcome her fears too. That's the main reason I enjoy this film, her resilience.
A director's copy that Fincher didn't approve of, improves on character development with Ripley and her doctor, but the rest of the changes were bad. In my opinion anyway.
The most painful thing in this movie is that they kill off Ripley and then set you up to feel for her. After that they end the film with this horribly noisy score. What happened to the emotional score that emphasized the deserved quite, Ripley got at the end of the two previous films. It totally threw me off.
Take notice and you'll probably agree the score ruins her final demise. Otherwise, Fincher made a slick film, with really unsavory characters. At least he was respectful to the tone of the series. Not a bad addition,just disappointing in small areas.