Quality in this series didn't rise exponentially, like the titles, but this one is still worth seeing.

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2005)

Just about everyone I talk to about the Alien movies always says the same thing, that you only need to watch the first two because the Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are both terrible. Having just watched Alien 3 again recently for the first time in probably ten years, I'm surprised that people think it is such a terrible. My theory is that since the first Alien was a groundbreaking science fiction film and the second one knocked people over backwards because many people thought it was even BETTER than the first one, there was expectation that this one would be better than them both.
And when you look at the titles, it's not hard to see where that expectation came from, even beyond the unexpected rise in quality from the first to the second film. The first film was about an alien, the second film was plural, and this one is Alien Cubed, for crying out loud. The movie takes place in a distant prison outpost for what you might call the "lost cause criminals," which results in an odd combination of rapists, murderers, child molesters andreligion. What? It is indeed odd that when Ripley inadvertently finds herself there, the only woman these men have seen in years, they struggle to remain composed, having sworn an oath of celibacy.
This all takes place early in the movie and I was completely convinced that it was all downhill from there, but gradually I found the movie more and more interesting (or maybe I was just in a mood to be entertained rather than to look for things to complain about, which is another mood in which I often find myself). After all, I've never been to prison and I do not adhere to any particular religion, so I'm willing to grant that this is just beyond my understanding. It is, after all, a moving explanation that the men have been able to escape temptation at this outpost and look to spiritual means as sort of a way to cleanse themselves of their sins and prevent themselves from committing any more.
Once on the island, Ripley is made to shave her head because they "have a problem with lice there," which results in the shaved mug of Ripley which has become the iconographic image of this film. The scene where the alien first approaches her is a great scene. She's pressed against a wall, terrified, and we get a close of up her face, turned to the side toward the camera as the alien pushes its gigantic head against her cheek, which is another of the most famous images from the movie. The alien retracts without harming her, almost as though it recognizes her. To me that doesn't say "I recognize you so I'll let you go," it says "I'm back, and I'm saving you for last." Open your mind and you have to love this stuff!
Ripley has crash landed on Fury 161, the prison outpost, and is the only survivor. The little girl, Newt, from the last film was killed and Ripley begins to raise eyebrows when she insists on an autopsy to ensure that there is not an alien incubating inside her. Again, she has much difficulty getting people to believe her until they start turning into greasy spots on the hull. The image of the film is completely different from the first two movies, Ripley is not only completely unarmed because she's on a prison outpost, but she doesn't even have any hair. She has nothing but the most basic human resources, which I think justifies this sequel, which could have fallen easily had it tried to take the firepower in the other direction. Not as great as the first two, obviously, but David Fincher made his feature film directing debut with something that is certainly worth seeing.