Deserves more respect

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2000)

(Warning, Spoilers ahead...)
When I originally saw this film in the theatre, I remember feeling a certain ambivalence towards it. However, after buying the "Alien Legacy" box set on DVD I have had chance to realise how powerful it really is.
I can understand how many people hated it. I'm sure they were expecting another overblown and so very 80s spectacle like "Aliens", which to be honest while that is an entertaining flick, I found it was almost devoid of emotion (except the relationship between Ripley and Newt). Killing off the survivors of that episode was brave and probably automatically made it unpopular with the blockbuster audience.
Overall, this film is an exercise in futility. I'm so glad they didn't make this a happy ending, which was refreshing knowing Hollywood's cowardice in portraying an idealistic world where "everything works out OK in the end". It deserves respect for that alone.
On to the film itself - beautifully shot, the atmosphere of doom is relentless. The opening sequence is nightmarish and effective, thanks to Elliot Goldenthal's haunting score, it sets the tone immediately for what is to follow.
Weaver puts in another outstanding performance, her scene with Newt in the morgue is absolutely heart-wrenching. While character development isn't up to much - the largely British prisoners are pretty unlikeable - I don't think it is an character ensemble piece. This is Ripley's film, her final battle with the monster that has been in her life for so long, she "can't remember anything else".
No weapons? Thank God for that in my opinion - otherwise it would just have been a retread of the second film. This time they have to beat the alien with their brains, using themselves as bait! Scary stuff.
The film is full of good moments. The funeral scene juxtaposed with the alien's "birth" and Dillons speech about "new life" is powerful, and the music makes it quite moving and unnerving at the same time.
Charles Dance registers strongly as the morose doctor, and has real chemistry with Ripley. It's a shame he was killed so soon, but that just serves to remind us how the Alien has completely destroyed Ripley's life, taking away everyone she has ever cared about.
The bait and chase sequence is exciting, showing the alien's point of view as it scampers along walls and ceilings at high speed. The effects in the main are good. They include the first CGI alien, and it shows. Just after it has killed Clemens and rears up to face Ripley it looks very dodgy, but the usual puppet work is as effective as ever. One great death sequence is where Golic, one of the prisoners, is splattered with blood from another who has just been attacked, and shows the bloodied alien giving its trademark toothy grin at him. Menacing stuff.
The ending is well done, I've always liked that. You feel tremendous sympathy and sadness for Ripley, but relief that it is over for her. It's a fitting end to Weaver's character. A journey by a woman who goes completely by the book (as in "Alien") to one who defies the might of The Company (the real enemy) at the cost of her life in order to save humanity. Once again, the music during the final scenes is great, it has the power to bring a lump to the throat.
Much respect to David Fincher for delivering a very adult sci-fi drama that demands a great deal more of its audience than most pictures of its kind. It's all too close to the real tragedies that surround us, which I guess is why it seems to be so unpopular. The tag line for "Aliens" was "This Time Its War". I think the tag line for this one should have been "This Time Its Grown Up".
As for its place in the series, I consider it second to the original, which I think is still the scariest of them all. As for "Alien Resurrection", that's just a run of the mill sci-fi thriller with a dozen xenomorphs along for the ride...