Extremely underrated sequel!

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2002)

Most people hate this film because it's not like the first two, it kills off all the people we care about (including Ripley), and doesn't have that much action. Is this the best reason people can think of as to why they hate it?! Sorry, but that's not enough to make me think this was a bad movie. Besides, each Alien film (if you look at it as a trilogy, ignoring the horrible Alien 4) was quite different from each other. Alien was more dark and scary. Aliens was more action-packed. Alien 3 is a darker approach to the series displaying the realization of how Ripley will have to deal with this thing till the day she dies. Also, Alien 3 has a more realistic and real-life feel to it. It doesn't go how we want to go and never turns out perfect. I liked this approach because it made me feel more sad for Ripley and her dying friends. Also, even though this movie has some paper-thin characters, they still have something unique to all of them. But here comes my first complaint. Why did the studios have to pull out the machete and slice the character development into tidbits? Over a half-hour of footage involving character development is cut! But besides this, it's very interesting and the movie jerks us around whenever it kills off characters we loved. It's a nice way to keep me pinned in because this movie has the balls to actually be mean and violent to the viewer. It pulled me in. I didn't know what would happen next. Exactly who would live? Also, the movie is visually stunning. It has lots of darkness to it and throws in some crazy camera angles (especially those from the alien's viewpoint). Fincher really shines when it comes to the style. He also knows how to work with substance, character-wise. But if only the studios would've left in that character development so this movie could pull me in more! But it still does since this movie revolves around Ripley. It's her movie and it she gives a great performance. Her character really evolved over the movies. At points, you feel sorry for her since there's no way for her to get around this nightmare she has to face. But don't worry, she still has that badass feel to her and presents it at the right moments. The only other things I have to gripe about is the CGI they used at times for the alien. I utterly hate CGI because at those moments, the alien looked fake. But besides that, I thought it was very creepy and I'm glad they kept it in the shadows so it still had it's scary quality (unlike Alien 4 which almost makes the aliens look like the heroes!). But besides this, this was a very good and underrated movie and the series should've ended here. But the fans had to gripe over Ripley's desmise and made the studios get big dollar signs in their eyes, and thus, Alien: Resurrection which totally whizzes all over the series. I'm sorry, but people have to grow up some. I was 7 when I first saw this and I was very satisfied with how it ended. Ripley's journey was finally over and her time to rest. I'm sorry but are there only a few people out there that didn't realize this? Besides, like I said before, the movie would've been better if the studios left in the extra footage. But overall, Alien 3 is actually a pleasant surprise and a nice way to end the series as a "trilogy."
8/10