What was a great series is now old like the Fridays.......

Rating: 6/10 (27 July 1999)

I'll try to make this brief. Alien was good because it set the tension up and then unleashed the terror. Aliens was one of the best films ever made because James Cameron is brilliant, the supporting cast was spectacular and it was a terrifying experience. Alien3 was okay because Ripley looked and sounded exhausted from facing the alien one too many times, and she dies with the monster. Alien Resurection is just okay because there is nothing new to do here. We have seen it all before and there is very little chance that the directors of 3 and 4 know how to create tension the way that Scott and Cameron did. The film is tiresome. Ripley isn't the frightened but tough heroine that she was before. Now she is a terminator. And that takes away from one of the elements that made the first and especially the second one so good. In Aliens, Weaver had lines like, "I hope you're right. Because just one of those things managed to wipe out my entire crew. " Now I expect her to say " I'll be back. " It's just not the same. And her bravado does not bode well for the picture here. Having her this tough and emotionless would be like having Rambo as a wimp that begs the bad guys to stop before they torture him. It just doesn't fit.
Alien 4 is not a terrible film. It is okay, but it does not have the feeling that a good Aliens film does. And maybe that is asking too much of it because the first two were really incredible films. But the series is tired and I really hope it is over. The only way I would like to see another one is if Cameron directs. And seeing as that is not going to happen, let this series come to end. It's dead. Ripley is dead. The Alien is dead. All the cool characters are dead. May the series rest in peace. It's time to leave it alone.
Alien series 1979-1997 R.I.P.