Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2002)

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), last seen leaping into a flaming pit in Alien 3, has been brought back from the dead. Seems she was impregnated before her suicide plunge, and we need her alive and breeding for the popular sci-fi/horror series to continue. Ripley, who has been cloned from a blood sample, has just given birth (would you call this a C-section?) to the ugliest little sucker this side of Uranus. Welcome to Alien Resurrection. This fairly engaging sequel may not be as scary as Ridley Scott's Alien or as action-packed as James Cameron's Aliens, but at least Ripley has hair. Weaver gets some good lines and is an energetic force cloning around at the center of this very particular universe. The supporting cast is colorful too, including Brad Dourif, Ron Perlman and Dominique Pinon. The Frenchman at the helm certainly has a way with atmosphere. Cinematography, lighting and set design are tops. A terrific underwater chase scene also left me breathless. Too bad much of the plot seems jumbled, at times I just wasn't sure for whom I was supposed to be rooting, or why. The drooling, slimy aliens themselves are technical marvels, I guess, but too familiar to be very frightening. One drawback, Winona Ryder, who seemed to have booked a ride on the wrong flight. Here she's just a little girl lost in space. Interesting note, Aliens Resurrection's screenplay is by Joss Whedon, who also wrote TOY STORY. Now that's a change of pace.