Gooey

Rating: Null/10 (25 February 2000)

Alien: Resurrection is a real head scratcher of a film. Each Alien film represents a different style of filmmaking. Alien was a good representation of 70's style films. Kinda slow, almost boring, but none the less jarring when it needed to be. Aliens is the primo example of 80's action films. It's about the best of all action films from the 80's. The underrated Alien 3 makes a case for taking established series down very dark and painful paths. It's plays out like a big budget independent film. Alien: Resurrection on the other hand comes across like some trashy European horror film. It's not necessarily a bad film it just chooses to follow the road even less taken. Its gory from beginning to end and one has to question the validity of the film after Alien 3. I suppose the biggest drawback is that the film feels incomplete. The feeling of pointlessness you get at the end doesn't go away. It would like to lead into a new storyline as its ending is all geared up for Alien 5, but as both 3 and 4 were marginal failures, it'll never happen. That trashy European horror film feel is obviously due to the direction of Jeunet. I guess this can be interpreted as Alien in the hands of a Frenchman. He works out all kinds of loopy visuals to help along the saggy story. In the long run this film is more for genre fans only. No mass audience could ever accept it widely as was proven upon its initial release.
It's sort of depressing to see the Alien franchise end like this. I felt Alien 3 brought everything to a fine conclusion. Now the ball has been sent rolling again only with nowhere to go.