Surprising and brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 1999)

I watched this film with three other people, all of whom, unlike me, had seen all the other films in this series. Besides this one, I have only seen Alien, the first in the series. While all of us agreed that Alien was a really good, definitely scary movie -- a real undie-stainer if you're not used to horror -- none of the people with whom I watched Alien Resurrection could remember much about the two other installments of the saga. I think we will all remember this installment, though.
I expected Alien Resurrection to scare me almost but not quite as much as Alien, or to completely bore me like the fourth-generation sequel it is. I was completely surprised. Yes, it scared me when it was supposed to, and yes, it grossed me out when it was supposed to. But this is like saying the hollandaise sauce on a dish of eggs Benedict is creamy; true to its arena, this is just what it's supposed to be. What I did not expect Alien Resurrection to do, and what it truly succeeded at, was to move me and to make me think. I also did not expect this fourth-generation sequel to be able to stand alone as a work of art which can be understood and appreciated completely separately from the previous generations.
In terms of art, the costumes and sets are perfect. The acting is incredible; there's a whole lot of subtext going on. The writing is spare; unlike, say, Air Force One, a different breed of action thriller, there is no excess dialog giving rise to ridiculous overacting. A substantial portion of this film's message -- which is mostly a series of questions -- is delivered by Sigourney Weaver's face.
One of the people with whom I watched this film asserts that it is the finest science/speculative fiction movie ever made, the quintessential expression of the genre. This is because of those questions, the message of the film and the issues addressed. Speculative fiction at its best explores constants in human experience by removing them from temporal quotidian settings and placing them, at least in concrete terms, "where no one has gone before."
All the great constants are here. The very human issues addressed in this film include arrogance, bureaucracy, love, strength on all levels, the meaning of humanity, the meaning of tribe, motherhood, and finally, home and the implications of survivorhood. Some classic questions include: What exactly is humanity? Human or not, what is the real definition of courage? Is there such a thing as "natural" selection, and how does free will enter into that equation? What is a woman? What are the duties of a mother, and how do we define that bond? And, in a black-humor kind of way, when is it appropriate to apply tough love?
This film is certainly not for everyone. It's absolutely not for children. It's also not a good choice for either the squeamish or the jaded viewer, or for a viewer looking for an easy thrill or a formula horror flick. It is a brilliant, ambitious work and one that might keep you up thinking past your bedtime.