A popcorn triumph

Rating: 4/10 (3 February 2005)

ALIEN RESURRECTION
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS
200 years after events in ALIEN³ (1992), a clone of Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is created by scientists on board an intergalactic research vessel where she's forced to incubate a new generation of aliens. Naturally, they escape...
Against all the odds, ALIEN RESURRECTION is a popcorn triumph. The quirky humour evident in previous works by Gallic director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (DELICATESSEN, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, etc.) has been replaced by an American sensibility - Ripley's clone is much stronger than her 'regular' counterpart, which allows her to physically dominate an otherwise imposing cast of strong alpha males - but the film retains the director's unique visual sense (evident in the fantastic spaceship designs and muted colour scheme), and Joss Whedon's pacy script acknowledges previous entries in this particular franchise whilst adding its own distinctive layers to the mythos. As might be expected, the alien threat has been upgraded and expanded from previous entries, culminating in the emergence of a truly nightmarish (though oddly pathetic) creature during an extended climax which reworks a similar scenario from the original ALIEN (1979) before closing on a uniquely gruesome image of death and horror.
Winona Ryder takes second billing as a secretive young woman on a mission to prevent the aliens from making their way to Earth, while Michael Wincott (THE CROW), Ron Perlman (THE NAME OF THE ROSE) and beefcake Gary Dourdan (TV's "C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation") provide excellent support as members of a pirate ship which docks at Ripley's research vessel shortly before chaos descends. Brad Dourif steals the show as a scientist with a hidden agenda (he shares a priceless 'personal' moment with one of the captive aliens when they pause to contemplate one another through a glass partition, one of the best scenes in the entire movie), and Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon makes his Hollywood debut as a disabled member of Wincott's crew whose wheelchair proves a hindrance during their headlong flight from the alien beasties. Mean, moody, but only slightly magnificent, the movie is sleek, engaging and fun. Followed by "Abbott and Costello Meet the Alien"... er, I mean, AVP: ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (2004).