Not good, not horrible

Rating: Null/10 (10 January 1999)

I have no clue about this director's history, but I can tell from this film he has some talent. The movie is as gory as a Paul Verhoeven film (Robocop/Starship Troopers), but lacks the detail. There is not much action, which is the worst part of the movie, considering the plot was dull. The movie led me in too many different directions, and made it hard for me to concentrate. The start of the movie is interesting, and the scene where everybody attempts to evacuate is bloody as hell, but very fun to watch. The rest of the survivors consist of Ripley, the crew, and one scientist, which I got no emotional effect from, not even ripley. I think this is where Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 succeeded most in, the attachment to the characters. Not having this feature made Alien Resurrection much worse then could have been. There were some good scenes though, the evacuation at the start, and the water scene (although I find it hard to believe they could stay under the water that long). Weaver does a good job playing her part, although it is a bad part, and Ryder just does a horrible job of whatever she was supposed to do. The one thing that made this movie above "bad" to me was that it made me think. The movie was a mess, but there were 2 scenes that made me break down emotionally, and I wasn't sure why. Although the queen giving birth was indeed disgusting, I found it very sad when the baby killed the queen, do not ask me why, I just did. Then, after the baby makes a few killings, comes the scene where Ripley interacts with the alien/human baby, almost like a mother and child. This got me thinking, and then all of a sudden she burns the window and has the baby get sucked out of the window. It made sense, but I did not want it to happen. If she would have blown up the baby, it would have been fine. But she has to make it go through more pain then anybody can imagine. As it moaned loud whimpering sounds while getting piece by piece ripped off of its body, I could almost feel its pain. Topping that off it then continuously shows Ripley looking at the poor thing, almost crying. I couldn't take it, I don't know why but for me it was one of the saddest scenes I have seen. This scene was horrible, but it made me think differently about the film, and made me put it in the average category. Other then those few points the rest of the movie just consisted of smart ass one liners and poor special effects (compared to starship troopers/godzilla). Overall, this movie does not compete with Alien, Aliens, or Alien 3, but it worthy to rent. I recommend watching every other 3 before this, because this was indeed one of the best trilogies ever, despite the fact this was released.