The bastard Alien

Rating: 5/10 (7 March 2008)

The death of Ripley in Alien 3 should have put a cap on the Alien series. But 20th Century Fox, in its infinite wisdom, wasn't quite ready to plug a money hose like the Alien franchise. So, it was resurrected (pardon the pun).
I like the idea of cloning Ripley. It makes sense to me, given the Company's background, that they would go to such great lengths to obtain the alien. I also like that the clone Ripley is a little "off" (for lack of a better term); it makes her a little unpredictable. But the ragtag team of mercenaries facing off against the aliens doesn't work. They're too nihilistic to care about getting scared, so there's no tension. The real trouble starts about halfway through the film, though. The aliens take the backseat, so the characters are left to push the plot. They squabble, exchange colorful language, and push each other around. Then things get rather surreal. Ripley finds the Queen, which gives birth (like a human) to a alien-human hybrid. The alien-human hybrid kills some people, then dies, serving no purpose other than to repulse the audience.
The special effects is a coin toss. Some of them are utilized pretty well, while others are poor enough to laugh at. The amount of slime is ridiculous, as well. Yes, the aliens drool, but there's way too much here. It gets rather grotesque, actually.
Sigourney Weaver is good, as usual. Her performance is a little odd, but that's due to the character change. Ron Perlman is good no matter what he's in, so I have no complaint with his performance. Winona Ryder is my biggest bone to pick with the acting. It's not necessarily that she's bad, just that she doesn't fit with the rest of the cast. She doesn't make a good tough chick. The other performances are OK, a little overdone at times, but nothing Razzie-worthy.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet really screwed up on Alien: Resurrection. But, in his defense, 20th Century Fox screwed up even more by attempting to keep the Alien franchise alive. After Alien 3, there was nowhere to go. Honestly, there was nowhere to go after Aliens, but I (unlike most people) liked Alien 3, so I forgive it.