A sorry ending

Rating: 1/10 (13 November 2000)

I never liked Joss Whedon and this movie is another example as to why. First off I can not treat this movie as it's own. The series brought us a powerful and memorable heroine and a frightening and memorable villain. You can't separate the films apart. They are forever linked with those characters and thus they are to be scrutinized in comparison between them. Saying that I am sorry Alien Ressurection was made.
What made Ripley who she is in the Alien series? Obviously Whedon had no clue whatsoever and went ahead to change her character into this blasphemous Terminator-like hero. I for one didn't like this change. It's because she is human, succumbed to emotions, and most of all AFRAID of the unexpected and the horrific nightmares these creatures wrought upon her that made Ripley... Ripley. Turning her into an Alien is a novelty, and I suppose what they were trying to accomplish was an ironic and cruel twist of fate tossed to her. The thing that has haunted her for so long she becomes. Unfortunately, the performance wasn't convincing and we end up hating this new persona. Blame it on the script.
Visually this fourth installment is pretty much what we have been experiencing over and over again with the series. Again, they try to reproduce that claustrophobic experience Aliens gave us with the tight corridors, the running out of time factor, etc. Some of the humor in the movie was unnecessary and bland. The General saluting after destroying an alien, then gets killed by one but not before going through a few gestures which screams comedy, was insulting to the series. I will never understand european humor.
Anytime you're given a franchise, you'll love to excercise all possible storylines. Since it's already had it's success, you have a greater margin for error. What Whedon gave us is a plot thin as a wet tissue, and full of holes to see through. There was little explaining of anything, which could be a good thing. A script this messy how much more can it get if you let them explain it. What plot was there, was for the aliens to be shot at, destroyed, a character dies in between, and more aliens die. It's getting old, and so is this series. Thumbs down.