Disappointing despite creative effort

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2008)

The action scenes are well thought out and there's plenty of gore. But it lacks character and suspense, it gets kind of formulaic.
Joss Whedon has written plenty of good scripts for both movies, TV shows as well as comics and this is definitely not his worst. It's a bit more creative than it's predecessor Alien 3, but the characters have less depth. The film is also more uneven, switching from action flick to surreal and gross splatter film, the wisecracks getting in the way of real suspense.
Winona Ryder does her part but it's not as memorable as Lance Henriksen's. Her character as well as some others were more grotesque than engaging. Also I don't find this Sigourney Weaver's best performance, while it was refreshing for herself, playing an alien-human clone, she wasn't as likable because she seemed to care less about the fate of humankind. Like in Alien3, the problem was again that you can't really care much about any of the characters. And too many of them make it out alive this time.
It was missing the human element as well and that was one thing Alien3 did better as well as the classic ones, Alien and Aliens.
Still, plenty of entertainment and not boring for a moment. An OK 7 out of 10.