For once the Alien has a motive... and maybe even our sympathies

Rating: 5/10 (24 January 2018)

Alien Resurrection is clouded by the premise of THE WORST ALIEN MOVIE EVER! although, it is not superb, fantastic, and only manages to skim through the OKAY class, it was watchable and, at parts enjoyable and nuanced. In Alien 3 Ripley killed herself after discovering the Alien Queen was nested within her abdomen. Following on from that film, Alien Resurrection begins with scientists cloning Ripley, removing the Queen from her chest, and producing Xenomorphs in a laboratory. The Xenomorphs escape, and Ripley and a team of friends must find a way to destroy the spacecraft and save themselves before the craft reaches its home base: Earth. Starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley (and the only returning cast member) and Winona Ryder as Call, the film is home to the new, highly critiqued Xenomorph design: the Newborn, a strange unshelled , disfigured Xenomorph. Despite all the pessimistic views surrounding this fourth installation, the film was pleasantly surprising, greatly surpassing the likes of Alien 3. Weaver's character begins as a mentally unstable human (or clone in this instance) and although she is an interesting and weird character, all the others are one-dimensional with unmotivated acts (such as a guy who shoots a spider with a gun...), as well as these mood-swings some of the characters occasionally suffer from.
Viewing the shorter, Theatrical Version of the film, not the Special Edition, was a shorter yet, I believe, the correct decision. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of the film, was happy with the Theatrical Version, although the writer, Joss Whedon (creator of the hit TV Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) believes that this film is the worst installation in the Alien franchise. Personally, I found it exploring a different, uncultivated avenue for the franchise, at one point, engaging the audience to pity the Xenomorph. Although this pity is felt, it is not supported by the costumes and effects of the Xenomorph and its new hybrid, the Newborn, revealing, for the first time, the eyes of the Xenomorph. The Newborn is a nuanced and interesting character in this movie.
Like the third movie, this film does not manage to derive itself of the unnesseccary violence and swearing, featuring a disturbing sexual scene; not because it is revealing or unconsented, but because the whole premise is disturbing in itself. Whether this deeply wounds or heals the film is decided upon the viewer, but it does lead to strange, confusing matters, which are completely different to the other aspects visible in this franchise.