Alien goes Heavy Metal

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2013)

In an interview Ridley Scott cited the old Heavy Metal/Metal Hurlant comics as one of many inspirations for Alien. Of all the films, the one that most resembles Heavy Metal is Jean-Pierre Jeunet's demented, over-the-top, but not unentertaining fourth entry.
This is another entry that uh...alienated fans, and it certainly doesn't have any of the atmosphere or suspense of even Alien 3. Visually, it's quite uneven. Production design is impressive, effects not always so - even in 1997. Gore is ramped up to 11. Indeed we see far more blood and guts in this one than all the others put together. A number of critics had issues with the humour on display, but I personally found this refreshing. It was interesting to see a more lighthearted display in an Alien segment after the deadly seriousness of the first three.
Where it most delivers is in Sigourney, excellent again, this time as a superhuman part-alien clone of Ripley, and in the frantic moments when the characters are facing off against the aliens. The monsters are menacing as always, and this time they're not above sacrificing one of their own for their own benefit. A brand new member to the Alien family, while perhaps not as scary as intended, provides some good moments at the climax.
While suffering in comparison to it's predecessors, on it's own terms it makes for good, gruesome, comic-book-style mayhem.