Curate's egg

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2011)

This fourth entry in the increasingly inaccurately titled Alien Trilogy (to quote Douglas Adams, Spike Milligan, or both) is a real curate's egg - when the curate's egg was good, you may recall, it was very very good, and when it was bad it was a stinker.
And so it goes with Alien: Resurrection.
The good includes: The return of Sigourney Weaver as a Ripley with a new spin; A decent premise for a fourth entry; Brad Dourif, creepy as ever; A quirky, unusual, and effective supporting cast; A horrifying sequence where Riply discovers her genesis; Excellent production design; Some solid set pieces.
The bad includes: A script which doesn't live up to expectations; Some dodgy CGI on the aliens; A distinct feeling of knocking cast members off by numbers; An appallingly badly realised hybrid.
On balance, a worthwhile entry in the series but, if you are watching them through in sequence for the first time, be prepared for some bits which will make you wince.