Weakest storyline and script of the series, but good production values and cast

Rating: 5/10 (5 July 2006)

I'll start by admitting that I wasn't really expecting a great deal from this movie, and so wasn't disappointed.
If you enjoy powerful, tight, quality scripting and cohesive story lines, and come at this without having seen the other three in the series, you'll probably wonder what the fuss is about, and agree with me that this feels just like a standard studio money making exercise, and that it would have been better going straight to video. I'm pretty sure it would have done so if it hadn't cost the studios so much to make and if the they were not certain that public was still desperate to see anything new from the Alien franchise store. That we will still spend hard earned dollars on this insipid stuff, is a tribute to the expectations raised by the first two films in the franchise.
**SPOILER** IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS FILM YET, THIS CAN'T SPOIL THE FILM ANY MORE THAN THE SCRIPT WILL
Effects/Look and Feel
The look and feel of the film is generally very good, apart from the **"Son of Mummy Alien"** which is just very sad looking all round. CGI effects, stages and scenery are all pretty well carried off. I imagine a lot of the budget was spent in this department. This area has served all the Alien films pretty well, and no-one has dared screw this up badly (yet) in any of the films.
Cast
Great leading actors with a very high quality supporting cast, you definitely get the strong feeling they were all trying very hard to keep it all hanging together and make it work. I've no idea what they cost, but I've seen most of these actors turn in very decent performances in other films.
Script/direction
This is what I think lets the film down. The actors, costumes, staging and effects are all just so much better than the incredibly poor, vapid and soggy script. It feels like there had been a great idea and script, but then someone went and lost the real script and scriptwriter the night before filming, and then just pulled a 4th grader in to recreate the entire story again from a two line summary, scene by scene, as they were filming. Having thought about this some more, and reading through several other comments I realise that is a bit harsh. The director is great when able to work from scratch - his body of work proves that, with several really inventive and interesting films. The writer is not cut out for this kind of film at all, he's really best suited to the fairly lightweight TV style teen dramas, and does these well. I think the writer needed an entirely different take on this script, given audience (for that read "Alien Fans") expectations, with it played straight down the line. Doesn't mean there can't be some humour - but that should be from interplay between characters, and not from knowing wise-crack devices for the audience. Often through the film, you had the feeling the writer didn't expect his audience to really believe any of the story, and got bored at points, slotting in quite a few pretty hopeless throwaway lines. Fair enough, many writers just don't get or like the whole (too?)"serious" sc-fi genre. But it does look like Mr Whedon was never very comfortable with this one. Still, that's not to say there isn't room for a full-on Alien send up in the "Airplane" or "Naked Gun" style.
Marks out of 10
I've given it a 4, as I think that is what I would have given if I'd not seen the first two films. If you make any comparison to the first two films and their decent scripts and direction, the mark must be 3. Almost embarrassingly cheesy in parts, but saved from the pit by the nice presentation and interesting cast.
The "What Else Is On" Test
If this is on, and there's nothing decent on any other channel, you'd probably stick with it until the very silly last 20 mins, when it gets annoyingly bad.
Buy It?
You'd have to be a hard core Alien fan to buy a film you'll never put on more than once.