Inferior to the first two in the series

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2003)

The fourth installment of the alien movies is like the third one: Clearly inferior to the first two in the series. It starts promisingly enough with Sigourney Weaver appearing as a clone of her original Ripley character. However, the movie unravels after the aliens escape as usual. As a result, the focus becomes merely another "us vs. them" plot in the second half of the movie. Interesting story elements are presented, but never expounded upon or completely discarded altogether. These include Ripley's superhuman/alien strength. What's the point of giving her that strength, if she rarely uses it? The ambiguity of Ripley's genetic make-up is never addressed satisfactorily either. Why do the space pirates really need her anyway? What's the real motivation for the conduction of the experiments to begin with? Giving Ripley more humanity than the fully human characters is literally a gross attempt to add melodrama to balance the action. If one were to read more into the movie, the ending could be interpreted as a metaphorical abortion of sorts. Winona Rider seems out of place in this movie also, and the full frontal nudity, or simulated nudity, of Sigourney Weaver might be cause to shield the eyes of younger audience members. There is some strong tension in here in certain scenes, most notably in a scene where two space pirates are ascending a ladder trying to escape. This movie is really an action movie masquerading as science fiction. As in most creature features, the more we see the aliens, the less we fear or are surprised by them. In this movie, the aliens can jump, swim, and give birth, no less! Perhaps, one of them could have written a better script. **1/2 of 4 stars.