Tacky

Rating: 5/10 (22 November 2002)

200 years beyond "Alien 3" (1992) scientists have cloned the DNA of Ripley to create an Alien/Human hybrid (Sigourney Weaver). What was a competent end to a thrilling trilogy has over-extended into a mishmash of one-liners and grotesque situations. Weaver, who sported 4 hairstyles from the 4 pictures, here perpetually damp-haired, is exceptional, as usual. Wynona Ryder, pert and small-boned, is mis-cast as a heroic type; other characters are either obnoxious or undeveloped. The Alien costumes, almost black, are ferocious and look great, except for the underwater sequences. There, they are CGI-created, and look cartoony and lack weight and enough blackness. The film's best sequence is an emotional one, with Weaver finding the lab of previous failed dead clone experiments of herself, culminating in the discovery of a live one. The new monster creation at the end looks like an albino Barney the dinosaur. And the climax takes the first two films' endings to despicable extremes, cruel and bloody.