Boring, and unnecessary in every way. The real Ripley died in 1992.

Rating: 4/10 (9 April 2011)

Credit IMDb 200 years after the conclusion of Alien 3, the company is able to resurrect Ripley through the process of cloning and the scientists successfully take the Queen Alien out of her. But, Ripley's DNA gets mixed up with the Queen's and she begins to develop certain alien characteristics. The scientists begin breeding the aliens, but they later escape. Soon the Xeno-morphs are running amok on the ship, which is on course to earth. The Queen then gives birth to a deadly new breed of alien, which could spell disaster for the entire human race. It's up to Ripley and a band of space pirates to stop the ship before it reaches earth.
Where do I begin? For starters, where's the effort and passion I saw in the first three movies? It's nowhere to be found here. The Aliens, while visually impressive, appear way too much throughout the film, and the essence of surprise is gone. The first Alien was so great, because it always seemed to lurk in the shadows. We never really got a full glimpse of it, and when we did, it was terrifying. I dug the Ripley bonding with the Aliens, but there isn't much else. Grating characters, overblown action, and too much CGI ruins it. Ripley's character meant nothing to me here; it was cold, just like the film itself.
Performances. Sigourney Weaver actually does very well, considering her thin part, and it was fun to see a playful side of hers, but it doesn't change the fact I couldn't get into her character, and it was thinly written. She has traits of the original Ripley, and I know it was duly documented that it wasn't the original, but I just felt so cold by her part. Her charisma with Ryder was actually above average. As such an admirer of her role in the first three, it was disappointing to see her go out this way. Winona Ryder was actually good in my mind. I've seen plenty of criticism with her performance here, but I liked it. She showed the right amount of emotion and vulnerability. Dominique Pinon is annoying as the guy in the wheel chair. I felt no sympathy, and he got on my nerves quickly. Ron Perlman is funny, and annoying at the same time. His constant yelling made me wanna shut him up though. Gary Dourdan's role is cool, but that's about it. Dan Hedaya can play these types of roles in his sleep. Brad Douriff is a hoot in his role.
Bottom line. Couple of good moments is not enough to just barely maintain this above the Mendoza line. It felt like a pure cash in. No heart, no soul. They should have stopped at number three.
4 ½ 10