Ridley Scott's classic horror 'Alien' is turned into a cinematic action masterpiece in one of the finest sequels of all time

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2013)

Now, let me start off by saying that I've seen 'Aliens' a few times and each time I watch it, it just gets better and better and better! 'Alien' on the other hand, I have only seen the one time and I can say, I enjoyed 'Alien' a lot. I had the creepy feeling in me watching 'Alien' but I couldn't fall in love with it to the point I just wanted to watch it again. 'Aliens' on the other hand, is totally different and just a jaw dropping, awesome, action packed, thrilling 2 1/2 hour ride! Aliens focuses around our protagonist Ellen Ripley, played by the brilliant Sigourney Weaver, in what may be her best performance. After being rescued following the events of 'Alien', Ripley is asked by Burke to guy back to the planet with a team of marines to find out what happened to a communication signal on the planet.
The story keeps itself simple much like the original 'Alien'. It introduces a whole lot of new characters who I must say, are better than the characters from 'Alien'. We have the tough girl, Vasquez, who I really loved. Then there's Hicks, played by Michael Beihn who absolutely does a great job; I loved him. I loved the android Bishop and also loved the character Hudson, who apart from Ripley, is the most relatable character for me. The characters in the movie had far more dialogue and awesome moments that in the end, when they were killed, we missed them more Apart from turning 'Aliens' into an action movie, James Cameron masters one other thing about this movie and that is making Ripley a more developed character. I tend to look at the Ripley from 'Alien' to the Ripley in 'Aliens' as the difference between a prokaryotic cell and a eukaryotic cell. The eukaryotic cell is a more defined and developed structure and this is exactly what Ripley is in this movie. In the first one, she was just a girl. Here, we figure out she was a mother and that she lost the last thing worth living for in her life- her daughter.
Another great thing about this movie is how Cameron turned into a great action movie. We now know that the aliens actually work like a hive; that they have a queen alien that "runs the whole show". The whole film is really filled with so many intense moments. The first ten minutes are worth the entry fee if they were to re-release this movie in theatres. Unlike 'Alien', which bores you in the first 10 minutes, this film is quick, scary and brilliant. The queen alien at the end of the movie is just one frightening thing. The designs behind it were great and the final result of it is just brilliant. The special effects for the whole movie are amazing and this seriously is one of the best movies of the '80's.
The best part of the movie would literally be the whole movie but the last 20 minutes or so of the movie are so character-defining moments of the movie such as Bishop and Ripley. That final showdown between the queen alien and Ripley was absolutely awesome but one thing that would've made the scene even better, to make it have a deeper tone to it, would be to have included some score. The frustrating thing about it is that after the alien falls down the hole to its presumed death, they then add some intense music whilst Ripley is trying to close down the hole. That music to the final battle would've been pretty cool but its nothing too big to ruin it.
'Aliens' is a must see for any movie as it contains superb acting, superb characters, great writing and special effects, awesome action sequences and great mix between light hearted tone to a more serious tone. I order any who have not seen this movie to see it, at least for the final showdown between Ripley and the queen Alien....Do it, you won't regret it!