James Cameron? Really?

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2003)

WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
I guess I'm not a big James Cameron fan...
When I first saw this movie, I thought it was awesome! I was 14.
I have a new view of movies now, and when I see this one, I can see right through all of Cameron's "over the top" antics. He has this urgent desire to sacrifice believability in his films. (airplane scene in True Lies, big rig sliding scene in Terminator 2, etc...) When he did The Terminator, he should have called it good and let things be. After The Terminator, however, he went back to his Piranha II style and thus we get Aliens. Another sequel. While it has good special effects (the model making was first rate), the characters are weak and we have a hard time embracing them. When Bill Paxton's character Hudson gets it, it is a much needed relief. If he had said "game over" one more time, I'm sure I would have had tears well up in my eyes. Vasquez, on the other hand, acts as if she could take on the entire Alien race all by herself. Maybe she should have tried that, so we wouldn't have to put up with her macho style in this movie. Unfortunately, those two are the characters I remembered most,(aside from Ripley) and I hated them.
The movie seems to be written pretty well (except for the weak characters that are even weaker due to Cameron's directing) and the overall idea is strong, but looking at it now, it seems a little too... Is "campy" what I'm looking for? ... and it didn't age all that well. The original Alien is a timeless masterpiece that has held up strongly over the years and leaves you wanting more. Aliens is what it is... ...An attempt to make an over the top, effects filled, summer blockbuster that would have been better without the "throw away" characters, and the strong James Cameron influence.
At least it's not Aliens 3!