A very worthy follow up to a horror classic and also one of the best action movies of the 80s.

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2012)

There have been many debates over the years about which is the better film, Ridley Scott's 1979 original or James Cameron's 1986 sequel. In this review, I will state something that I'm sure has been said before but wanted to share my voice.
Released in the summer of 1986, at a time when film goers were wanting more action in their movies, along comes James Cameron who after a big disappointment with his first feature, B movie sequel Piranah 2: The Spawning (1981), Cameron went off and wrote a screenplay that would become his big breaking point in the business. The Terminator (1984) was a very ambitious project for such a low budget film. The film was a well made and groundbreaking feature in what was expected to be just another exploitation film. There were big action sequences, a challenging story and also, strong character development that surprised everyone and became a huge hit.
After the success of The Terminator, Cameron made his third feature film with Aliens. Cameron was a big admirer of Scott's original that he always wanted to make a follow up, his dream had now come true. Cameron wrote the screenplay and also directed. He knew from the get go that he was making a sequel and never denied that but the challenge in making a sequel is how do you make one that stands on its own but doesn't completely stay too far away from what made the original so effective.
Cameron not only gives us a new and different visionary look into the story by making it less claustrophobic and more out in the open, an action film more or less, but also takes the character of Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) to new heights and goes deeper into the character. I chose to not give too much away in reviews for fear that I would be giving too many details to those who haven't seen the film but Aliens is an amazing sequel to what already was an amazing first film.
There is so much strong metaphor in this film about how to fight the evils of the world. That not only being strong but also having faith and trust in one another is the best way to triumph at the end of the day. There are some repeats of plot devices in the film (again, Cameron realizing that he is making a sequel) but it doesn't completely remake a scene from the first film. He provides humor, adventure and action but there is always a purpose, to move the story forward. Not one scene feels out of place or doesn't belong.
Sigourney Weaver received an Oscar nomination for her work here and I will say, deserved it very much. I always thought she was a talented actress, I knew it right away from watching the first Alien but I would argue that she has more to work with this time around and give us a look deeper into one of the smartest and bravest characters in any science fiction movie.
James Cameron has gone onto bigger things and by the way, I really loved Titanic (1997), but The Terminator and Aliens were a perfect example of a good screenwriter and ambitious director. While Cameron may be demanding and somewhat of a perfectionist and it's something that I don't relate to and in fact, something that I have been critical of, but every director is different and I guess if you were working in the filming conditions that he does, I guess you and I would be to. Aliens is great entertainment but never for the sake of great entertainment. Highly recommended. Well, I can say that it's better then Predator (1987).