Much praised, but why?

Rating: 3/10 (17 February 2009)

Average imagination and average aims must be the combination behind this alien sequel. To take an example near the beginning, the capsules where the spaceship crew sleep are shot three times over from a very boring perspective (the foot of the beds slanted in a row to the left, the edge of the first bed slanted to the right); or, when part of the crew are investigating a tunnel where aliens might be hiding, the two men and a woman are pictured from the front, at the knee level, as in a tourist photograph.
These ordinary camera angles would not matter, if the director was not only interested in technology but also people. But besides Sigourney Weaver's Ripley we have vehicles for one-liners. I just appreciate it if several people in a film are given some character: it does not have to be more complicated than, say, the four different old men in Clint Eastwood's "Space Cowboys" (2000). Also, I failed to notice any special amount of humour, which some say is there. Regrettably, Cameron's alien is just a competent action film, with good acting by Weaver.