Hold on to your butts...

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2004)

Ripley has been floating in space in hyper sleep for 57 years since her last encounter with the alien, and has been luckily picked up by a deep salvage team. The planet that the aliens inhabit, LV426, is now the site of a large community of terra-formers who have set up an atmosphere processor on the lonely planet to get it ready for colonization. Little do they know who their neighbors are. When "the company" loses contact with the colony, they send Ripley in with a team of Colonial Space Marines to investigate. All out hell breaks loose.
Possible spoilers:
"Aliens" is without a doubt one of the best sequels ever made, and action movies period, which achieves it's success by taking the story in a different direction instead of remaking what's already been done before. James Cameron also adds his own additions to the story which make it even better. Cameron has proven over time that he is the only director worthy of being passed the torch of the Alien saga and that he is one of the very best directors for action films, if not the best. For many people including myself, this film is the conclusion of the Alien series, and I don't think I need to explain why.
What we've got here is the same grotesque alien species we had in the first film, except there's a veritable army of the damn things led by an ultimately powerful Queen alien. We get to see how the aliens actually live, which is quite similar to an ant or termite colony, and find out how the facehuggers and eggs come about. Kudos to whoever designed the hive and the Queen. I know they were both inspired by Geiger, but I'm unsure if he was involved directly.
I personally prefer the group of characters in this film as opposed to the previous one, but that may be because I think Michael Biehn's role as Corporal Hicks is such a standout. The guy was born to play a badass and does it with ease. Lance Henrickson as Bishop is also another noteworthy performance in which he portrays the dubious android. Paul Reiser is typically annoying in every sense, but that is his role here so it's not a bad point. Hudson (Paxton) and Vasquez are also enjoyable characters that get a few laughs going. Overall, a terrific cast.
While Scott's "Alien" was more of a tension filled terror fest, meant to keep you on the edge of your seat with fear of the unknown and lurking danger, "Aliens" creates the same type and level of tension through incredible action sequences. I feel both are equal as far as entertainment goes, although they take entirely different approaches. "Alien" probably had more of an impact when it came out because nothing like it had ever been done before. However, I feel that "Aliens" does the same thing in the action department, and without being unrealistic like a lot of it's rivals in the same genre. Cameron's perfectionist style and attitude towards his work is all too realized here. The lighting is perfect, camera work is amazingly done, and the general mood and pace of the movie are controlled very well. There were some parts that were filmed in reverse to get a better effect, which is quite impressive in it's own right. He also succeeded in getting that spooky atmosphere just right as well that Scott had so carefully created.
The story itself lets Ripley develop into a shade of a different character with the introduction of Newt, allowing her to develop some maternal instincts which she was devoid of in the first film. She once had a child, but hyper slept through her entire life and now has a second shot at being a mother again. This plays a huge part in her motivation and determination for becoming the badass with two guns, who delves almost fearlessly into the depths of the hive to save Newt. Weaver becomes the epitome of a movie heroine here, and I have yet to see her equal. This scene leads up to the face off of the two mothers and climax of the film. The classic and mother of all showdowns, coincidentally between two mothers. We have the alien mother, the Queen, fighting to save her eggs and brood against Ripley, who is fighting as a mother to save Newt's life. When Ripley torches most of the eggs, the Queen is now out for blood and vengeance. It all comes down to one of the coolest battles in movie history...Ripley in the power loader vs. the Queen alien. It will be hard for any action movie to ever compete with `Aliens', and it will be recognized as a landmark in cinema for some time for it's sheer brilliance, but not just for the action because this movie has more than that. There is only one other `action' movie in my mind that can stand close, which is Terminator 2, also from Cameron. If I had to pick, I'd chose `Aliens'. I can't see how anyone who likes sci-fi or action could not love this film. As good as it is and no matter how much I like it, this movie never would have become what it did had it not been for Ridley Scott's creation to build upon. I consider myself fairly discerning when it comes to action, but honestly I can't say anything bad about this film.
With that said, this is easily in my Top 10 of all time.
`Game over man, Game OVER!'