James Cameron skilfully adds action to the Alien formula

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2012)

One of the things that makes Aliens a successful sequel to Alien is that it isn't a mere copy of the original. In much the same way that Sam Raimi kept his 'Evil Dead' series alive and interesting through every instalment by simply adding a new genre type to the mix, this film adds action to the basic sci-fi horror template. But it isn't done in a silly gimmicky way. The action angle is entirely justifiable within the context of the story where we have a Special Forces group return to the infamous planet in order to make war with the aliens. In fact, much like the original Predator, Aliens is a perfect amalgamation of the action, science fiction and horror genres.
This was the first time that director James Cameron had been given serious money to make a movie. His previous film The Terminator had been very successful but was much lower budget. With Aliens he was able to indulge in the special effects heavy style that would go on to typify his career. Additionally, this one also displays Cameron's distinctive feminist leanings that almost all his other movies have, where we have a strong independent woman at the heart of an action movie. With these two angles of feminism and action, Cameron has been able to appeal to a very wide demographic of people, which partly explains his movies enormous financial successes. I would have to say that Aliens is probably the best Cameron ever got. Because while it displays all the above characteristics, it also contains an awful lot of brilliant and sinister ideas that form a part of the 'Alien' franchise. It's here where we first see the creatures attacking en mass, we also see the horrific human 'nests' for the first time (although the director's cut of Alien did include this later) and we also encounter the queen alien. All the ideas are brilliantly brought to the screen with excellent special effects. While the story itself, while lacking the intrigue of the original, is well paced and more than serviceable. It has the usual angle of the evil of the big business corporation having underhand goals that are completely at odds with the welfare of the crew, while it also brings in a new theme of motherhood where Ripley protects Newt against the Queen and her nasty brood.
All-in-all, superior stuff. As high-octane action movies go this is about as good as you get. For my money it's an excellent companion piece to the original film. It complements Alien, while staying true to it.