Little Intel and Lots of Intensity

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

This sequel to Alien (1979) is a different type of movie. It's template is the same but the delivery and execution is quite different.
Comparisons are inevitable but should be done as a reference point rather than an intolerable insight into its method of madness. Aliens is an Action film in a Sci-Fi setting with Horror elements. A pulse pounding picture with energy and enthusiasm that is admittedly less cerebral and more visceral than the first film.
The cartooned, somewhat clichéd "action figures", that Ripley reluctantly joins are literally thrust into a meat grinder of a "bug hunt" and they all make the most of their training and fight the terror with bravado and courage. These are not scientists, they are Marines and they behave like Marines and give the ultimate sacrifice.
The movie is what it is and it is not the first film. It is a roller-coaster ride with little Intel and a lot of intensity.