Hands down one of the best sequels ever!

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2007)

Back in 1986, sequels had become very common (Superman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones), yet people were suspicious when they heard of a follow-up to Alien, Ridley Scott's acclaimed sci-fi horror from 1979. Most of the criticism was aimed at the fact that Scott had nothing to do with the new movie, which had been entrusted to an unknown (at the time) named James Cameron. Fortunately, Cameron had shown he knew the genre two years earlier with The Terminator, and by perfecting the skills he had developed on that film he delivered Aliens, which still stands out as one of the greatest science fiction flicks of all time.
Given how the first film ended (all characters but one died), Cameron wisely decided to radically separate his movie from the original, and he does so from the very beginning by having Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wake up from her cryogenic sleep and make a shocking discovery: although she hasn't aged at all, 57 years have passed since she left the Nostromo, meaning everyone she knew is either dead or very old (in a particularly heartbreaking scene, she talks on the phone with her grown-up daughter, who is full of resentment for her "unjustified" absence). In addition, no one believes her story regarding the alien since, as she's told by scientist Carter Burke (Paul Reiser), the planet where these creatures allegedly lived has been successfully colonized. Suddenly, though, all communications with LV-426 are inexplicably interrupted. Thinking there might be some truth to Ripley's tale, Burke asks her to join him and a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the mystery. And while most of the participants are in it just for the money, our heroine realizes this is her only chance of confronting her worst nightmare and overcoming it for good.
The main problem with Alien, some have said, was that, as great as it can be, the characterizations were reduced to the minimum (not that it really mattered, with Ridley Scott ensuring the film retained the right pace and suspense throughout). With Aliens, character development is the last thing fans should worry about, Cameron being fully aware of each individual's potential and exploiting it as much as he can. Ripley, who was just part of an ensemble in the original, is now allowed to carry the whole film, and boy, does she carry it: rarely has there been a more solid, compelling female role in a genre movie like this (the fact that Sigourney Weaver is the only actress, thus far, to have received an Oscar nomination for a science-fiction film is further testament to Aliens' immortality). The supporting cast is equally good, with a multitude of different characters ranging from funny (regular Cameron collaborators Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton) to weird (Lance Henriksen's android Bishop) and bringing something extra to the movie's unique atmosphere.
Ah, the film's mood: that's the other aspect Cameron deserves all the credit in the world for. On a superficial level, it could be said Alien was a horror movie, while the follow-up is more action-oriented; that may be true, but one should also notice that every single spectacular battle scene actually oozes tension, never leaving the audience with a pause to breathe or relax. In fact, Cameron has succeeded where many other directors would have failed: he stayed faithful to the original's tone, but managed nonetheless to make the film undeniably his own.
Relentlessly creepy, occasionally very violent and consistently compelling, Aliens is a pitch-perfect piece of adult science-fiction. Watch it on a double bill with Scott's version and you will get four hours of genre film-making at its finest.