9.99997 out of 10

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2000)

Two things I don't like... Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn, but the rest of the movie more than makes up for it. This movie is what started me on my Paxton obsession, He gives a stunning performance, playing the most profoundly human character in a slew of otherwise unremarkable marines. Michael Beihn gives a moderately good performance, enough to impress, but not astound me. Lance Henrisken does a startlingly good job of acting without emotion, until you watch anything else he's in and realize that's just how he acts. I forget at the moment who played Vasquez, but that was a good performance. And Paul Reiser as a villain??! HA! that was GREAT! I loved it!! He plays another disturbingly human character(but he pushes the envelope with trying to impregnate Ripley and Newt). Oh man, though, the screenplay... wow. The dialog is right on, the story picks up seemlessly from alien, and for once in a sequel doesn't BASH US OVER THE HEAD with the fact that it's a sequel(ala Scream 2? maybe?) And though the idea of marines that deploy from orbital starships was "borrowed" from the novel "starship troopers", watching ten minutes of this movie and ten minutes of the adapted screenplay for that shows by FAR which is the better movie. Weaver is annoyingly predictable as the "mothering" character, and Henn even more so as the squealing little harpy that Ripley adopts. I would have gladly traded them both for the ressurection of say, maybe Hudson and Vasquez? Can we do that? But, I suppose it wouldn't be a legacy if the main character didn't survive, would it. However, there is one thing that Ripley DID teach me. If I'm ever going into an alien nest, armed only with a machine gun and a flame thrower, I'll bring TWO clips for the gun.