The Perfect Sequel

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2004)

I don't like sequels: Predator 2 and Highlander 2 are just about as bad as it gets - Aliens is different... Whereas Alien was a brilliantly brooding dark film, almost docu-drama in places, Aliens is a rollercoaster of action but it never looses sight of the characters it creates. You really get to care about all of them a lot - even the soldiers who are on the edge of the action like Dietrich. And Burke has to be the only character in any Aliens film where I've been routing for the extra-terrestrials! There are so many electrifying scenes - but the one that still sends a chill down my spine (on the 100th viewing!) is when the Aliens awake for the first time and catch the marines off-guard. Ripley is at her morose best in this film and the growing relationship with Hicks and Newt - and Bishop -is another significant departure from the original and which builds the series as a whole to another level (sad then that Aliens 3 smashed away all of the fine building blocks set up by Cameron) A definate must see film!