Amazing Sci-Fi Horror

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2000)

I saw the original "Alien" not too long ago, and I loved it. I thought the story was strong, the acting was excellent, and the scares were great. I kept hearing, though, that the sequel was almost superior to the original. Finally, I rented "Aliens" and checked it out. And I must say, I was impressed.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only survivor of the Nostromo, the ship from the original film, has been found floating around in a space pod, in a deep sleep. The ship that finds her takes her in, and the crew helps her recuperate, hoping to find out what happened. Soon, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) proposes she use her expertise on a mission to a desolate planet where a colony of humans has appeared to have been wiped out by aliens similar to those in the original. Ripley reluctantly agrees, and joins the crew on a mission to the planet, whose only survivor is Rebecca "Newt" Jordan (Carrie Henn), a little girl that the crew finds early in their arrivlal. What then unfolds is a nightmare that Ellen and the crew were never prepared for, as the aliens close in on them, and all hell breaks loose.
The movie keeps a great pace, despite a small stumble towards the middle that almost makes the movie sort of tedious in the desperate "What the hell are we going to do?" situation the surviving handful of crew members are put in. But the action is well-done, and there is amazing suspense, particularly in the scene where the two face-huggers attack Newt and Ripley in the bedroom, and the whole final ten of fifteen minutes of the movie. Some of the early killings get rid of characters you never even connect with, and the scenes are so wild, you don't even know who got killed. Those the audience does identify with are quite interesting, and most are likable, especially Ripley. The climax is absolutely wild, and is there much better a line than, "Get away from her, you bitch!"? One of my favorite parts was in the end, when Ripley opens the hatch to release the queen alien, and it grabs her and tries to pull her down with it. And Ripley gives off this chilling scream that was so terrifying, I had to watch the scene a second time. The music is effective and at times, absolutely perfect. And the acting...such great acting. Sigourney Weaver deserved the Oscar. She was amazing, from start to finish, and I couldn't help but cheer for her the whole time. The way she gave Ripley real emotion and personification is rare in horror films today, as many heroines come off as just "goody-goody" or too tough. I really hope she shows up more in the horror genre. Carrie Henn was actually not very annoying, as most child actors are. She was a likable little girl. Paul Reiser was great, and like Bill Paxton, quite funny at times. Lance Henrikson, Michael Beihn, and Jenette Goldstein rounded out the stars of the movie, and each did quite well in their roles. The rest of the characters I sort of lost track of.
This is a great movie, and despite it getting a bit monotonous in the middle, it really is worth a look, and deserves the reputation it still has today.