Don't be silly, of course it's not as good as the original, but great in it's own right

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2002)

Spoilers.
I don't normally care for sequels, but the few exceptions I find are in the sci-fi genre. Then again this is almost not a sequel. Yes Cameron uses many of the invidious topos from the original, but they are desparate enough in approach to make the link between the two almost circumstantial. Where "Alien" was primarily a psychological horror film (complete with underlying mysogamy and rape symbolism), "Aliens" is an action-packed, in your face, frenzy. This inverse structure was very prescient on Cameron's part. He took a good tale of terror, a vile, redoubtable villain and really shook up the mix. And by adding more creatures he increases the horror expotentially.
He did keep one aspect of the precursor in tact, as well he should have: Changes in technology are present with futuristic equipment, but the characters stay very human (the Marines talk like Marines, corporate greed subverts survival, etc). Also there is some clever dialogue. My two favorites: Newt ominously stating "They mostly come out at night...mostly" and Bill Paxton (perfect in his comic relief assignment) telling Paul Reiser, "Maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events but we just got out asses kicked".