Aliens vs Guns !!!

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2016)

'Aliens' is the 2nd film in the Alien film franchise and probably the most popular film in the aforementioned franchise. Written and directed by James Cameron, this film begins after the events in Ridley Scott's 'Alien'. Ripley survives after her escape vessel is recovered after drifting across the galaxy while being in cryogenic sleep for 57 years. On Earth, no one believes her story about the events on the planet LV-426 which she experienced and she loses her licence. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation had already ordered the colonisation of LV-426 during Ripley's extended absence. But suddenly all communication with the colony gets lost and the company decides to send a team of tough, rugged, space marines to investigate the situation along with Ripley to help them with her knowledge.
James Cameron did something exceedingly brave when he decided to practically change the genre in the sequel to an immensely popular original film. While Ridley Scott's 'Alien' was sci-fi horror with elements of tension and claustrophobia, Cameron's 'Aliens' even though it still retains some of the slow tension building in the 1st half, is basically a straight up action blockbuster which makes it much more accessible to the general masses. It has the 80s written all over it. This film raises the stakes and makes everything bigger and louder than 'Alien'. There are explosions, there are machine guns, and this time instead of one, Ripley along with the other marines faces a whole army of Xenomorphs. The film again looks beautiful and the visuals hold up on Blu Ray. Cameron's craft as a director can't be doubted after watching this. Cameron holds the tension in the first half and then bombards the viewer with one brutal action set-piece after another in the second half.
When it comes to the themes, Cameron actually retains the theme of the ill-effects of capitalism that was a part of 'Alien'. But although this capitalism angle does appear in 'Alien', Ridley Scott was a little more subtle, while I felt Cameron went a bit overboard to drive home the evil corporation element in the storyline and at times it became slightly unrealistic. Another element is of course feminism. Ripley, I believe becomes the true action hero in this film more than in 'Alien'. She overcomes all the naysayers above her in the hierarchy and truly owns her power and evolves into a truly powerful woman. We also clearly see strong themes of motherhood running throughout the film which again is handled in a slightly overt way. But there also hints at racism in the script and this racism theme I think is what Cameron handles the best with the requisite amount of nuance.
Unfortunately, this film didn't have the lingering effect that 'Alien' had in my mind. I preferred 'Alien's subtlety over the big and blockbuster feel of this film. The grand scale of the action sequences in this film genuinely makes 'Alien' look like an indie horror film. But I thought the endless action sequences although very well directed in the end to some extent diluted the overall effect and at times went into ridiculous territory. The film also has a number of endings like 'Return of the King'. There are also certain relationships that are forged in the course of the narrative that made me correctly predict who is going to live in the end and who won't.
Sigourney Weaver is absolutely brilliant in this film. She richly deserved the Oscar nomination. She conveys every emotion possible in the film be it frustration, love, anger or fear. She also completely commits to the role and becomes a compelling action hero. Ripley evolves from the role of indefatigable survivor in 'Alien' to the role of the tough, bad-ass mother in this film. Although most of the characters in 'Aliens' lack the realism and are not as believable as the Nostromo crew in 'Alien', but they are entertaining and funny. I'll give a special mention to Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein and Michael Biehn.
'Aliens' is a film that I can enjoy a lot and watch over and over again. But every time I do, it somehow fails to stick in my mind for too long due to the over-dependence on action sequences. It is a big 80s action film that is one of the best of its genre, but still in my eyes not as deep and satisfying as the original film in the series.