Cameran's run with the Aliens

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2002)

In terms of technique, this film is on par with the original; however, I liked the atmosphere of the original over this sequel. Subtle, low key exploration films on terror tend to gather my interest more than all out war, but that's not to say I credit Aliens as being any less a sci-fi film than its predecessor. If i preferred war films, than Aliens would be my favorite out of the series.
Instead of trying to recapture the experience of Alien all over again, James Cameran decides to go for the general dark feel of the original while taking it in a different direction. Namely by making it an entirely different kind of film from the first. Aliens is by no means a rehash, nor does it break with the elements that made Ridley Scott's vision such a wonderful experience. Likewise, James Horner action-war interpretation of Goldsmith's original haunting score accurately captures the new direction of the Aliens experience.
The typical horror sequel suffers from a fatal flaw--it's an absolute remake of the first. Some kind of killer pops up, starts killing and no one knows what's going on--that's fine for the first film, but when the first four+ films are that exact formula? No. It was fine for Alien, but in Aliens it would not work again. So Cameran lets the characters know the beast they must slay. The fatal mistake of the characters in Aliens is underestimating the numbers they're up against. It's an all out war, but with the Aliens its a war of attrition--that's what makes it every bit as engaging as the original.
Also like the first film, the characters as a whole (minus a few individual exceptions) are pretty intelligent in their approach to dealing with the aliens; I found the Aliens characters to be more colorful, a bit more exagerrated, but more memorable than their predecessors.

Being made 7 years later, the special effects are also have a noticable improvement over its predecessor. But still, I think Alien and Aliens are neck and neck with each other; it's more a factor of "what kind of movie do you prefer?" that will determine which one you like more. Aliens is a very good sci-fi horror film in its own right, and it's a fantastic sequel, and arguably the best horror-sequel ever made.