The Alien Is Great... It's The People That Ruin This Film.

Rating: 4/10 (20 June 2019)

I feel like every time I review a sequel (or second movie in a franchise, or part 2 or a trilogy) that I am making excuses for how hard it is to follow up a big hit movie, and how writers and directors have a tendency to get too ambitious with follow-up films. But, **** that. There is no excuse for these big budget sequels with 'writing teams' and cutting edge effects that fall so far short of expectations.
If you waited years for this, stood in line for an hour, smoked great weed and saw the first showing in the theater, then you left happy. However, in 2019, I can watch Alien (1979) and watch this film the next week. Not 7 years of waiting, 7 days. So, I have clear memories of how great Alien (1979) is, and the contrast is striking.
James Cameron had a vision. There needed to be a despicable bureaucrat (Paul Riser) and a complete moron (Bill Paxton) and Ripley really needed to have Empty Womb Syndrome, and there needed to be SOOOO MUCH TALKING!!! The constant dialog, often terrible, totally changes the tone from the first movie. Ridley Scott built tension through sounds, accompanied by great direction and non-verbal acting by Sigourney Weaver. I kept yelling, "JUST SHUT UP!" at the television during this film. The childcare aspect changes the pace of the film, as well.
The final showdown with Big Mamma Alien is a great fight sequence, but it should have started 40 minutes earlier. This film had bad pacing, too many ideas, was too long, and is a huge letdown from Alien (1979).
RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria:
Acting - 1/1;
Casting - 0.5/1;
Directing - 1/1;
Story - 0.5/1;
Writing/Screenplay - 0.5/1;
Total Base Score = 3.5
Modifiers (+ or -):
Standout Performances: -1 ( Bill Paxton is just so irritating that it actually distracts from the seriousness of the situation. Paul Riser is such a likable guy, and they miss-cast him here as such an ***hole. Fail.);
Standout Performances: +1 (The Alien Queen is terrifying.);
Technical Effects/Make Up: +1;
Editing-Too Long: -0.5;
Total RealReview Rating: 4