The good kind of escapism

Rating: 8/10 (16 February 2008)

I've been a fan of this movie for over 20 years now. It's hard to believe the years have passed so quickly since it made the cover of Time magazine! 'Aliens' owes everything to 1) a wonder of a script that gives even those in small roles, who may only have a handful of lines, a pretty defined character. Structurally it's very intelligent, and every single new character in the large cast is memorable. 2) Syd Meads impressive gadgets 3) Sigourney Weaver! who knows enough to be fierce AND scared, and is given sequences where she can actually save some of this crew. Which is not to say that other elements aren't also impressive (score, camera work, fx, editing and... it goes without saying, direction). You never doubt this world exists for a moment. It's so convincing and alive. All that, while being true to the first movie, while freeing itself up in amazing ways. Every choice is smart and produces a better movie than the usual cop-outs one finds in a sequel. All this and the only role Bill Paxton has ever been good in.
In 1986 this movie delivered shock after shock in scenes that have since become boilerplate. It's a catalog of continually hopeless scenarios dropping while Ripley soldiers on: Your sole means of getting off a planet has just crashed in front of you? Keep a tough disposition, be a hard-ass and work it through. She wipes the floor with the Marine troop she's supposed to be depending on. The movie has more than rewarded your interest before the very cool climactic brawl plays out. I see about three movies a decade that don't blow their final act.
Weaver is so awesome as Ripley that it's hard to believe that once she owned the franchise, she made such dependably rotten decisions. Cameron drunk on kudos went on to write the simpering, facile script for Titanic, which means his writing and evaluative skills are not as honed as Aliens would suggest. If you haven't seen this yet, what are you waiting for?
(I always found it amusing that planets and spaceships helpfully count down their own destruction)