For once, a sequel worthy of the original!

Rating: 8/10 (6 November 2013)

Usually, I don't enjoy sci-fi, but this and 'Alien' (1979) are the exceptions.
I watched 'Aliens' in a state of apprehension. Seven years between the original and a sequel (especially a sequel starring one of the original cast members) can be a very long time. A long time for things to go wrong. And this was, perhaps, what was going through the minds of executives at Twentieth Century Fox when they green-lighted James Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's masterful horror film set in space.
If anything, if you're going in to 'Aliens' blind or having already watched 'Alien', you're in for an interesting sequence of events.
From the beginning, it's very clear that, as an audience member, you're getting a rare treat, not just in terms of horror or action -- literally in terms of any genre of cinema. You are getting a proper sequel!
But, a sequel that establishes its own rules.
Sigourney Weaver was feisty and held her own in 'Alien', but here she becomes a pure bad-ass! If you have the 'Alien Quadrilogy' set, you can see from the Director's Cut that her character, Ellen Ripley has a lot of issues going on. The perfect early example of a conflicted, brave and determined heroine. The theatrical release gets these things across well, too. As does the fact that Weaver was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance -- in a time when horror/action flicks were largely denied such honours. Forget Lara Croft - here's the real deal!
But it's in Ripley's interaction with Carrie Henn's character, Newt and Michael Biehn's Corporal Hicks that the film develops its pathos. A chance for redemption and a life beyond being terrorised by a load of slimy space monsters.
Not to give too much away, but 'Aliens' is, in an odd way, drawn from similar threads as 'Jurassic Park' (1993) and 'The Lost World' (1997). It's distinct from those films, obviously, but the gung-ho element of an overpowered military force confronting a swarm of devilishly sly and powerful creatures rings similar bells. For die-hard fans of the 'Alien' franchise (or even of films in general), they will know what I am saying when I mention that 'Aliens' also shares key links with Tim Burton's original 'Batman' (1989), from its design to its filming.
There's a really great and touching story here, though, which develops James Cameron as the worthy successor (perhaps even an equal) to Ridley Scott himself in terms of developing the original ideas of Scott and his crew. Incidentally, this is the only one of James Cameron's films that I have seen and enjoyed.
Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton in some of their best known and pervasive film roles are all superb and a perfect match for the extremely well cast original film. Goldstein, in particular, has the ballsy attitude of Grace Jones, whilst still remaining a likable character, and Paxton steals some of the film's best dialogue. Even Jones the cat returns!
For once, a sequel that is just as (if not more) enjoyable and hard- hitting as the original. If I had to raise a qualm with the film, it is that the 'Alien' series went into serious decline after this instalment. And, even though I've seen the other sequels, I prefer to accept things as they happened here as rote!!