David Shapshak : Movie of the week
Only a Frenchman like Jean-Pierre Jeunet could resurrect the sagging fortunes of the Alien saga. After the dismal showing of Aliens 3, where the special-effects spectacles were the only thing worth noting, Jeunet has come up with a film filled with his particular dark, abject vision, giving it a French-cinema quality and rivalling some of its predecessors with sheer style.
Jeunet (whose Delicatessen and City of the Lost Children are cinematic masterpieces) has resurrected one of Hollywood’s most popular sequels, and its dead protagonist, Ripley. Sigourney Weaver, who plays Ripley, is executive producer on Alien Resurrection. She is still potent and attractive – especially for a 300-year-old woman who has saved humanity three times, has been lost in space as a frozen popsicle twice, was betrayed by corporate money-grabbing bureaucrats, stranded on deep-space penal colonies with neo-religious nuts and expired once. (At least we know how it will turn out. Even if she doesn’t survive, it doesn’t preclude another sequel.)
The Ripley character, first seen in 1979, has been brought back to life by Earth’s military. They want to recreate the alien impregnated in her, which she killed off in the last flick by killing herself. Aboard a vast military spaceship, doctors incubate a Ripley clone, then remove the queen alien in her chest and breed a host of baby aliens. These escape, of course, and it’s Ripley to the rescue again, joined this time by a crew of space pirates including Winona Ryder.
Jeunet, another Frenchman to make good with big-budget sci-fi after Luc Besson’s sublime The Fifth Element, handles himself and his stars adeptly. Alien Resurrection is compelling, visually appealing and entertaining, without the Hollywood feeling of self-importance or too many of the stock- in-trade cheap gimmicks.
Although the imagery and the overall feel are silken, the script is weak, predictable and formulaic. The plot is also over- familiar and the film lacks tension and surprise.
Then again, this is Aliens IV, so what surprising new thing could we expect? It may be another sequel but it’s not another Alien.
Jeunet does pretty well with what he has, bringing it to life with his special brand of sinister vision. His imagery has the dark, post-industrial quality that makes Alien such a realistic look into the future. He manages to weave in some intrigue, gory images and a sense of futuristic decadence that epitomises cutting-edge space fantasy. The resurrection here is of the film’s good name, its terrifying concept and, ultimately, its style.
To sci-fi, and particularly Alien, fans it is a masterful reinterpretation of one of the great science fiction mythologies of this generation.
It was said the film was offered to the Shallow Grave/Trainspotting director/producer duo of Danny Boyle and John Hodge. I wonder what we’d have had if they’d given it to the Scots.