Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon
Synopsis:
Two hundred years after Ripley's death, a clone is made to host the embryo of a queen as part of an attempt to weaponize the xenomorphs, but the military sorely underestimates what it's dealing with.
Impressions:
I haven't revisited this movie since I saw it in theaters on its release. I probably wouldn't have revisited it at all if it weren't for review purposes. If you've been following these reviews in order, then you know that I absolutely adore the first two films and on second look, have come to accept the third one. I strongly rejected this film when I first saw it and expected that sentiment to hold, but seeing it again, I can more charitably call it a mixed bag. Now, this movie has been disowned by both director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who never went back to Hollywood after this) and writer Joss Whedon (who in typical form accepts no blame for one of his projects goes sour), so that should give you some perspective going in. I will say there are some elements I liked. The overall plot and premise were good. A little more work on both the script and the execution would've resulted in a much better film. I'll save the snark and nitpicking to other reviewers, though.
As far as performances go, I liked Sigourney Weaver as Ripley 8 and was particularly fond of Ron Perlman's performance as Johner and Brad Douriff as Dr. Gediman. Most of the characters of significance were fairly interesting, even if they weren't always all that well utilized.
As for special effects, the practical stuff is rather good, but the CG is another story, made worse by long closeup shots of said CG. Overall visual stylings are pretty good, but you might see it as more style over substance.
Whedon fans might want to check this out as a prototype of Firefly and fans of the Alien franchise may be intrigued by some of the things it does with the lore, but as I said before, this film is a mixed bag. If you'd rather pretend things ended with the second or third films, pass this one by.
Rating:
50/50