"Alien Resurrection" (1997)

The long-running Alien series is one of the most respected franchises in sci-fi cinema, especially the first two films - "Alien" and "Aliens". In 1997 talented French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was handed the task of filming the fourth entry in the series. Unfortunately the results were less than successful and may well have killed off any chance of a fifth or subsequent film.

Even from the basic premise there are signs that the film-makers were struggling for ways to continue the franchise. The titular resurrection is the of main character Ellen Ripley who is revived 200 years after her death and finds herself again having to confront the nasty xenomorphs. Military scientists have been trying to re-establish the alien population for suitably nasty military goals – with typical movie-military stupidity they try and create an army of evil virtually-invincible killing machines on the same station they inhabit. As you can probably guess, the Alien Queen they have been breeding escapes - sending a wave of aliens through the station threatening the soldiers, Ripley and the motley group of space pirates that are providing the military with some of their materials.

Director Jeunet is a strange choice for the franchise as despite his undoubted technical genius he is best known for surreal fantasies such as “The City Of Lost Children”, “Amelie” or “Delicatessen” and is not an obvious choice for a sci-fi action film. Strange production decisions including the alien/human hybrid who regard Ripley as it’s Mother with an effect more pathetic than terrifying.

The visuals in this film are undoubtably impressive and the aliens themselves have never looked scarier but the basic silliness of the plot and the stupidity of the characters deals this film a mortal blow - and the bizarre hybrid can probably be credited with having killed off the franchise.

The actors, including Winona Ryder and Jeunet-favourite Dominique Pinon and the perfectly-cast Ron Perlman make a brave effort but even several good performances can't save this film. There are a few good moments - such as Ripley's encounter of the cloning chambers - but the Joss Whedon-penned script is fatally flawed and although Jeunet's direction is skilled it's inappropriate for the film.

In summary, there's plenty of talent here but this film is a pale shadow of the brilliance of "Aliens".

Rating : 5 / 10

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All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .