Alien Resurrection (1997)
Synopsis
Our Alien Resurrection review revisits the film’s place within the Alien franchise, with William’s perspective drawn from the franchise retrospective featuring guest John.
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William's Alien Resurrection Review
Alien Resurrection is a sequel that keeps finding ways to make me question why the franchise needed to go in this direction. I can appreciate that the filmmakers didn't want to make another straightforward xenomorph hunt, but the cloning premise and the unusual tone create a movie that barely feels connected to the strengths of the original films.
The decision to bring Ripley back as a clone creates problems before the story really starts. The film asks the audience to accept an elaborate explanation for recovering her genetic material and recreating a character whose earlier story had reached a definitive conclusion. Science fiction can certainly explore cloning, but the movie's approach felt more like a way around the previous ending than an idea that needed to be explored.
The result is a strange version of Ripley. Sigourney Weaver commits to the character, and there are physical details that suggest the alien influence is changing her behavior. But I didn't connect with this interpretation the way I did with the survivor from the first two films. The sexualized and almost slithering mannerisms add another layer of oddness without making the character more compelling.
The supporting characters are an even bigger problem. Their dialogue and behavior often feel disconnected from the danger, and I didn't find the group especially believable or interesting. Jean-Pierre Jeunet has made visually distinctive films, but his style doesn't feel like the right fit for this material. The exaggerated tone works against the sense of realistic terror that made Alien so effective.
There are some imaginative creature effects, and parts of the production design are undeniably unusual. Those elements aren't enough to make the story work. The film seems more interested in putting strange images on screen than in building suspense around characters I care about.
I don't mind franchises taking risks or changing direction. Aliens did that brilliantly. Resurrection takes risks without finding a coherent identity, and the result is a messy, sometimes grotesque sequel that never gave me a reason to become invested. For me, it's one of the weakest entries in the series.