The Hunter or the Hunted? Pt 4 (Alien Resurrection, 1997)

In spite of a lukewarm reception to the third film, the studio wanted to take another try at the Alien Franchise. Although they managed to pump this one out in just three years, it is a bigger mess than the last one.

This film is set around two hundred years after the last one. It establishes a new wrinkle in the xenomorph mythology. Not only do they borrow from their host, they seem to share DNA. Scientists clone Ripley and the clone has an alien queen in her chest.

A ship of space pirates arrives at the military base that has cloned Ripley with top secret cargo. The scientists are trying to control the aliens as possible weapons. You know how that will work out. The aliens break free and take over the installation, leaving Ripley (along with the Space Pirates) to try and escape.

The film tries to explore the ethics and horrors of genetic experimentation. There is a nicely played moment where they discover a lab full of less successful Ripley clones. One is still alive, causing Ripley true horror. The film has Ripley’s humanity in question (her blood has acidic qualities like the xenomorph) which is punctuated by a late reveal of a synthetic person. The film also tries to add a new breed of alien, but it looks absolutely hideous. Giving the alien beady eyes, white skin and a pot belly is not frightening, just an awful design.

The practical effects are, as they have been throughout the franchise, strong and effective. However, the digital aliens do not stand up well twenty years later.

In spite of a strong cast (not to mention script doctor work by Joss Whedon) the story feels rather pedestrian. Nothing quite gels into a cohesive narrative, and seems like it was built on a series of “wouldn’t it be cool if…” meetings.

May 31, 2017 0

The Hunter or the Hunted, Pt 3 (Alien 3, 1992)

The success of Aliens had the studio rushing to try and get an Alien 3 going. There were a lot of false starts and bad ideas that led to what we got. Good scripts got tossed aside for weird ideas. There were questions on whether Weaver wanted to return. While she did finally return, she pushed for this to be the end of Ripley’s journey.

Music video director David Fincher was given the job of bringing the film to life. It should be noted, Fincher was deeply unhappy with his experience and even producers admit they treated him very badly. Which is unfortunate. Because the end result was a muddled and overall messy film with some good ideas and some terrible choices.

After the events of Aliens, Ripley, Newt, Hick and Bishop are in hypersleep on a small escape pod. There is a malfunction that results in the ship crashing on a small prison planet. Only Ripley survives. The prison operates on a skeleton crew, primarily made up of the inmates. Most have adopted a form of Christianity that sees themselves as so unable to resist the draw of sin, living on a planet without temptations is their only choice. As religious leader Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) notes, Ripley’s arrival has put temptations back in place.

An alien facehugger has escaped with Ripley and finds a host. This film added a new twist to the series. It suggested that the alien xenomorph actually borrows traits from it’s host. In this case it is a dog. This results in a xenomorph that runs around on all fours and is more canine in it’s movement.

Once the xenomorph is discovered, Ripley and the inmates struggle to defeat it. Alien 3 is an attempt at not repeating the previous films. So they drop Ripley on a planet with no weapons. Unfortunately, a lot of the decisions with the script resulted in nullifying the progress of Ripley in Aliens. Killing her defacto family put her back at square one. The studio interference left us with a film disowned by it’s director and far more to weaken it. The strengths are few and far between. The religious aspect is kind of interesting and the cast is terrific. Yet these things cannot save a slapped together script and poor CGI.

May 30, 2017 0

The Hunter or the Hunted? Pt 2 (Aliens, 1986)

About seven years after Alien, hotshot director James Cameron brought the franchise roaring back to life. Rather than make a generic sequel, Cameron made a bold choice. The first film was a haunted house movie, Cameron opted to make a war movie.

Ripley is awakened 50 years after the first film to find everything she knew is gone. On top of that she is plagued by nightmares of the alien creature. Ripley joins a mission at the request of the corporation to check on a colony that is on the same planet they found the eggs with the alien xenomorph. It is promised to Ripley this is a search and destroy mission.

She is joined by a platoon of Space Marines. They don’t believe her claims of an alien monster, but of course, they soon find out she is neither crazy nor a liar. And then things get bad. And then? They get worse.

Aliens is one of those rare sequels that manages to rival it’s predecessor. Ripley is angry and aimless at the film’s beginning. When she discovers a young girl named Newt hiding in the remains of the colony she starts to see beyond merely destroying the aliens. In the extended cut of the film, it is revealed that Ripley had a daughter on earth who grew up and died in the time Ripley floated through space. This gives an added dimension to Ripley and her dedication to Newt throughout the film.

The marines are a hearty and confident lot. Their banter feels natural as they trade insults and yet fight to protect each other when it all comes crashing down. They are a compelling group. And then there is Bishop. A synthetic or android, Ripley does not trust him, due to the fact that the android on her ship tried to murder her. Bishop represents the other side of that coin. He is kind and polite. He is also willing to risk himself. At one point, after volunteering for a risky mission he states, “Believe me, I’d prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I’m not stupid.” How much of this is programming that compels him, versus a certain human quality is unclear. He notes his programming prevents him from causing harm to a person, but does that programming extend to risking himself to save a person from outside threat?

This is a near perfect action film, with thrills and twists and turns. It manages to expand upon the mythology of the first film’s animal without being a tired retread of information. The performances are compelling and the visual effects have withstood the test of time. On top of that, in spite of being a sequel, you could go into Aliens never having seen Ridley Scott’s film and follow the story with few, if any, questions.

May 29, 2017 0

The Hunter or The Hunted? Pt 1 (Alien, 1979)

Alien begins rather quietly. We see the interiors of a ship that is floating through space. It comes to life and we meet a crew…space truckers, so to speak. We do not know much about what they are hauling, though it does not matter much. We get that these are working class joes. This is not Star Trek. The ship has awakened the crew due to a distress message.

Going down to the planet, one of the crew members is attacked by a strange creature that attaches to his face. And so begins a terrifying trip for the crew as they try to eliminate the alien creature that evolves to become a greater and greater threat.

Alien is a expertly crafted “haunted house in space” tale. The ship is vast, yet it has a confined and claustrophobic feel. The design of the sets is that of a blue collar environment. It feels used, run down. It is an industrial, a utilitarian styled ship. It was assembled for it’s purpose, not it’s beauty.

The alien ship is unique and feels remarkably unearthly. The pilot, long petrified is inhuman and ominous.

Then there are the designs of the creature itself. The work of famed artist H.R. Geiger, the alien (later dubbed the xenomorph in the series) feels uniquely creepy and unearthly. A hard shell, with acid for blood, it seems to exist only to destroy.

The cast is terrific as weary workers just trying to get by, but being forced to deal with something beyond their pay grade. Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley steps up to the plate to lead the fight after the crew takes some losses. At this point the game becomes more one of cat and mouse.

Alien is a film full of surprises and character and manages to stand up to repeated viewings. It has become a classic for good reason.

May 28, 2017 0

Bustin’ Up

So, the Ghostbusters Trailer has hit. And there were responses. I initially saw plenty of “I’m in” responses. Suddenly I started to see a lot of “blah” reactions. Some were super aggressively angry that the trailer was a disappointment.

And, I agree to an extent that there was some stuff that is frustrating (Mentioning the original film as it does makes it seem like a sequel, and it is not). But I loved the interaction between Wiig, McCarthy, Jones and McKinnon. Plus Jones slapping McCarthy yelling “the Power of Pain compels you!” cracks me up.

But then there was a complaint that started a war of words. See, Leslie Jones’ character Patty is a transit employee. People questioned why she could not be a scientist. And this question was lambasted for it’s being PC.

I am weary of this. I am weary of how legit questions of story and character choices in regards to diversity are so quickly attempted to be shut down with cries of PC Culture. Diversity in film is, of course, not important to these mostly white critics. White people in America have no idea what it is like to watch movies after movie where there is only one or two folks who look like us. It is easy when your face is all over the screens. And my entire life, I have heard white people lament even one non-white character appearing in a story as being unrealistic, or they are token characters or they are forcing diversity.

The question of why Patty could not have been one of the scientists (and having, say, McCarthy be the “every man”) is a valid one. It is not like film and television have had a bunch of black nerds. Now, they already finished the film. Feig did not consult me. And Leslie looks like she had fun with the role. She is certainly protective of it. I am holding back final judgement until I see the film.

Personally, I still wish it was within the original film’s storyline. I think it would have made things fun if they returned in a sequel. Let these ladies be aware of the originals, but nobody really knows where they went. So, this film would focus on the new team, but in the background there is that mystery of where they went. Then in a sequel, they could bring the still living cast in to team up with the new team.

March 7, 2016 0