An Argument for Alien Resurrection

Now I’ve heard a lot of people give Alien Resurrection a hard time, but I think that it at least deserves your respect.

It’s generally a safe bet that when you get really high up in the sequel numbers that the quality starts to fall off. Rocky and Star Wars are both great examples of this. And while I don’t think Alien really hit it on the head until James Cameron took it on in number 2, Alien 3 was definitely nobody’s cup of tea… I mean, I liked it probably because it was directed by David Fincher, but it didn’t really have much to offer the franchise other than a Dog-lien and Ripley’s Jesus Christ Pose. But when you look at what happened with Resurrection, I think you can really see that some pieces were in place.

For one, the people involved are impressive: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, of Amelie and City of Lost Children fame, one of my favourite directors; Joss Whedon, the man at the root of Buffy and the heroic creator and torch carrier of Firefly; and the Beast himself, Ron Perlman menaces around in the background. Not only that, but they actually manage to keep Winona Ryder in a strictly support capacity.

Thanks to Whedon’s deft hand at handling both the overreaching plot and the minutiae of dialogue, Resurrection is able to lean on the mythology of the Alien, without using it as a crutch. Sure, it plays on aspects of the story: “What did you do to them before?” “I died.” But it’s able to stand on its own, maybe that’s part of Whedon’s television background.

Another interesting deal that people might not realise is that this movie is the first real opportunity to see what CG, and even more modern practical effects, can contribute to the look of the Alien. Back when they made Aliens, they only had like 2 or 3 Alien costumes and had to shoot them in so many angles to make it seem like there are more (not that there’s anything wrong with that, film craft counts for a lot) but since nobody really dug 3, this was Fox’s chance to bring on the Giger freaks.

Now, I’ll admit, there was some weird shit in this movie. Most notably: the human/Alien hybrid that winds up getting sucked through a window in space. But with the Aliens in the water, Aliens coming up with some clever problem solving, and Ripley dishing out more ass kicking than ever, Resurrection may not be the best of the bunch, but I think it at least merits your respect.