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Aliens (1986)
Reviewed on 2008 January 3
What’s scarier than a gooey, fanged, acid-bleeding alien that wants to use you as a human playpen for its reptilian offspring? How about a whole nest of the drooling things?
If you’ve not seen the original Alien, you need to skip the next two paragraphs and read the final bit and rating. You also need to go to Blockbuster or something, because you’ve missed out on a great flick. I’m even going to give you an extra space to make sure I don’t ruin anything for you, OK? Go get a drink or make a sandwich, I’ll get back to you in a minute.
[Spoilers ahead! Highlight the contents of the box below, if you dare!]
Now for the rest of us: Our heroine Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole Nostromo survivor (except for Jones the cat), is awakened after an unusually long hyper-sleep in her escape pod. She winds up in hospital, groggy and frustrated that none of the Wayland-Yutani cretins seem to believe her story of a single creature wiping out her crew in less time than it takes a celebrity marriage to tank. She gets one suit, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser), to listen to her, but it may be too little, too late. Wayland-Yutani colonized LV-426, the planet where the Nostromo crew first encountered the alien and hundreds of its eggs.
Fifty or so families are now on that rock, and Ripley is horrified. She decides to confront the monster again, and goes with a crew of hardened Marines to help wipe the creatures out once and for all. The Marines aren’t inclined to believe Ripley any more than the corporate drones, but at least they carry grenade launchers instead of clipboards, so they’re sure they’ll be able to handle anything. Or so they think.
OK, everybody now:
This thing even surpassed Alien, which wasn’t easy. James Cameron stuck with the original formula and just added more of everything. The acting is sterling, with Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein standing out as Hicks and Vasquez. Unfortunately the third and fourth films in the quadrilogy are weak entries, but this movie seems to fly by, even if you watch the 154-minute director’s cut. And the monster effects are absolutely incredible.
Four chocolate morsels.
— Shukti
