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Alien Ressurection

by [Kaeirdwyn]




Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Rated R for strong sci-fi violence and gore, some grotesque images, and for language.
Starring:
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Winona Ryder as Annalee Call
Dominique Pinon as Vriess
Ron Perlman as Johner
Gary Dourdan as Christie
Michael Wincott as Frank Elgyn
Kim Flowers as Sabra Hillard
Dan Hedaya as General Martin Perez
J. E. Freeman as Dr. Wren
Brad Dourif as Dr. Gediman
Raymond Cruz as Vincent Distephano
Leland Orser as Larry Purvis
Carolyn Campbell as Carlyn Williamson(anesthesiologist)
Marlene Bush as Scientist
David St. James as Surgeon

     Alien Resurrection is a science fiction thriller. It is the fourth movie in the series and was written by Joss Whedon. The movie happens two centuries after the third movie. Ellen Ripley was cloned from DNA found on the prison planet, Fiori 16, so that the military could harvest the alien queen embryo that resided in Ripley's chest when she killed it and herself along with it. After they extracted the queen from Ripley, they decided to keep her alive for further study. They allow te queen to grow and collect her eggs, excited about seeing them in use. Because Ripley was cloned along with the Alien queen, they share DNA, and she now has enhanced abilities including improved strength and reflexes, acidic blood, strange black fingernails, and a link with what she considers her child, the Queen.
     The military are going to bring to life, through stolen cryo pods, aliens from human bodies. The Ship, "The Betty", crewed by mercenaries who brought these humans to the military. They soon encounter Ripley and their new member Call, knows who she is and what her presence may mean. She offers to kill Ripley to end her pain, but Ripley replies, "What makes you think I'd let you?". Call wants to stop the creation of any aliens, but then sees Ripley's scar and realizes she is too late. Too late indeed. Within what seems like minutes, Call is caught in Authorized Personnel Only areas and is brought to stand with the crew, as the military tries to arrest the crew of "The Betty". They soon realize this is a mistake when they crew opens fire on all of them and they end up dead.
     While this is happening, a scientist watches on a camera, and tries to warn the other military men in the area. With radio problems, he is distracted from the adult aliens he is watching and two of them turn on one and within moments have killed it, spilling its acidic blood all over the place. Never one to dispute their intelligence, they wait as the floor melts out from under the dead one and then they escape. Soon all eleven other aliens, not counting the dead one, have escaped and are on the loose. Ripley barely escapes herself, using her own acidic blood on the wiring of her room to freak out the door and have it open. 
     She soon catches up with the mercenaries, who discuss whether they should kill her or take her with them. Christie, the one who is in charge after the captain was killed by an alien decides she goes with them. Call has a problem with this telling them,"she's one of them. She's a part of them. We can't take her with us. We can't trust her." To this Christie replies, "I don't trust anyone. She goes with us." At this point, Johner who is interested in all things female, especially strong, capable females, decides to chat up Ripley. 
  Johner--Hey Ripley, I heard you, like, ran into these things before.
  Ripley--That's right.
  Johner--Wow, man. So, like, what did you do?
  Ripley--(she smiles and replies) I died.
     The crew, along with Ripley, a military man left over named Distephano, and Dr. Wren are all running for "The Betty" to escape the ship and the aliens. Whether they will make it before the aliens capture or kill anymore of them is not certain.
     This movie has a good intensity to it, and with any movie where there is a "you have to get there first" quality, it does well with keeping it interesting, with surprising changes in characters and plot twists. A lot of people do not like the alien that shows up near the end of the movie, but that is really up to the viewer. It is a different, yet disgusting alien. This movie has many more qualities than just slash, bite, and blow 'em up. The intricate relationships that are experienced bring this movie up a notch, as most who see it are familiar with most of the concepts of the Alien movies, so the writer chose to delve deeper into the characters. Near the end, the fear factor was no longer a part of the film, but whether this was from having watched four Alien films and knowing pretty much what to expect, is not clear. This move receives a three out of five stars.




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