The Thing(S) That Went Bump In the Night

It's not the same as Alien. And that's a good thing. It's an action movie instead. A long, arduous, tough-ass adventure film. It's draining. Physically. Emotionally. And yet that's what's so endearing about it. I'm fairly certain the entire film rests on the success of Weaver's performance which is kind of what keeps the entire thing going throughout. Naturally dumb choices are made by dumb people. It's that kind of movie. But Ripley's motivation drives the story and those around her and us. If we can follow her through hell and back and then again a couple more times, then we can survive anything.

And I'm dead serious when I say Sigourney should've won Best Actress.

Yes there are some silly moments. Bill Paxton is...well...Bill Paxton. There are probably a couple of explosions too many. And Newt is rather grating after a while, though being a Kid In An Action Movie she could be a great deal worse. 

But..."Get away from her you bitch!" makes up for all of that. And then some. 

Being a James Cameron film naturally the look and design is flawless and distinctly different enough from Ridley's palette that we can call it relatively original. In fact the themes and ideas and styles are sufficiently different from the first Alien that we feel as though the whole thing were its own entity. Which is good. We want a sequel that is different. Not the same.

Everything goes up a notch this time around in terms of effects. There are, naturally, a lot more creatures. And a behemoth Queen that terrified me in my youth. The technology used is obviously much more militaristic and heavy

James Horner's score is trademark James Horner. Vaguely aggressive themes to match the action on screen and not much else. He had time limitations and it shows. He steals from his own marching Klingon styles and repeats several times. 

And the cast is quite decent. Very decent in some quarters. Paul Reiser is good at sniveling. Lance Henriksen brings that Ian Holm menacing quality initially, but he turns much more kind and focused by the end, making him easily one of the most intriguingly sympathetic of the androids in the series. Jennette Goldstein is definitely one of the most badass female army types in any movie of this ilk. And Michael Biehn is surprisingly sensitive and sweet and oh so sexy as Hicks. Sigh...

I'm back. So yeah. Aliens. It's just a good ol' fashioned time at the movies. A popcorn flick, if you will. Well made. Exciting. Exhausting. And nicely involving.

BUT. It does lack pretty much anything of genuine thematic substance. BUT. It doesn't endeavor to be more than anything other than what it is. This comes from a time when James Cameron knew his place as a solid action director and not much else. Before he got visions of sinking ships and tall blue Native American cats...

Aliens is good. Are good? Whatever. Just go watch and enjoy. For this film that's enough.