Aliens

How do you follow up on what is one of the best sci-fi horror films of all time? It seems like that would be a lofty goal, and yet, with this film, that goal was very much reached. Aliens is definitely a bigger and better followup to a film that didn't appear to need it.

The story follows the last surviving member of the Nostromo's crew, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, who wakes up from cryostasis over fifty years  after the Nostromo massacre. She is then almost immediately roped into a rescue mission at the planet where the original alien was discovered, now a human colony with over sixty families living there. To say that it's in a bad state when Ripley and the military arrive is an understatement, although a young girl named Newt, played by Carrie Henn, is found as the sole survivor. Unfortunately, the rest of the colony is crawling with aliens, and if you thought one was just bad, wait until you see several.

This film definitely leans more into action than the previous film, which was primarily horror, but despite this, it still manages to be intense, with a couple of genuinely terrifying moments. I'd say that something I enjoyed is that it doesn't go right into the action, with the titular aliens not appearing until about an hour into the movie. That first hour is spent getting Ripley up to speed and showing the carnage that the aliens have wrought on the colony.

The acting is also brilliant, with Ripley wanting to leave the terrors of the Nostromo massacre behind her, and having nightmares about the alien. The soldiers are relatable despite being hard edged, and even Newt turns in a great performance. Plus Ripley acting as Newt's mother figure just makes their relationship endearing to watch, even with murderous aliens at every turn. Another performance I enjoyed was Lance Henrikson as the android Bishop, who completely subverts the trope of the previous film's android, Ash, played by Ian Holm. Where Ash was more interested in studying the alien for science, no matter if the rest of the crew died, Bishop showed that he really cared for his fellow crew members, and he makes a fantastic sacrifice at the film's end.

Overall, this film was bigger, bolder, and more intense than the first film without losing what made the first film great to begin with. Even the new additions were welcome, especially everything that happens in the final act, which is just iconic. It's not as scary as the original film, but this film is just as, if not even more, enjoyable than the first.

Next time, we join a group of soldiers who are being slowly picked off and killed by...something. What could be doing this and why? Find out next time when I review Predator.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mario Marathon Part 6: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

I have to say, Mario way back in the early days of gaming used to be so creative, and this game is no exception. I mean, just like its predecessor, it's very weird, but that's what makes it so charming and fun to play. As with the first Mario Land title, this game was released on the Game Boy, but for being a game on such a simple console, they did quite a lot with the visuals and world designs. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that this game makes the first Super Mario Land look like a tech demo by comparison. The story is the usual flavor of weird that the first game had as well. Mario's castle that he just...has for some reason, has been taken over by the evil Wario and the door to the castle can only be unlocked by going to six zones and finding the golden coins that reside in each. Yeah, this game has a weird story. The six zones are really where the game shines, in my opinion. There is the tree zone, which is a grassland type area that takes place in a giant ...
Read more

Mario Marathon Part 4: Super Mario Land

Well, this was certainly a game, or at least, a good demonstration of one. This is one of the more bizarre Mario games out there, so let's talk about why that is. Super Mario Land was the first portable mainline Mario game, released for Nintendo's black and white Game Boy. So how did Mario on the go end up doing? Well, quite weirdly as mentioned earlier. While it is a 2D platformer like the other games reviewed so far, this game definitely tried to stand out in ways no other Mario game really has done before. The story follows Mario as he tries to save the kingdom of Sarasaland and its princess, Daisy, from the evil alien Tatanga. Already a departure from the norm for sure, but even the enemies are weird. For example, Koopas now turn into bombs when you jump on them instead of just hiding in their shells so you can kick them later on. The game plays like the first Mario game, but in black and white, with more bizarre enemies like the aforementioned Bombshell Koopas, and actual ...
Read more

Mario Marathon Part 1: Super Mario Bros

I like Mario, that much is clear from the random beginning of this specific marathon, but regardless, there has been so much Mario content that has come out over the last few years that a review of all the Mario games I consider important sounds like a no-brainer. Well, after a couple weeks of thinking about this, that's exactly what I am doing, and what better place than the game that started it all? That, of course, is Super Mario Bros. Now, this game is hardly the most complex thing out there. It's a sidescrolling platformer where you play as a plumber named Mario who has to save the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom from the villainous turtle dragon thing known as Bowser. But even this simple plot was revolutionary for gaming. You see, prior to this game, video games didn't have any sort of story to them and really were just things made to rack up high scores. This was the first game to really give a more fleshed out story than "Get as much points and then, I don...
Read more