Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | 109 minutes | action, horror, science fiction | Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott, Kim Flowers, Dan Hedaya, JE Freeman, Brad Dourif, Raymond Cruz, Leland Orser, Carolyn Campbell, Marlene Bush, David St. James

Ripley back? Cool, sure, but wasn’t she reduced to nothing at the end of ‘Alien 3’? Apparently ‘The Company’ had found a tiny piece of Sigourney Weaver’s most famous character. Enough to clone not only Ripley herself, but also what the scientists were all about: an Alien queen. After ‘Jurassic Parc’, the movie audience apparently has to believe everything when it comes to cloning.

In 1979 it was special for a woman to deal heroically with an evil creature. Still, actually, but the ‘Alien’ series is going for more and more girl power. Besides strong woman Sigourney Weaver, we also find girl with a bite Winona Ryder. As the film progresses, Annalee Call (the character who plays Ryder) becomes more and more daring. That’s pretty much how Ripley went in the first part. She has become a completely different person in ‘Alien:Resurrection’. This is mainly due to the Alien DNA that runs through her veins. Moral of the film: only women with something special are strong enough to take on Aliens, men won’t make it anyway.

Each Alien movie takes place in a different place with an ever-changing cast (except Weaver). This time there are many different characters who all get their own introduction, almost as was usual in a seventies disaster film. No overturned boat or burning skyscraper, but hungry Aliens threaten this group of people who we got to know very quickly, but also very quickly forgotten.

As with ‘Star Trek’ there is a rhythm that the part with an even number is good, so gradually a rhythm is also introduced in the Alien series. In part 1 and 3 there was only one Alien, parts 2 and 4 are full of those bitches. It just depends on what you like more that determines which parts you like the most: suspense horror or action thrillers.