The "Alien" franchise is one that is honestly one of the more quality-ensured in cinematic history. Aside from the "AVP" films, practically all of the films, from the original to the prequels, have a lot of strengths to them. While not all of them are masterpieces, they, at the very least, offer some very good efforts. However, there is one film in the series that has and never will come near to that quality, the fourth and last title in the main series. Set 200 years after "Alien 3", the United Systems Military have finally resurrected Ellen Ripley and the xenomorph Queen embryo inside her following the former's self-sacrifice. As the military begins to study the aliens via fresh bodies donated by mercenaries, the aliens quickly begin to grow in intelligence and escape their cells. As Ripley and the mercenaries attempt to survive and prevent the ship from landing on Earth, she starts to exhibit a type of connection to the aliens due to their DNA's merging, allowing the aliens to become smarter and Ripley to exhibit enhanced physical abilities, and the creation of a new, grotesque alien hybrid known as the Newborn. The biggest problem of the story is the lack of real stakes and tension. As the military finally gets their hands on the xenomorph, they quickly learn that this was a bad idea. The "tension" is that the ship is making its way to Earth, potentially spreading the species to the planet. Their big plan to stop it? Crash the ship into Earth anyways and cause a nuclear explosion. On top of that, if you watch the Special Edition, we learn that Earth is in fact a wasteland, so what was the point of attempting to save it to begin with? All of these issues can be ignored if the tone kept itself seriously, which it clearly doesn't. Joss Whedon wrote a very over-the-top, cartoonish script that contains some of the most ridiculous moments in the franchise. I understand that this is in response to the very bleak "Alien 3", but man, it goes overboard. From the double kill combo from the chestburster, the death of General Perez, and the demise of the Newborn are just so insane that it almost comes across as a parody at times.
Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, but she's clearly phoning it in for this film as she doesn't bring that sense of investment or charisma for the majority of the runtime. Ripley's personality is also all over the place due to her clone, alien-crossed status and acts very horny now as she talks about the aliens in general. While there is an occasional good scene by Weaver that makes the character feel some sense of drama, she's clearly not bringing in the same energy as before. Winona Ryder as Call is added as a pretty unnecessary addition as the android that Ripley connects with for her touch with humanity despite being a machine. I understand what they were going for, but it just felt that they wanted to add a popular, uprising actress in the film and it generally feels like that as a result. The side characters range from very enjoyable to really bland and forgettable. Ron Pearlman's Johner, the arrogant, selfish member of the mercenaries is perhaps the most beloved in the film, Dominique Pinon as Vriess, the handicapped mechanic who bickers with Johner constantly for his attitude and bullying is very fun, Gary Dourdan's Christie, the first mate of the crew and has the signature sleeve pistols has a likeable prescence, and Brad Dourif's Dr. Gediman, the scientist who obsesses over the alien creatures is just as enjoyably hammy as ever. Aside from them though, the rest are just not that engaging. Micheal Wincott's Elgyn, the captain of the mercenaries who dies fairly early is painfully boring, Kim Flower's Hillard, the lover of Elgyn who does practically nothing at all, Dan Hedaya's General Perez who feels like he was auditioning for "Machete" rather than an "Alien" movie, J.E. Freeman's Dr. Wren is the typical evil scientist who backstabs the group for no real reason other than he's bad, Raymond Cruz's Distephano as a soldier who joins the group and has the generic monotone soldier personality to boot, and Leland Orser's Lerry, a human host to a chestburster who only exists to be involved in the most over-the-top death of the franchise. It's a very mixed bag of enjoyable performances and engaging characters, but it's quite a shame that Johner, Vriess, Christie, and Dr. Gediman are more entertaining than Ripley in this movie.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's only contribution to an American production is one that remains a very interesting mark on his resume to say the least. Mainly hired for his style and being able to follow studio orders and avoiding conflict, you can tell that Jeunet gave the executives the film that they wanted, which to their credit, isn't a bad one by its cover. The production design and stylization is the most notable aspect of the film, for better or for worse. It tends to feel more like a music video or a surrealist production at times with the erotic themes and crazy cinematography by Darius Khondji. There's so much variety of angles that it does range in quality. Some shots and sequences can look really good, while others feel a bit awkward at times. At the very least, there's a sense of life and energy to the filmmaking that captures your attention and embraces the zaniness of the tone and film, but that acts as a double-edged sword as a result. The score by John Frizzel is for sure the weakest in the franchise. No disrespect for Frizzel and his work, but it just lacks any memorable beats or rhythms that the other films carry. It works fine as it is, but I can't remember anything from the soundtrack outside of the awesome trailer music. The action scenes are well-made and do have some neat scenarios such as the underwater sequence, but they not only feel flashy in its editing, but the action beats don't compare to the intensity and epic feel to "Aliens". The visual effects are somewhat of a mixed-bag. The shots of space and the spaceships flying around feels pretty dated as the miniature work isn't that convincing, but the aliens, for the most part, look really good. At times, the CGI is obvious as they look way too shiny in scenes, but they look the best when they are people in suits or animatronics. The Newborn creature is also brought to life really well and while the design is grotesque, it works for the hybrid nature and attempt of tragedy of the being. The make-up and gore though is where the film really needed to tone the heck down. I love gory movies at times, but the film at times goes far and beyond to disgust you. While there are some well-done deaths, the last three regarding Dr. Gediman, Distephano, and the Newborn are just nasty. The death of the Newborn is especially the most unpleasant scene in the film as it not only tries to make you feel bad for the monster as it screams in pain, but the way it dies by being sucked out of the ship through a tiny hole while its insides is blown out is just so unpleasant. It now joins the ranks of scenes that make me want to vomit with the third act of "Akira" being the only sequence that trumps it. Jeunet's filmmaking talent is perhaps the only thing that keeps the film more than a terrible movie, if I'm being completely honest.
"Alien Resurrection" is clearly the worst film in the franchise by a mile. From a lackluster story that has no stakes whatsoever, over-the-top tone that feels out of nature in the series, Weaver's performance being less invested in Ripley's erotic-behaving character, Call feels forced in due to Ryder's star power, some of the side characters are just completely forgettable and unnecessary as a whole, Frizzel's soundtrack is underwhelming compared to the rest of the franchise, some questionable miniature work, and a few death scenes that go way too far to gross you out, it's not hard to see why the fourth film in the franchise has very little fans pleading for its defense. However, it's not all that bad as there are a few redeeming qualities to the film that makes it far better than the "AVP" films. Some of the side characters are very enjoyable to watch and root for, even more so than Ripley at times, the unique cinematography by Khandji, the action sequences are enjoyable and feel the most in spirit to the franchise, the effects and make-up of the alien creatures are very well-detailed and expressed, and Jeunet's music-video-like stylization does make the film have a eye candy value to it and offers a distinct look in the franchise, regardless about how you feel about the film as a whole. At the end of the day, it's good that the series still remains strong with Scott's prequel films as if this was the last film of the franchise as a whole, it would be a far more painful experience to sit through.
Verdict: 4/10. A bad movie overall and the only real stinker in an otherwise solid franchise. One viewing is all you really need for this film and that's generous compared to other bad movies.
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