Alien: Resurrection (1997) Dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
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Straight off the bat, I knew this fourth film in the Alien franchise was going to be a shaky affair. The very premise seemed to be based on the retconning of the previous film's ending.
Now, don't misunderstand, I love this franchise, but this film's premise was simply weak. That said, the actual narrative wasn't that bad. It is by far the worst of the films I've seen so far, but it still has some positives.
The action sequences are still well done and there are some cool visuals, although at points the camera quality and CGI is undeniably suspect. A number of the death scenes are also excellently gory, as they should be in an alien horror.
Sigourney Weaver stars once more, as she has in each of these first four films, and delivers what is definitely her weakest performance, but in my view that is more due to the writing than her abilities as an actress.
The only other returning cast member is Tom Woodruff Jr, who plays the Xenomorph, once again in coalition with puppet and CGI versions.
The best of the new additions is easily Winona Ryder, who seems able to get a good performance in just about any role, including here. She helps her character to be the most likeable of anyone in the whole film.
Ron Perlman also features here, I was not expecting to like him in this, but he proved me wrong - he ended up giving a reasonably good performance all things considered.
To finish, I'll mention some other cast members who deserved a mention, despite much less screentime; Kim Flowers, Brad Dourif - who many will know as the voice of Chucky, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott - who I have talked about in The Crow, and Raymond Cruz - who fans of Breaking Bad will no doubt recognise.
Overall, it must be said that the first act of this film is genuinely very poor, but when the action picks up, so does the film's quality.
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet may have created a mediocre mess of a science fiction film, but it still has plenty of positives to enjoy for most science fiction and horror fans.
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