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Rating: 5 out of 5
When Ridley Scott made Alien, it was a game-changer in the horror/science fiction genre. It introduced Ripley, played by the great Sigourney Weaver. It brought the scary and iconic chestbuster scene and introduced the world to the xenomorph. It seemed like common knowledge that a sequel would be developed. Little did anyone know that it would take seven years to make because of lawsuits, a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, and repeated changes in management. The studio hired James Cameron to write and direct the film. Cameron delivered one of the greatest sequels ever made. Cameron kicked out the horror element and went balls to the wall with an action-adventure. Bravo, Mr. Cameron, for this masterpiece.
Set 57 freakin years after the first film. Lieutenant First Class Ellen Ripley (Weaver) had been living in a state of suspended animation. She is the sole survivor of the Nostromo massacre and wakes up in a salvage ship on its way back to Earth. She is debriefed and interrogated by her employers at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, who don’t believe any of her story and really don’t believe her claim of alien eggs in a derelict ship on the exomoon, which has become a terraforming colony. The company has lost contact with the colony. Disgraced, the company asks a reluctant Ripley to escort the junior executive, Carter Burke (Reiser), along with a tough-as-nails squad of U.S. Colonial Marines to Hadley’s Hope in exchange for her pilot’s license. Things seem normal on the dark surface of the remote satellite, but shit really hits the fan when it is discovered that Xenomorphs are living inside the facility and have taken over. All hell breaks loose as the well-trained Marines are up against their most formidable opponent of acid-spewing creatures. Once more, Ripley must fight for survival but also protect a child? Can she do it all over again, or will the alien creatures kill everyone?
James Cameron did the damn thing when he wrote and directed this film. Even though Cameron was relatively inexperienced, he was hired to write the story for Aliens in 1983. One reason for his hire was his scripts and strength of The Terminator (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). Cameron presented a completely different story focused on straight action, and it was a joy to watch. Cameron masterfully let the suspense unfold as the characters went down into the depths of the colony. First, Cameron played on the trauma from the first film with Ripley. She doesn’t want to return to the ship or colony after spending so much time in suspended animation. The one thing she doesn’t want to do is be on a ship with a droid. Since the last droid tried to kill her, she has no reason to be on a ship with one. I will admit that the Bishop knife scene with the hand was masterful and iconic.
The story keeps up the suspense as the dropship delivers the team to the surface, where they find the battle-ravaged colony and two live alien facehuggers in containment tanks. This is where the little girl Newt is introduced. The team locates the colonists beneath the fusion-powered atmosphere processing station and heads to their location. As the team looks around, they find open eggs and dead facehuggers alongside the cocooned colonists. When the Marines kill a baby alien, this is where shit hits the fan, and Cameron beautifully unleashes the film. We get two perspectives: the Marines and Ripley looking through some sonar-type device. Ripley says they are surrounded, but the Marines don’t see anything as the walls begin to move. It is back and forth as the intensity rises until boom, Aliens attack, and people are torn to pieces.
This is where Ripley is a BADASS woman. She takes command, takes control of the armored personnel carrier, and drives that carrier through the nest like the freakin Kool-Aid man. She manages to rescue Corporal Dwayne Hicks and Privates Hudson and Vasquez. Cameron keeps up this intensity throughout the whole film. Carriers are destroyed. Burke’s secret is exposed by trying to profit from the alien eggs while trying to kill Ripley and Newt.
Cameron puts the cherry on top of this epic film with the final scene by introducing the alien queen. Ripley kills the queen’s eggs which enrages the queen. Ripley gets into an exosuit and fights the alien queen in an epic fight. Ripley manages to fight off the queen and expels it through an airlock into space.
After watching this film, I had to breathe and get some water. The final hour was such a balls-to-the-wall affair that your heart might explode. It was unrelenting with horror and action, and it was FREAKIN AWESOME!. I have to applaud Cameron because most sequels don’t live up to the first film. This film not only lived up to the first but may have surpassed it. It takes great skill to turn a horror film into an action film and make it enjoyable without losing any momentum.
Once again, Sigourney Weaver turned in a badass performance as Ellen Ripley. She added more depth to her character and showed that she could be a mother while kicking alien ass. Weaver commands this role and character, and she is one of the reasons this film was an all-time great sequel. If you need someone to help fight aliens, please call Weaver.
I want to stand and applaud James Cameron for making one of the best sequels ever known. This is the start of the Cameron sequel-making machine. Cameron made sure to turn this film into an incredible action film. Weaver is always excellent in her role as Ripley. Where does Aliens rank? Easily top 5 all-time in all sequels.
