Retrospective: Alien³ (1992)

"Alien 3" (1992) 
Review by Marshall Garvey 
Rating (0 to 5): 2  Grade: C- 
Starring Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Charles Dutton (Dillon),
Charles Dance (Clemens), Paul McGann (Golic), Brian Glover (Andrews),
Ralph Brown (Aaron), Daniel Webb (Morse) Lance Henriksen (Bishop II)
Directed by David Fincher
Produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill 
Written by Vincent Ward, Giler, Hill, and Larry Ferguson (based on
characters by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett)
Original music by Elliot Goldenthal 
20th Century Fox 
114 minutes 
Rated R (violence, gore, strong language. Most teens okay, namely
those with strong stomachs)

The first two "Alien" movies are great for a number of reasons. One is
that they created a dark atmosphere that carried the sense of the film
perfectly, whether it be the unknown terror of "Alien" or the multiple
danger of "Aliens". "Alien 3" has a familiar sense to it as well,
though unlike the first two it carries the franchise in the wrong
direction, and by its end it feels surprisingly empty and pointless.
While it is still somewhat atmospheric, it makes the unfortunate
mistake of trying to bring back the classic suspense of "Alien" by
using just one member of H.R. Giger's famed species. Instead, this
well directed but depressingly bleak film does little more than add on
different story elements and repeat its thrill attempts as it spins
out into a pointless haze that left me with an equal feeling of
emptiness.

Several people have despised "Alien 3" beyond belief. Some have said
it shouldn't be part of the series, while others claim it shouldn't
exist. Despite this negative word of mouth, I had high hopes for the
film when I finally snatched it off the shelf at Hollywood Video.
Before watching it, my thoughts were preoccupied on whether or not it
had a chance, and that it would hopefully overcome its disadvantage of
killing off some of the loveable characters that made it out of
"Aliens". I also saw it as a chance for David Fincher to make his
mark, knowing "Se7en" and "Fight Club" are a bit too graphic for me to
view as of now. Ridley Scott had already won me over with "Alien" and
would later direct another one of my favorite movies, "Blade Runner".
When I saw "Aliens", I had already seen James Cameron's "Titanic" and
truly loved it, and after viewing his brilliant sequel to Scott's
classic he became one of my all-time favorite directors ("The
Terminator" and "Terminator 2" also helped in persuading me). In
"Alien 3", Fincher's direction does succeed in being fresh, thanks to
his captivating use of putting us in the perspective of the alien as
it chases its prey through the hallways. However, Fincher's direction
does have its flaws, and is also tethered by Vincent Ward's weak story
and a mediocre screenplay courtesy of David Giler, Walter Hill, and
Larry Ferguson. In the end, this hopeless film contributes absolutely
nothing to the series.

Despite his credible direction later on, Fincher begins the film in a
rather annoying fashion. As the members of the cast and crew are
introduced, Fincher decides to cut in between the credits with
different shots of a facehugger finding its way through the Sulaco
spaceship, where survivors Newt Jordan, Dwayne Hicks, Bishop, and, of
course, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) rest in cryosleep. When the
cryosleep stasis is corrupted and the facehugger finds its host
(although we can't tell whom), the pod in which everybody rests ejects
itself and crash-lands on Fiorina Fury 161, a bleak and windy prison
planet that bears much resemblance to the LV-426 planet from the first
two films. When a group of prisoners are sent out to investigate, it
turns out that Hicks and Newt are dead, while Bishop still remains
deactivated. Ripley, though, is the only survivor, and is taken to the
hospital wing for treatment.

When Ripley finally regains consciousness, she is more than
disappointed to hear that she's the only survivor of the four. Afraid
that Newt may have been impregnated with an alien, she asks prison
doctor Clemens (Charles Dance) to take her to the morgue and examine
her body. As Clemens suspected, it turns out that she had died by
drowning in her cryotube. Taking no chances, Ripley asks for the
bodies of Newt and Hicks to be cremated, and her request is met.
However, as the ceremony is held, an alien emerges from the stomach of
a dog that had met with the pod's facehugger, even more fully grown
than a regular newborn and ready to feast upon the prisoners.

As it turns out, Ripley is the only female in the prison, a fact
that's met with mixed approval by the other inmates. Nonetheless, she
must adapt to the bylaws of the prison, such as shaving her head due
to the lice problem there. She does, though, receive a little help
from prisoner Dillon (Charles Dutton), a holy and religious leader who
foils a rape attempt on Ripley despite being responsible for such
crimes in his past. He warns Ripley not to get too close to anyone
during her stay, especially himself. But things change when some of
the prisoners are mysteriously killed one by one, and when the boss is
picked off Ripley soon becomes the leader and must help the remaining
men prevail against the alien despite not having any weapons or modern
technology of any kind (there aren't even batteries for the
flashlights). It seems impossible, but when Ripley learns that she's
been impregnated (with a queen at that) and that the alien won't kill
her, she suddenly becomes the ideal bait to lure the creature to its
death. But with a rescue ship approaching, Ripley knows that she must
die as well, for if the queen escapes Fiorina it will reproduce and
wipe out the entire human race easily.

The "Alien" movies have two major stages: the establishment of the
alien threat level and the climax, with some moments in between to
develop the characters and story. David Fincher gives a nice touch to
the climax here by filming most of each chase sequence through the
alien's point of view, sometimes doing it upside down as it crawls
along the ceiling. Yet, despite the inventive touch, the sequences
aren't entirely fulfilling due to the fact that I didn't care for
anybody who died. None of the actors do a particularly bad job, and
very few of the characters are made out to be likeable. But as the
bodies mount, there's very little impact, for as a whole the
characters form no more than a wooden, faceless conformity that erase
the film's chance of having any emotional impact when you see who dies
and who lives. I did, in particular, have admiration for Clemens and
Dillon, but two memorable characters amidst twenty-something wooden
ones didn't help the film's cause, and half of them are about as
compelling or colorful as dish soap.

The weakest aspect of the characterization, however, is that the film
seems to go to any means necessary to taint each and every worthwhile
figure. After the enlightening and sweet bond between Newt and Ripley
was formed so well in "Aliens", the writers here decide to attempt to
stun viewers with a surprisingly dark twist and kill her, which
instead of doing the story any good had me booing at the screen. To
accompany Hicks' unfortunate but predictable death, Bishop's character
is also needlessly spoiled when it turns out he's merely an android
clone of an actual human (played, of course, by Lance Henriksen) who
intends on studying the alien species. Worse is that this occurs after
Bishop (or at least what's left of him) confirms Ripley's fears that
an alien was indeed onboard the ship, a scene which seemed to signify
his end. After all, he wasn't even top of the line anymore. Yet,
still, it seems the writers couldn't help but erase every last bit of
the overflowing optimism left over from "Aliens", and in doing so they
succeed in stopping "Alien 3" itself and disrupt the flow of the
series.

The worst point of "Alien 3" is undoubtedly its weak story, which
instead of  being a viable chapter in the series brings almost nothing
new into play. First off, it tries to go back to using one single
alien for its suspense, and while there are some tight moments there's
no freshness or originality to it now that the species has been
entirely uncovered (well, most of it). The "Alien" series is one that
is always liable to take another step forward even when it seems to
have reached its peak, and "Alien 3" is more than a failure in that
sense. While it still carries some of the atmosphere and feel of the
preceding films, it is marred by bland screenwriting and an utter
sense of emptiness that puts and end to the series' momentum. Even
though the next installment, "Alien: Resurrection", has been panned by
many as well, I still hope it fills the void left by this.

So you're probably wondering what my final thought is on this film's
existence. Do I think "Alien 3" shouldn't exist? Of course not. It's
far from good, but on the other hand it's also quite far from the
worst movie of all time (I'll take "Battlefield Earth" instead, thank
you very much). Then again, is it a worthy addition to the series?
Absolutely not, and I do carry hope that "Alien: Resurrection" will be
a dramatic improvement. Of course, I could be setting myself up for
even more disappointment.

Note: This review is purely of my doing, and I do not copy off other
reviewers.

So, what does this rating system mean anyway? 
*****-A masterpiece of filmmaking that should be seen at all costs
****1/2-A fabulous movie. An absolute must catch. 
****-An excellent show. Tell everyone else about it.
***1/2-A good film. Recommended. 
***-Decent movie that could be a lot better. 
**1/2-Average movie with a number of flaws. 
**-Pretty bad with a few saving graces. 
*1/2-Bad. Don’t see it. 
*-As much fun as having your seat kicked for two hours.  
1/2-Just plain awful. 
0-Death may come

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X-Language: en
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X-RT-TitleID: 1039355
X-RT-AuthorID: 8934
X-RT-RatingText: 2/5