Movie Spoiler: Alien Resurrection

In the final Movie Spoiler Summary chapter of the Alien quadrilogy to celebrate the "not Alien prequel" Prometheus, we have Alien Resurrection.  Alien was an tense, original thriller that blasted the Ten Little Indians concept into space.  Aliens knew it had to step up its game if it was going to revisit that territory, so the script gave Ripley a mother/daughter storyline that worked incredibly well.  Again, she had to assume the leadership role, but there was so much more at stake.  As well, Cameron helped capture a feeling of camaraderie between the characters as well as some  B-movie flavor to give his film its own unique look.  If you can suspend your expectations and accept that the first two films are in a class of their own, Alien Resurrection is actually enjoyable to a degree.  Like Alien3, it has its own unique twist that isn’t rooted in a story that necessarily needed to be told.  However, unlike its immediate predecessor, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has so much fun that it’s easy to embrace it as an arty “side film” of the franchise, negligible, but innocuous.  One could say the same about David Fincher’s submission, but that chaotic, eyesore of a mess, seldom rises above a simmer.  And any satisfaction derived from the film is purely based on the revelation that well, if you don't know, you can email to ask, because I haven't learned spoiler code for blogger yet (but, then, logic would dictate one reading this wouldn't mind finding out or probably already knows); there isn’t much resonance past that.   Resurrection gave star Sigourney Weaver more to do acting-wise with the very topical cloning--a big deal around the time the fourth film went into production in 1996, thanks in part to Dolly the ewe.

Weaver does a reputable job playing Ripley’s clone, where she is learning everything for the first time.  The most memorable moments of the film included Weaver’s backwards 3-pointer; the stylized group facehugger experiment; Ripley frolicking on the alien queen; the earth landing, and, most memorably, #8 discovering her clones and destroying them all.  After revisiting all of the Alien films proper starring Ripley (the only ones that matter), I've actually tempered by expectations for Prometheus back a great deal.  I'm still excited to see it opening weekend and I'm prepared to be awestruck by some of the visuals and art direction, but I have little reason to believe that there is actually going to be a story as strong as Ridley Scott's original film or James Cameron's.  Obviously, I would love to be proven wrong. 

Movie Spoiler Summary

Resurrection opens with a tongue-in-cheek red herring as an intimidating, vicious creature filmed up close turns out to be a harmless, exotic-looking bug.  Vriess (Dominique Pinon) squashes it gleefully with his fingers and then shoots out the remains from a straw hitting the title placard.  It’s one of my favorite moments in the movie, betraying its slight B-movie tone more than the rest of the movie would like to acknowledge.  In fact, I don’t remember this shot being part of the original cut when I saw it in theaters with my brother in 1997. 

"Ripley" reborn

The film takes place aboard USM (United Systems Military) Auriga Medical Research Vessel.  The standing crew consists of 42 enlisted, 7 science officers.  The doctors operate on a cloned “Ripley” (#8) and surgically extract the chestburster incubating inside of her, before it can burst through its chest.  After attacking a doctor with superhuman strength, they place “Ripley” in solitary confinement.  She’s then lead through a reeducation process.  General Perez (Dan Hedaya) would prefer to eliminate her.  They are waiting for the cloned queen alien to reproduce, as well as cargo that’s “on its way.”  Dr. Jonathan Gediman informs Ripley who she is.  The clone has retained memory and knowledge of the alien enough to let them know, “She’ll breed, you’ll die.”  A unregistered motley crew of six arrive on the Betty Commercial Freighter: Annalee Call (Winona Ryder), Vriess, Johner (Ron Perlman), Christie (Gary Dourdan), Frank Elgyn (Michael Wincott), and Sabra Hillard (Kim Flowers).  Elgyn has a business transaction with Perez, who allows his crew to slumber aboard the USM Auriga for a short while. 

Score three for Ripley Clone #8

Someone has acid for blood 

The scientists impregnate a string of captives with facehuggers in a visually evocative moment.  The ragtag group of space drifters run into #8.  After Johner flirts with her, she gets aggressive and there’s a scuffle.  She fends them off.  Elgyn and Sabra share an intimate moment.  Vriess steals.  The rest of the team drinks.  Gediman ogles amorously at the captive alien and then subjects her to ill treatment.  Call breaks into Ripley’s holding tank.  She inquires about #8’s alien baby.  “It’s too late.  You can’t stop it.  It’s inevitable.”  (Kind of like the end of a king's reign.)

Ripley with a bloody nose?  You know what follows ... 

Dan Hedaya's expressive face

Two hunks in one: one sounds like James Franco (Michael
Wincott) and the other would get hotter as the years went on
and he'd find himself on hit TV-show CSI (Gary Dourdan)

Call is caught and Wren reprimands the team.  A fight ensues.  Aliens start birthing and break through their confinement with acid.  Gediman dies.  Aliens start taking over and evacuation begins.  Many more die.  Perez throws a grenade in a ship containing a creature and sends it off into space before perishing at the hands of another.  Elgyn succumbs to alien attack.  Ripley saves the team.  “Was it everything you hoped for?”  Wren reveals there are twelve aliens left.  When Ripley poses the question, “So, who do I have to fuck to get off this boat?” Johner continues his flirtation with her, “I can get you off, maybe not this boat.” 

They reunite with Vriess.  While they make their way towards safety, #8 finds a room containing all of her clones.  They come across Larry Purvis (Leland Orser), who is carrying an alien.  Wading through cooling tanks, the crew must then swim underwater to the other side.  Aliens attack and prey on Sabra.  In a claustrophobic sequence, they must break through a thick layer of alien matter to reach the surface for air.  Having broken through, they discover a birthing pod encircling them and a face-hugger attacks Ripley.  They make it to safety.  Wren shoots Call, who falls into the water.  Johner saves Christie and Vriess from an alien attack, which had swam after them.  But, Christie, who has been injured and is attached to Vriess who hangs on for dear life from a ladder, cuts himself loose and sacrifices himself to save Vriess.  Call, who is an android and survived the bullet and ensuing fall, opens a hatch and everyone follows her.  There’s a scene where everyone has to make a big deal about Call being an android while Winona Ryder stands there and feels shameful. 

This is the look of perfection?

They’re headed to earth.  Ripley has Call plug into the system to take control of the ship.  Wren freaks out when he loses authority over the ship and Call takes over.  She reveals her covert mission to #8.  The clone senses being summoned by the alien queen and the crew find her erotically writhing on top of the creature before she disappears inside its body.  Wren draws a gun on Call.  Purvis starts to give birth to the alien and goes ape-shit crazy.  Dr. Gediman, who is webbed into the alien den, but pretty much a goner, reveals that the new breed no longer needs a human host to reproduce.  A fight breaks out between the alien queen and the first child of this new superior generation. 

Ripley flees the alien nest and makes it aboard the escape vehicle just in time.  Call ventures off to close the hatch and finds the new breed of alien, who crushes Vincent Distephano’s (Raymond Cruz) head.  #8 has an intimate moment with the alien after saving Call.  She uses her acidic blood to create a small hole in the window.  The pressure sucks the creature towards the opening, eventually eviscerating it through the protrusion until it was completely gone.

The ship crashes through Earth’s atmosphere and lands in Paris, ville de l'amour.

Click here for photographic magic

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Alien Resurrection