Alien³
If it’s hard to follow up a classic, it’s damn-near impossible to follow up two. But that was the unenviable position David Fincher found himself in when he was making his feature directing debut with Fox’s “Alien³.” Though he had established himself as an enormously gifted music video director, he didn’t have much clout compared to his producers, and a studio looking to extend their franchise for at least one more movie. The result is a compromised film that doesn’t point to the gifted, visually stunning director Fincher would become with his next films, “Se7en,” “The Game” and “Fight Club.” Having said that, though, “Alien³” is a lot better than it’s reputation gives it credit for. No, it’s nowhere near the classic level of “Alien” and “Aliens,” but it’s a cool, pared-down action thriller that benefits from the continued presence of Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley.
When the film begins, Ripley is, once again, hurtling through space in cryo-sleep, this time, after the events of “Aliens.” She crashes on a prison world, and is the only survivor…well, the only human survivor. She is nursed back to health by the medical officer on the planet (played by Charles Dance, best known now for “Game of Thrones”), and then is introduced to the all-male population, including Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), who shows a spiritual side that resonates with her. There’s the obligatory scene of a couple of the inmates, who haven’t seen a women in years, trying to assault her, but it’s not long before she is leading them in a fight for survival when the titular alien starts to reek havoc on the planet, but there’s a bit of a twist in how Ripley is connected with the creature this time around.
The lesser sequels in this series, “Alien³” and “Alien Resurrection” follow the same basic formula: put Ripley in the company of hardened individuals; let loose the alien; put a twist into play with Ripley’s character; watch how it plays out. Personally, “Alien Resurrection” did a better job with this formula, and that was primarily because of some real subtext at work in scientific morality that was going on. “Alien³” lacks such subtext in the screenplay by Walter Hill, David Giler and Larry Ferguson, and instead plays as a simple action thriller, with the prisoners and Ripley fodder for the alien to chase down and kill. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but it doesn’t really offer much for the talent bringing it to life; really, it’s similar to the structure of the “Predator” franchise in that way, which isn’t really good for a franchise that works better as something like “hard science fiction.” As he would prove in later films (his next ones, in fact), Fincher is a gifted storyteller in how he uses visual style to enhance the story being told, and illuminate themes that are, usually, just underneath the surface. However, his visual sense does come through in “Alien³,” at times, especially during the set piece at the end when the prisoners, led by Ripley, try to trap the alien in the labyrinth of corridors. The way Fincher and cinematographer Alex Thomson show the alien’s point-of-view in this scene brings to mind the climax of “The Shining” in the snow-bound hedge maze, and it is as effective a horror climax as that iconic set piece is, and composer Elliot Goldenthal, whose work is terrific throughout the film, really accentuates the similarities in his lower register-heavy score. That sequence alone makes the film worth watching.
Once again, though, the film comes down to our connection with Ellen Ripley, and even though Dance and Dutton have some very fine moments opposite her, this is Weaver’s movie, and one of the great things this franchise has done is not only allow itself to be carried by a woman (which is, unfortunately, still an exception rather than a normal happening, despite the success of the “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” franchises), but also allow said woman continue to adapt and adjust the character to make her more interesting while continuing to kick ass. Yes, the fact that Ripley is, once again, seen in just a tank top and panties when we first see her in this film is depressing, but Weaver more than makes up for it by being an intelligent leader who anyone would be foolish not to follow into battle. No doubt, the ending of this film was intended to be an end to the franchise, but I’m glad Fox found a way to bring back the character in “Alien Resurrection” that was of a piece with the trajectory of the series, in general, because no one does sci-fi action like Weaver, and her Ripley is an icon we can always benefit from having more of in cinema.
