☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Aliens (1986) – J. Cameron
In preparation for a family visit to the Deep Space escape
room at Ukiyo.com.au (courtesy of Nanna & Vaari) – and because I recently
played Alien: Isolation (the survival horror videogame) – I rewatched this sequel
to the original Ridley Scott 1979 horror sci-fi classic. This time with James Cameron at the helm
(fresh off his success with The Terminator, 1984), the franchise takes a
distinct turn to the action film, as a group of marines (including Bill Paxon,
Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, and synthetic Lance Henriksen) are sent to
THAT planet, where a human colony has now disappeared, approximately 57 years
after the first film. Ellen Ripley (played again by Sigourney Weaver) has been on
ice in hibernation all this time on the Nostromo’s escape pod but, ultimately, is
encouraged to join the rescue mission (by slimy corporate shill Paul Reiser) after
a traumatic recovery period on Earth. When they arrive on LV-426, they find
only 9-year-old Newt whose parents and brother have been killed, along with all
of the colonists (except those used for incubating offspring), by the swarm of
aliens that has infested their base. And
with that premise in place, the rest of the film is one long fight between the
space marines, Ripley, and the aliens (including their queen), with a few subplots
for character development along the way.
Cameron ups the tension and plays up the “maternal instinct” angle by
mirroring Ripley (with Newt standing in for her now dead real daughter) and the
alien queen. It’s a relentless ride,
although not quite up to the spooky-scary benchmark set by its
predecessor. If I recall correctly, none
of the subsequent films in the franchise are as good as the first two.
