On 26 November 1997, 20th Century Fox released Alien Resurrection across the United States.
I like this film. I like all of the first four films. But the third film loses the franchise’s theme about the hubris of man. This film brings it back — in a big way. We saw it coming. Of course people were eventually going to grow aliens in a lab!
Joss Whedon wrote the script. And it features a proto-Firefly crew. But here’s something to remember. Artists don’t have that many new ideas. And they don’t need to! Certainly, William Faulkner didn’t. Whedon doesn’t either, which isn’t surprising. But people give artists way too much credit. And the good idea in Alien Resurrection is one most fans would have come up with.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet provides solid direction. The film looks good, despite its constrained sets. But most of all, the cast is great. Even the supporting cast includes JE Freeman, Dan Hedaya, and Brad Dourif!
Critics aren’t thrilled with the film. Can you guess the problem? It wasn’t the other films! But critics are dodging. Always assume critics just have gut reactions to films. They dress up those opinions as reasoned opinions.
Jeunet’s previous two films also created a problem. So critics were itching to find his third feature disappointing. And Alien Resurrection was a straight genre film. The horror!
But I think the film is a lot of fun. So on this, its 28th anniversary, let’s watch Alien Resurrection.
Alien Resurrection (1997) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
