ALIEN 3
A film review by Richard John Rauser
Copyright 1992 by WNI and RJ Rauser
Okay, folks. Forget anything else you may have heard about this film, because Rick J. Rauser has *his* review here (egotism is a joke, actually).
Seriously, let's talk ALIEN. Or to be more precise, ALIEN 3 (or ALIEN CUBED, depending on which rumors you believe). Let me say this bluntly: ALIEN 3 is not as good as the first two films. That having been said, let me go on to stress that ALIEN 3 is a good, good flick. It's scary, it's well paced, and the effects are nice.
Visually, this film is dazzling. It looks that good. The prison is just as eerie as the Nostromo or the colony settlement on LV-426. In fact, I think it's more so. Well done, well done. The alien itself is a nice, spooky variety as in the first two flicks ... but this time the alien is different. I won't tell you how, and it's so subtle you might not pick it up ... but watch for it when you see this film.
ALIEN 3 has a shocker ending (presuming you haven't been reading Hollywood gossip columns or spoiler reviews) which, I'm sad to say, was filmed very poorly. The ending is great, the way it looks on screen is almost laughable. It's sad, because the rest of the film is visually perfect. The ending ... *ach*. But don't let that throw you, it's a small gripe.
Another big gripe that I couldn't forget (that's why I'm now typing it out) is how the characters in this film don't like each other. They really don't. There's no friendship or bonding as in the first two films between the human victims/fighters. These characters seem to want each other to die ... also, this film has an annoying habit of killing off the wrong characters. Don't get bonded to any of them, faithful viewer. If you thought they were expendable in ALIEN and ALIENS, you ain't seen nothing yet.
I also hate the marketing people who deceived us for months on end with previews that said "In 1992 we will discover ... on Earth ... everyone can hear you scream." I'm not giving anything away by telling you that this film is not set on or near Earth. That preview is old garbage, and I'm sure you all know that by now. But still that annoys me. Another scene that I saw in previews was of one of the characters pressed against a chainlink fence screaming. *Boy*, that looked cool, I thought ... the guy in the film is only yelling at Ripley in annoyance. Again, false advertising. But it was minor.
Look forward to wonderful scenery, a fantastic autopsy, a small group of likable characters (even though they don't like or bond with each other) a great ending (marred by crappy directing - just the ending, mind you--and poor filming--again, just the ending) that will really surprise you and a *wonderful* chase scene near the movie's end.
Good stuff, ALIEN 3, good stuff. Just like DIE HARD 2 this film doesn't quite live up to what went before it, but like DIE HARD, ALIENS and ALIEN were tough, tough acts to follow so I don't blame Fox for the fact that ALIEN 3 fell a little short of the mark. It's not a huge film, like the first two were ... it's more of a quick, scary flick. It reminds me of Leviathan, if any of you have seen that. It's short and satisfying, but not a huge, great horror/sci-fi epic like ALIENS, nor a long, nicely paced landmark like ALIEN.
But let ALIEN 3 breathe freely and you'll be quite happy with it, in my humble opinion. It is not a *great* movie, like the first two.
It is, however, very, very *good* and I more than highly recommend it. Overall, I am happy to give ALIEN 3 eight out of ten. My complaints were fairly minor, and the only thing that prevents this movie from being fantastic is that it doesn't do enough and doesn't look far enough. After seeing it you'll undoubtably be happy, yet you'll also agree it's a "small" film, dealing with a small incident, not a huge one like the first two.
However, it's a small incident that you'll really enjoy sitting through.
By the way, the way the story runs and the way the film finishes off leaves more than enough room for ALIEN 4....
-- Richard J. Rauser rauser@sfu.ca WNI
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