ALIEN 3
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
109 min., R, Science Fiction, 1992
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton,
Lance Henriksen
*Contains Spoilers for ALIENS*
Well, if it isn't the season for sequels. ALIEN 3 and LETHAL WEAPON 3 are currently playing in the theaters. HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID and BATMAN RETURNS are coming to the theaters during the summer. CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH 2: SUBHUMANOID MELTDOWN, WAXWORK 2: LOST IN TIME, and VICE ACADEMY 3 (all direct to video releases I think) just recently hit video. I just saw ALIEN 3 and I hope to soon see LETHAL WEAPON 3.
All of the survivors of ALIENS, except for Sigourney Weaver, die, when their life support pods crash on a planet. The planet is an old maximum security prison, where all the prisoners have taken a vow of celibacy. An alien facehugger had snuck into the pod ship and is now in the prison.
I was rather disappointed with ALIEN 3. I feel that ALIEN, a five-star movie, is one of the best horror/sci-fi flicks out and that ALIENS, a four star movie, is a good sci-fi film. I was expecting a wonderful film for ALIEN 3 filled with elaborate sets, a great continuation of the alien story, and great special effects. Two out of three aren't bad, the sets were great and I have no complaints about the special effects. The story, however, leaves something to be desired. On a scale of zero to five, I give ALIEN 3 a three. ALIEN 3 is rated R for graphic violence and explicit language.
Basically I enjoyed seeing ALIEN 3, the problem being that the film got marred by the story line. The story for ALIEN 3 looks like it was thrown together and released because the producers figured that people would flock to see another alien movie. Well, people, at least in my town, are flocking to see the movie. I think the 9:30 PM showing I went to got sold out.
The acting in the movie is great. Charles S. Dutton (of FOX's "ROC" and MISSISSIPPI MASALA) is my favorite person in the film. Even though he is a prisoner he seems to have the most caring and compassion, although sometimes he doesn't show it. Lance Henriksen (Bishop in ALIENS) is back, although this time as the creator of Bishop. Sigourney Weaver is starting to get a little tiresome. Of course, the alien is great!
If the first two alien movies hadn't been so good, or if this film were standing alone, I think that it would have gotten a higher rating. But it had a lot of expectations to live up to, and compared to the other two alien movies, it doesn't fare too well. I hope that there will be no ALIEN 4 because I think that they have run out of good ideas.
The Alien films have been very highly spoofed. Part of the reason for this is that the it has been such a good series that almost everybody has seen at least one of the films. ALIEN has been spoofed in films like Mel Brooks's SPACEBALLS and on television in shows like, the British comedy series "Red Dwarf," and I seem to remember a "Saturday Night Live" skit spoofing ALIEN.
I highly suggest that if you plan to see this film, that you re-watch ALIEN and ALIENS, for this film takes off where ALIENS left off. I do see no reason why you should go to the theater to see this film. It is marginal whether it is worth seeing at a theater, but would probably be worth seeing on video.
Ken J. blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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