But the extent to which Alien 3<\/em> fails to even remotely resemble its saga predecessors boggles the mind. Dogged by a lousy story, cringeworthy special effects, and even worse cinematography, the inauspicious feature directorial debut from David Fincher was notoriously tampered with by 20th Century Fox, and the bizarrely beloved \u201cassembly cut\u201d \u2014 released without Fincher\u2019s involvement, yet based on his editing room notes \u2014 just adds 30 more minutes of bullshit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a cinematic Charles Barkley, Fincher famously rebounded with his follow-up, Se7en<\/em>, and the series likewise got its groove back five years later in 1997\u2019s Alien: Resurrection<\/em>. With the first Alien<\/em> TV series, Alien: Earth<\/em>, out this week, full saga rankings<\/a> are almost certain to pop up across social media like ovomorphs. And though Jean-Pierre Jeunet\u2019s installment doesn’t belong on the same tier as Alien<\/em> or Aliens<\/em><\/a>, it’s firmly on the next level with the similarly underrated Prometheus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Jeunet\u2019s distinct sensibilities were four years away from hitting (and being embraced by) the mainstream via Am\u00e9lie<\/em><\/a>, his darkly whimsical style was known to a decent slice of indie moviegoers by the late \u201990s thanks to Delicatessen<\/em> and The City of Lost Children<\/em>. Similarly, screenwriter Joss Whedon had established himself through scripts for Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em> and Toy Story<\/em>, and TV audiences were beginning to consider him as a cult nerd icon through the Buffy<\/em> series, which was roughly halfway through its second season when Resurrection<\/em> premiered that November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Alien 3<\/em> is a subterranean bar to clear, these two up-and-coming filmmakers overachieve as their oddball interests dovetail nicely in the service of Ellen Ripley\u2019s surprisingly ongoing story. Roll your eyes all you want at United Systems Military (USM) scientists cloning Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) 200 years after her death and mixing her DNA with that of a Xenomorph queen in hopes of breeding, studying, and researching the aliens aboard the spaceship USM Auriga<\/em>, but it’s a believable turn of events in a series defined by greed and underestimating a species that short-sighted humans think they can control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any conceit that\u2019s true to the films\u2019 anti-corporate themes<\/a> is welcome to, er, resurrect the saga’s strengths that are missing in Allen 3<\/em>, and Whedon\u2019s concept indeed inspires an all-around return to form. In addition to the creative story, you’ve got a decidedly visual filmmaker behind the camera on par with Ridley Scott and James Cameron, plus one of our greatest cinematographers in Darius Khondji (Se7en<\/em>; The Lost City of Z<\/em>). The crisp imagery firmly connects Resurrection<\/em> to the series\u2019 first two (and subsequent three non-vs.<\/em> Predator<\/em>) installments on a quality level, and Whedon\u2019s script likewise carries on multiple traditions abandoned by Walter Hill and the rest of the Alien 3 <\/em>writing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lead scientist Dr. Jonathan Gediman (Brad Dourif), Gen. Martin Perez (Dan Hedaya), and their respective underlings aboard the Auriga<\/em> ably check the box of clearly defined human villains that are all but absent in Alien 3<\/em>\u2019s maximum security prison setting. And while the rag-tag group of mercenaries from the ship Betty that make a longer than anticipated stay aboard the Auriga<\/em> aren\u2019t in the same league as the crew from the Nostromo<\/em> or the Marines who inhabit the Sulaco<\/em>, they more closely resemble Ripley\u2019s colleagues in Alien <\/em>and Aliens<\/em> than the forgettable convicts from her third space rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, Whedon brings back plenty of Xenomorph action, nearly to the point of excess. Expanding from the single entity in the previous film, he serves up a full brood \u2014 and they all look terrific. While poor digital renderings taint Alien 3<\/em>, Jeunet\u2019s film benefits greatly from the technological advances in the interim, particularly in the execution of a terrifying underwater sequence. And though even Fincher\u2019s installment features laudable tactile creature effects, the big, slick, smooth, Xenomorphs in Resurrection <\/em>are the most impressive iterations of the series up to that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central to that appeal is their viscous nature. Xenomorphs have grown increasingly fond of salivating with each new Alien<\/em> film, but the batch in Resurrection <\/em>drip so much fluid that one wonders if Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele drew inspiration from them for Peele\u2019s extremely nervous sweating boyfriend character in Key and Peele<\/em>\u2019s now meme-famous “Browser History” sketch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Matching the beasts is a comparably fresh take on Ripley. Far from the same Final Girl we\u2019ve come to know and love over the past two decades of Weyland-Yutani Corporation oppression, she\u2019s given fun, different abilities by Whedon, including superhuman strength, acid blood, and the basketball prowess of an NBA All-Star. Plus, Ripley\u2019s jaded outlook on authority figures and her genetic link with the Xenomorphs yields hithertofore unseen responses from our hero that keep viewers guessing which side she\u2019ll choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If that doesn\u2019t warrant the #4 spot on folks\u2019 rankings of Alien<\/em> movies, I don\u2019t know what does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Alien: Resurrection” is streaming on Hulu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/alien_resurrection2-1024x576.jpg\")
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