Look Sharp People!

Ripley was the lone survivor from “Alien.” She fought against an alien life form that killed her entire crew. She managed to expel it through the airlock and she survives. “Aliens” is an action-packed sequel that picks up 57 years later, when she is found floating in space, by a salvage crew and when she awakens, she has nightmares of what happened.

Her account of the Alien is met with skepticism until she is asked to accompany Marines to the planet from the original film. When director James Cameron goes down to the planet, it’s masterful with dark corridors and shelter being a deadly part of the film. There are some truly terrifying scenes in this movie and some of the action scenes are intense. It has a different tone than its predecessor, which introduced alien life forms that use humans as incubators that burst from stomachs.

Ripley learns, to her horror, that a human colony was established on the planet while she was in space and communication is lost. Facing her fears, she joins the space marines, all with various personalities, and both sexes. Lance Hendrikson plays an android, flawlessly, who becomes a big part of the final act, and Jenette Goldstein is Vasqueaz, in a bombastic performance as the muscular one that will stand up to any man.

The Marines become the heart and soul of the film after a brilliantly crafted ambush sequence leaves three Marines alive, and it’s kind of garbage that so many of them go so soon. Michael Biehn is stellar as Hicks, the Marine who tries desperately to keep everyone safe when they end up stranded and trapped in the Colony. Bill Paxton is the fearful Hudson, and the archetypal complainer, who can’t believe the situation they are in.

There is a certain level of fear and tension that Cameron plays with and it’s dark and satisfying. Some of the early intense scenes involve the Marines walking through the complex. The way he crafts the lightning down the corridors is unnerving when the Marines find a young girl hiding in the Colony, Newt (Carrie Henn,) who survived by hiding in the air ducts. She becomes Ripley’s companion who becomes determined to get her off the planet. Burke (Paul Reiser,) is the slimy moron that tricks Ripley and represents the owners of the company she works for. He dreams about turning the Aliens into the bio-weapons division for millions. How far do you think that goes?

Some of the masterful tension-filled scenes of the original with the crew being trapped with the Alien running throughout the ship picking them off translate well to the Marines who have firepower but know they are in over their heads. The sequences with the Marines constantly on guard with trackers that emit a beeping noise wherever something near adds a dreary tension and that feeling something is going to happen. This time, the Aliens get clever and as implausible as it is, they somehow know how to cut the power, and they drop from the ceiling.

Once the guns start firing, it’s a nonstop thrill ride for the last hour of the movie with scenes involving Newt being taken to lead the film to its hidden secret. It’s established early what it is, and of course, we’re gonna see it at the end and we do. It’s quite a sight and some of the more intense sequences in the film. Cameron makes it realistic that this woman is up against these jaw-spewing creatures and the set pieces of the “Hive” look cheerfully grotesque and riveting.

Some of the scenes with the sentry guns are fun as they act as a limited security to keep the Aliens when they come up to the sealed door and start knocking. Cameron Isn’t concerned with jumpscare and he makes the suspenseful scenes an overdrive on imagery and Alien’s being shot to pieces. He puts the characters in situations where they find their lives in danger and are up against an enemy who has them figured out before they know what to do, leaving the audience on edge and rooting for them to escape.

Weaver leads “Aliens” with sheer relentless power. Her acting is so stellar, she is a brutal warrior by the end of the film. However, I began to feel for this woman who has been put through the wringer twice fighting these monsters. This has a satisfying ending but “Alien 3,” would have to be a very different film.

9/10