Let's Talk about films

Not long ago I watched Aliens for, like, the millionth time. And it was, as ever, awesome. But I couldn't help feeling that the start dragged on far too long; it was trying to be like Alien, a horror, and it just wasn't. Of course, Bishop was a great character, and Sigourney Weaver was brilliant as ever. There were brilliant moments, and terrible moments, and awesome actions bits. It was a pretty good movie.



I've said something about several movies which I now regret. The movies in question were Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions and Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. The something was that they totally don't deserve to exist. I now regret that, I really do.

Well okay, I don't regret it for the Matrix films, because those two were legitimately awful. But I watched Alien: Resurrection today and I realised it was never as bad as I thought it was.

The problem is, it doesn't fit into the Alien franchise. The whole feel of the movie is wrong for that group; the fact that it was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet didn't help, but he was perfect for the script they had. What wasn't perfect was the franchise: Alien is a space/horror/action franchise and Resurrection just isn't that at all. It's action, certainly, but not in the way Aliens is. It's an action comedy, with quirky characters and a more light-hearted feel. Take a look at the characters, for example. Dominique Pignon and Ron Perlman played two of them, for a start. And the general who we first see killed by an Alien, he's a comedy character. Yes it's gruesome, but that just makes it black comedy. It's Aliens for people who enjoy lesbian rom-coms (because let's face it, there was Ripley/Call shipping going on throughout). And it just doesn't feel like Alien.

So Resurrection deserves to live as a film, but only if you discount it as an Alien movie. Don't bother linking it to the franchise, don't tell me Ellen Ripley makes it part of that franchise. It's a different movie, in a genre that doesn't work with the previous three, and so it's an action movie in outer space. It's not the fourth Alien film, it's its own film, with xenomorphs and Ellen Ripley and androids in it. It might as well be a parody, but that would just make it rubbish.

That's all I wanted to say. Also, you should totally check out my other blog and my friend's blog. Oh, and if you haven't already, watch Alien: Resurrection...