Humans have a strange obsession with aliens. Are they out there? Will we find them? If we do, will we like what we find? For the sake of Hollywood, most films tell us, no. We will not like what we find.
This is very much the case for ALIENS, which rocked the box office at number one for four straight weeks in 1986. The story is a follow up of ALIEN, in which the crew of a spaceship is slowly picked off by an alien who weasels its way on board via its bizarre birthing ritual. The only survivor of this disaster, Ellen Ripley, makes her way back to Earth in a cryogenic state, but her journey takes 57 years, during which the planet that this alien species was discovered near has been colonized by Ripley's employer, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.
When they suddenly lose contact with the colony, Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) asks Ripley to return to the planet's surface to investigate. Ripley agrees, on the condition that if the sudden silence is because of the same aliens her former crew met with, said aliens will be killed immediately. And her suspicions are confirmed when they arrive: the entire colony has been destroyed (read: harvested) by the aliens, save for one young girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), who somehow managed to stay out of the way. However, contrary to Ripley's hopes for the mission, Burke has other plans, steeped in financial greed: he wants to take Alien specimens back to Earth to experiment on them.
ALIENS differs from its predecessor in many ways: while ALIEN was slower paced and suspenseful, falling more along the lines of a sci-fi horror flick, ALIENS is definitely an action-thriller; and with different directors (Ridley Scott for ALIEN and James Cameron for ALIENS), of course the films have a different feel. Whereas Scott chose to only show you glimpses of the alien until the very end, Cameron wanted a little more flash, so ALIENS is crawling with... well, aliens. And the characters are a little more like caricatures, with little character development but easily identifiable at first sight, as opposed to the uniform yet nuanced team from ALIEN.
But the lineup of the plot holds true to the same basics: the mission is compromised by someone's desire to take the enemy home with them. With that tried and true formula, Ripley's worst nightmare begins to unfold for the second time.
Though Sigourney Weaver is heartily welcomed back as the protagonist, it should be noted that Carrie Henn really steals the show. Her innocent yet survivalist attitude really grounds the film; an amazing performance, made all the more surprising by the fact that ALIENS seems to be her only acting credit.
What really makes ALIENS worth the watch, however, is the energy that carries on even after the film is over. Action-packed, high stakes -- you simply ride along with the characters in their fight for survival. There's no denying it, this movie is fun. There's little wonder why ALIENS is so popular, but if you're still not sure, come watch it with us at this month's 3rd in the Burg on August 15! Cosplay is encouraged.
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