IT'S A SEQUEL - BUT DON'T HOLD THAT AGAINST IT! "ALIENS"

I’m pretty sure you’re surprised to see this title here. For those who aren’t familiar, this is the sequel to Alien, a film I reviewed last week. Looking back, I have to admit that sequels have been rather a rare occurrence on this blog. Not quite sure why. The fact that I have very, very little faith in sequels may be one reason though. It tends to mean that one formula struck gold and the production company is trying to milk this fact as much as possible. Usually however, it ends up just re-hashing the story, if the original director was someone particularly famous they tend to want to move on, the director of the sequel may not be up to the same standard… You get the picture. Of course the Alien quadrilogy (well that's what it says on the box set!) is an exception to this rule, not least because all four films were directed by quite extraordinary directors; Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Our director in the spotlight this week is James Cameron, one of the auteurs of the modern classic Hollywood style (you know what I mean. Right?). The main reason I decided to review Aliens after all is, surprisingly, I liked it a lot better than the first Alien film. No offense to Ridley Scott, I usually like his work a lot, but yeah… So, if you recall we had left Ripley “suspended” in her pod floating in outer space, safe in the knowledge she would be picked up soon. She is. The thing is, 57 years have gone by in the meanwhile and quite a bit has changed. For example, the planet she had her final battle with the “alien”(s) is now colonised. Ripley desperately tries to warn her bosses – or in fact anyone who will actually listen to her – of the danger that lays on the planet, but of course no one listens to her. But then, when all contact with the colony is lost, the authorities have to concede that something strange is going on. A band of marines are sent to investigate and “take out” anything that is lurking there and Ripley is taken along as a consultant. This is either going to help her face and overcome her recurring nightmares, or alternately “end” her nightmares… Along with her life. Right. Now, as you can imagine, there is nothing wildly original here. Which may be a strange thing to say but hear me out. I’ve said this about Ridley Scott, I will also say of James Cameron that, more often than not, their cinematic structure very rarely strays from the mainstream. This may be conceived as a lack of originality; however this is not necessarily the case. It is matter of doing something and doing it well. You may not be strong on composing, for example, but may be excellent at playing other people’s compositions. Same here. Cameron takes what we may know, but makes a work of art out of it. Unlike Scott in the first Alien, there isn’t such a heavy reliance on jump scares here, the buzz word here is suspense. I think this style works a lot better with the genre too, there are a lot of tense chases for example when the hero / heroine gets away just in the nick of time. Now, here actually is my point. Thinking rationally, you know that the hero /heroine will get away. Especially if it’s early on in the film. The point is though, that Cameron is capable of creating the suspense in such a way that you actually get excited about it. You actually are tense. Hence, as far as Cameron is concerned, mission accomplished. And you’ve enjoyed a good, exciting movie. Aliens shines with this classic brilliance. Do not be put off by the fact that it’s a sequel if you have that sort of prejudice (I know I do), it is what you might call the exception to this particular rule.