Aliens - Review

Seven years after Ridley Scott's Alien, we have James Cameron's Aliens. First off, isn't that great? Simply putting an 'S' at the end of the first film's title for the sequel. Anyways, right off the bat, James Cameron does a great job of explaining everything to the audience in a simple and understanding way. Within 5 minutes of the film, you understand what happened in the first film and the stakes at hand for the next adventure. Everything you need to know is there. Perfect! Now we can continue on with this movie. Immediately, Aliens feels much different than Alien. Whereas Alien was definitely a horror film drenched in the sci-fi setting, Aliens feels like a Vietnam war movie in space. You get that sense right away when the marines awake from hypersleep and the colonel puts a cigar in his mouth right away and starts shouting orders. These characters aren't a bunch of scientists anymore, they are soldiers and their dialogue between each other warrants more intensity and urgency from the story. In my opinion, that was the main aspect lacking in the first movie. The intensity of the first film felt more like a slasher film in where there is one sole killer and their only motive is to kill. Aliens feels more like Jurassic Park where you have a bunch of people trying to escape and work as a team to evade a group of stronger, scarier creatures. Mix that with Bill Paxton yelling, "you want some of this motherf***ers?!" Yes, it's one of those movies. Humans vs. creatures more powerful. That set-up warrants some extremely intense scenes and there are plenty here. Real exciting stuff! Also, they add a kid character to add a bit more humanity into the story and she works for the movie. Sometimes kids in these movies can get really annoying and I will admit, little Rebecca does scream a ton, but it's all believable and it doesn't get overly annoying. You aren't telling her to shut up, you are siding with her because there is a giant freaking alien in front of her with large teeth and a killer weapon tail. Overall, if you are to pick between the first two films of this franchise (many people say you can skip the others) I would say go with Aliens. It tells you everything you need to know about the first film and it gives you tons of action and excitement. Everything you could want in an action film set in space! Great movie!