anna marenghi 🛸✨’s review published on Letterboxd:
Sometimes a found family is the hottest woman alive who is so clearly a lesbian, a gremlin child, and a robot filled with milk <33
I think there's a lot you can say about Aliens. How it's one of the most action packed sequels there is, that it perfectly trades pitch-perfect sci-fi horror for complete sci-fi action insanity. How Ripley continues to be one of the best female protagonists of all time, and how her relationship with Newt reveals new layers to her character. How the expansion to the lore is so fucking cool, so interesting - and it's the perfect therapeutic trade off seeing the Xenomorphs get blown the fuck up
But I also do think it's not as strong as Alien is in a lot of ways. Although for me, barely any film is. It's a near perfect film in its own right, but at two hours twenty it does feel a bit laboured at points. What I love about Alien is that first hour - half of the movie - is perfectly pitched and slow. And as soon as the tables turn it becomes another beast entirely. The first hour here is equally slow, but feels more weighted. The setting is super interesting, and the premise of Ripley now being a girl out of time? I love it. We see space capitalism run rampant, and it's so fucking depressing and so tangible !!! But there is a bit too much going on, and while the first hour is some truly great drama, it is lacking in some areas. It's certainly not enough to knock it down from a five star, as god if this isn't a five star film I don't know what is, but I do wish the film cut to the chase a lil bit faster
And my god, the puppetry, the suit design, the sets !! Everything !!! I love every detail of the production, it's some of the coolest fucking pieces of sci-fi imaginable. And the practical Alien Queen? Oh my fucking god. Oh my fucking god. The shot of the alien rising from the water? The lighting? The perfect, claustrophobic action? I fucking love this movie. While I'll prefer Alien over it, it's like comparing a good fucking steak to a good fucking burger. I love both, but I can't have them both at the same time. Do I choose the slow horror, or the kick-ass action? It's just... the vibe isn't the same for me. If this movie still had the full on cassette futurism from Aliens, with a bit more straight up horror while trimming the fat, it would so clearly be on equal footing. It's just when you're up against Alien... it's pretty fucking hard to beat
Tbh I would win either way, as I get to look at Sigourney Weaver and let me tell you. I am down BAD. I am in love. Mother from here to the stars <3333333 anyway thank god this is the end of the franchise. it's just Alien and Aliens (and also if Alien Romulus is good I'll take it too) thank god there's no such thing as Alien 3 and 4 !!!!!!
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