Sean Cameron     Resurrection Predilection There's a certain dumbness factor that you have to accept with most sci-fi/action/invaders from space flicks these days. Not in terms of unbelievability (that would be asking a bit too much), but rather a general kind of hokum, such as corny lines, exaggerated acting, and an emphasis on computer-generated spectacle. For whatever reason, the venerable Alien series has never asked that of us. Somehow, it has provided top-notch thrills, gruesome deaths, and the most terrifying extra-terrestrials out there, while still managing to offer characters an audience can care about within well-crafted films. The Alien films have all had the good fortune of being helmed by artistic-minded directors, allowing the series to avoid the cartoonish trappings of most sci-fi thrillers and providing the true continuity. The plots themselves are fairly disposable: on a narrative level the only link between the films is the strong female protagonist Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a precursor to the similarly testosterone-infused ass-whoopin' heroines from Terminator and Thelma & Louise. But the real tie between them is each director's re-invention of certain movie genres (the horror picture, the action film, the prison flick, and with the newest installment, Alien Resurrection, the art-house creep-fest) within the context of Ripley's endless battle against alien breeding. Jean-Pierre Jeunet would not seem the typical director of a blockbuster sequel, but then again, Alien is not the typical blockbuster series. Jeunet is known for the French art house treats Delicatessen and City of Lost Children, each visually complex and darker than night, yet giddily fun. Alien Resurrection follows in the same vein, emerging as the most frenetic and comical of the space epics. The art direction is seedy-futuristic, much like Ridley Scott's original Alien, but more abstract -- all long corridors, twisting, creepy ships, and jittery camera work and lighting. The sharp script is punctuated with laughs, ranging from silly futuristic breath-identification doors to Ripley's quick one-liners. The film is comically self aware -- it references Jeunet's stock hey-mom-watch-this camera moves, one of which ventures down the throat of an alien-impregnated crew member, as well as the glut of inevitable sequels (when one character expresses confusion after Ripley shows up alive 200 years after her death, she replies, "I get that a lot"). Jeunet goes a step further and injects a sly Jaws parody as Ripley and the surviving passengers of the ship are pursued underwater through the flooded kitchen to a score of quickening violins. The twist on the Alien theme here is not only the resurrection of the series but that of Ripley (who sacrificed herself and the queen alien she was impregnated with at the end of the third installment) and the alien species. These are, however, different versions of each -- the scientists overseeing the cloning process have combined the alien and human DNA. What emerges is a form that resembles Ripley and retains her memories, but has developed a few distinctly alien-esque qualities, including a vicious maternal instinct. The aliens themselves acquire human intelligence, and soon escape from their holding cells. All hell proceeds to break loose, and Ripley and her swarthy band, originally charged to transport the aliens to earth, must escape to another ship before they reach home. Since this is, after all, an Alien movie, there's plenty of slinking around with slick hardware in dark, wet places, hardheaded musclebound types, robots and conniving military shitheads. Jeunet's primary contribution is the surrealist tone and the enhancement of the birth and ownership motifs of the previous films. There is a good deal of womb imagery, adding to the maternal theme, composed of slimy, disturbing ... well, stuff that characters alternately fall into and escape from. Jeunet also constructs a startling, dreamy sequence in which an apparently dead scientist explains to Ripley the new humanized alien birth procedure while they gaze on at the mutated atrocity. This is sharp stuff for a big Hollywood movie, and Jeunet manages to seamlessly merge his quirky sensibilities with the expected conventions of the series. Any reports of the death of the Alien series are greatly exaggerated. Sure, on one level its the same old story -- a chest popping here, a ripped-open skull there, and the inevitable chase scene. But this misses what makes an Alien movie entertaining; namely, just how a director makes that story viable, fun, and beautiful to look at. This Resurrection, like its primary characters, is all of the above.

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