THE ALIEN FRANCHISE, SO FAR 🤩😊🤮

It’s hard to describe why I love the ALIEN movies so much, but my need to share this collection of reviews, thoughts, and opinions about the franchise feels like it’s bursting out of my chest. For one thing, almost every installment feels visually stunning (even the bad ones) – I love the way the production, cinematography, and story mirror H.R. Giger’s brutalist xenomorph designs. The aggressive bleakness and nihilism hug you in the face, implanting you with a writhing sense of dread. The cast of these films are, for the most part, chosen impeccably, almost forcing you to empathize with the various humans and androids who have the fate of interacting with the titular creature.

I’ll be the first to admit, not all of these films are “good”, but I’m okay with that. I love the lore and world-building – it’s why I still watch every STAR WARS show or MCU movie, even if I’m not particularly excited about an individual installment. The ALIEN series shows a unique relationship between humans, their creations, and their destroyers. There’s an understanding that the aliens aren’t evil (or even intelligent); merely brutal, destructive, and terrifying, and it’s the humans that understand and acknowledge those basal alien features yet act with capitalist greed and selfish self-preservation. So without further ado, board my vessel as we venture through the ALIEN franchise.

Unsurprisingly, ALIEN is one of the best installments of the franchise. It’s become the template for not just the rest of the franchise, but a cosmic horror genre as a whole. Sigourney Weaver shines in this film as Ellen Ripley, a character who is as integral to this series as the aliens themselves. Directed by Ridley Scott, this film perfectly blends sci-fi and monster movies. I know I previously mentioned that I love lore; this film does a perfect job of world-building without excessive exposition – the characters have no idea what they’re dealing with, and at this point, we don’t either, adding to the sheer terror of the situation.

And I can’t not mention my favorite character – Jonesy, one the best feline actors to grace the silver screen.

Deservedly considered one of the best sequels of all time, ALIENS is a perfect follow-up to an incredible movie. Looking back on director James Cameron’s career, there are elements to this film that seem to resurface in his later work; space travel, aliens, androids, and mech-suits; but the focus on character development, ensemble casts, and an action-packed story. In ALIEN we had a survival story; in ALIENS we had a war movie. Other than Weaver’s Ripley, Lance Henriksen as the synthetic Bishop, Carrie Henn as Newt, and the various trigger-happy Colonel Marines round out the cast of incredibly interesting characters.

Even though ALIEN 3 had a lot to live up to, and perhaps precisely because it needed to follow two modern classics, the third installment of this franchise fell a tiny bit flat. Important note – I actually watched the special edition “Assembly Cut” of this film and not the theatrical version based on impassioned fan reviews promising that the cut greatly improves the movie.

Directed by David Fincher, this movie takes place on a prison planet – “Fury” 161 and follows Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and a group of all-male convicts. Like the films before it, the cast bolsters ALIEN 3; notably Charles Dance (GAME OF THRONES) as Dr. Clemens and Charles S. Dutton as the preacher, Dillon.

It’s impressive that this film reduced the volume of xenomorphs from ALIENS and returned to a single creature (although with a new Giger-commissioned quadrupedal design solicited by Fincher), but ultimately, it was weighed down by a convoluted plot and a general disregard for its predecessors.

If ALIEN 3 wasn’t an explicit cash grab, ALIEN: RESURRECTION sure was. Ellen Ripley’s trilogy should’ve been completed with the previous film; RESURRECTION brings Sigourney Weaver back solely because of her star power. And unfortunately, as much as I love Weaver, it feels forced. On the plus side, this film boasts some of the best horror of the franchise; from the Newborn to the failed Ripley clones to the underwater chase, this was the only film that kept me up at night. Combined with Winona Ryder and Ron Perlman, I find it hard to hate this movie despite the barebones story, underdeveloped plot, and out-of-place eccentricities (including the infamous basketball scene).

My favorite two things about ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (AVP) are the Antarctic setting and the story. Setting a story in the Earth’s southernmost continent feels like a natural progression from the bleakness of outer space, and while AVP didn’t quite utilize the setting as much as THE THING, it does make sense from a story perspective. And on that note, the story, albeit ridiculous in theory, does make sense to me.

My biggest issue with this movie is that it feels disconnected from its ALIEN predecessors. This is partly because it’s set as the earliest film in the franchise, reworking the lore we’ve come to understand, and partly because it feels like an obvious cash grab. James Cameron, who was slated to return, even stated that this film would “kill the validity of the franchise.” Unfortunately, he was right. The series would have been stronger without this film and its immediate successor. That said, ALIEN VS. PREDATOR is still an enjoyable watch on its own.

There isn’t much to say about this film. It’s the only truly awful installment in this franchise – above all, this film wastes any remaining waxing potential of the first ALIEN VS. PREDATOR film. The story is incredibly convoluted, even for ALIEN standards, and there’s no respect for the ambient cosmic horror or survival stories that make ALIEN ALIEN. Instead of opting for complex, human characters who earn their empathy, AVPR decides to beat you over the head with exposition, almost literally labeling characters as good or bad. Plus, the film is so visually dim that it wastes the visual design of its xenomorphs. If AVP didn’t “kill the validity of the franchise”, AVPR definitely did.

I’m biased toward PROMETHEUS—it was the first ALIEN movie I saw outside of the original. I was 16 when it came out, and because of the R-rating, I technically wasn’t allowed to see it in theaters, so my dad took me. I remember being both shocked and horrified by certain scenes, yet completely engrossed in the lore. In the 33 years between the original 1979 film and PROMETHEUS, the visual effects had progressed noticeably, making the creatures in PROMETHEUS bolder and more realistic. Although I now appreciate the groundbreaking VFX of the original, the modern approach at the time felt more captivating. I’ve rewatched PROMETHEUS since then, and while it may not be a perfect movie, I have a soft spot for it.

In somewhat of a return-to-form, PROMETHEUS, which is set on a moon adjacent to the setting of ALIEN and ALIENS, is strengthened by its cast. Noomi Rapace (LAMB), Idris Elba, Charlize Theron, Kate Dickie (THE WITCH, GAME OF THRONES, THE GREEN KNIGHT) and, of course, Michael Fassbender contribute excellent performances and star power. The movie is also visually stunning, filmed primarily in Iceland, creating sweeping, alien landscapes. The weakest part of this film is the story, but it does just enough to cement this movie as the best ALIEN movies since ALIENS.

Unfortunately, ALIEN: COVENANT fumbles any momentum that PROMETHEUS may have built. The cast lacks the gravity of its predessecor, and while Katherine Waterson, Danny McBride, and Michael Fassbender try their hardest, they are’t able to save a weak plot. Fortunately, COVENANT is ambitious, which ultimately keeps the film afloat; coupled with the beautiful filming locations of Iceland and New Zealand. I know that some viewers were upset by the “demystification” of the xenomorphs, but I don’t think that’s fair. There’s enough left ambiguous for many more ALIEN movies (whether or not that’s a good thing).

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Say what you will about this franchise, but I love that these films are being created. Cosmic horror and dystopian fiction are two of my favorite genres, and the ALIEN franchise is the perfect combination of the two. It’s also impressive that we’ve gotten a new installment consistently ever 5-7 years since the first one in 1979. I’m cautiously optimistic about ALIEN: ROMULUS; even if it’s not amazing, this franchise has a track record of always, somehow, being good enough – partially thanks to the xenomorph’s otherworldly resilience.

All of the ALIEN films are streaming on Hulu or on Disney+ with a Hulu subscription.