Acid in the Face

Alien³ does everything in its power to insult fans of the previous Alien films. I’ve known for a long time that Alien³ was a movie that my parents genuinely hate. That’s why I ignored it when I was younger, only seeing it later as an adult. Since it’s one of a few movies my parents considered walking out of. SPOILER ALERT! Alien³ kills off beloved characters Hicks and Newt within the first few minutes. So what’s the point of sticking around after that?

Ripley and an egg containing a queen are the sole survivors of a crash that lands them on an all male prison planet. Meaning Alien³ is the only movie in the Alien quadrilogy that doesn’t pass the Bechdel test. While there, Ripley is isolated and has her head shaved. It brings down the progress Sigourney Weaver made severely. The only crew/cast is a small group of prisoners. The only interesting thing we learn about the Xenomorph is that the host determines the form of the alien. A facehugger attaches itself to a dog and becomes a dog alien. A slender creature that runs on all fours.

The only thing I can call good about Alien³ is the iconic shot of Ripley with an alien next to her face. She isn’t killed because she has an alien growing inside her. In the end, Ripley dies by leaping into a fiery furnace with chestburster in hand. Like most franchise movies that are this terrible, Alien³ suffered from rewrites and studio meddling. So you can’t really blame first time director David Fincher too much. That being said, Alien³ is still a gloomy, overly depressing, orange colored mess.

A Xenomorph gets dangerously close to Ripley

Preceded by: Aliens & Followed by: Alien Resurrection