6. Alien Resurrection (1997)
Sequel To: Alien 3, the debut effort by David Fincher, who went on to make
Se7en,
Fight Club,
Zodiac and
The Social Network.
Who Made It?: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, famous for such quirky, whimsical works as
Delicatessen and
The City of Lost Children.
Why Was It Made?: Despite its mixed critical reception and production problems,
Alien 3 made money at the box office. With each instalment having a different director and Fincher keen to disown the film, it was only natural to go with a new man at the helm.
Why Is It So Bad?: There's no doubt that Jeunet was the wrong man for the job: big romping sci-fi action is just not his style, and the film lacks the personal stamp of his oeuvre either side of it. But aside from that, the series had nowhere to go after killing off Ripley. Even with a treatment by Joss Whedon, the film feels bloated and shallow with a video game plot and a host of underdeveloped or uninteresting characters. While sections of
Alien 3 were messy, they did at least follow through on a number of interesting ideas which stemmed from Vincent Ward's original vision.
Alien Resurrection ignores all such opportunities, settling for tedious shock deaths, nonsensical plot twists and needlessly retreading old ground.
What Happened Next: The
Alien vs. Predator films and eventually
Prometheus. Jeunet went on to repair his reputation with
Amelie four years later.