11 Movie Sequels That Turned Badasses Into Total Wimps

4. Ripley - Alien Resurrection

Like McClane, the decision to over-extend the Alien franchise meant a fatal move away from the core appeal of the central character. And like Han Solo, she should have been killed off before anyone had the opportunity to stretch her too thin. Sadly though, Sigourney Weaver was convinced to come back to play a version of Ripley who was little more than a lie, and an utter betrayal of everything that had made her instantly popular in the original trilogy.

Perhaps because she was a clone, or more likely because Weaver just wasn't all that interested in playing Ripley even when she had signed on, this version of the character is a hollow shell of the character. Yes, she looks the same, and kills a few aliens along the way, but she wasn't the trapped, wounded animal surrounded on all sides by death and instead of being a leader of inevitably doomed survivors, she's a by-stander who is fatally unable to command even a slither of the audience's sympathies.

The lack of fear might be intended as a reinforcement of her bad-ass status, but frankly her terror was the most effective in for the audience when she was surrounded by meat-heads, cynics and company men.