2. Ellen Ripley (Alien: Resurrection)
I know most people want to praise Ellen Ripley in Aliens, over and over and over again, and deservedly so. Her character is very interesting in that far more entertaining movie. But we can learn even more from thinking about Alien: Resurrection. Alien: Resurrection is certainly a flawed movie to say the least. But the character of Ripley really does come together in a lot of interesting ways (no pun intended). She has to come to terms not only with her origins as a clone but with many other aspects of herselfher "longevity," her "memories," and her genetic makeup containing Xenomorph material. She interacts with the other characters in fascinating wayshuman, synthetic, and Xenomorphthat are simultaneously enigmatic, awe-inspiring, and scary. Ripley goes far beyond her role as survivor in Alien, mother to new family unit in Aliens, and heartbreaking sacrificial hero in Alien3. As many other writers have observed, in this movie, which I won't even call underappreciated, Ripley retains her complex femininity and brings it into extremely unsettling territory. The movie takes the human motherhood concept and turns it on its head in many very, very grotesque ways. Ripley is ultimately the mother of a monster, and must come to terms with that as well. She seems to feel tremendous love and empathy as well as incredible revulsion and duty about it, and whether through its vague tone or on purpose, the movie blurs the lines. I think the movie comes from a very good and ambitious place in trying to strike a balance between wanting that happy ending we all wanted at the end of Aliens while also taking the lead character somewhere and evolving her (no pun intended) in the spirit of the series, even if it doesn't successfully achieve both of those things. It's too much to ignore.