Old vs. New

James Lileks can't decide if he wants to watch Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem or 3:10 To Yuma and offers up this recollection on the entire Aliens franchise:

Have a nagging desire for more “Aliens” stuff. Don’t want to watch the fourth one ever again, though. And the third one does not exist in my mind, because of what it did to the ending of the second one. So let me get this straight – there are six “Aliens” movies, and two-thirds bite the wax tadpole; why do I care?

I would agree that the original is a classic of the horror genre (even though I know LAGuy doesn't share my affection for it). The second movie is another classic, although from a different genre: Action/Suspense. The third, well, here is where things get a little wonky. My feeling is that it's a damn fine movie, although I understand exactly where Lileks is coming from. The first two movies leave you with a feeling of hope, a sort of Barack Obama "Yes, We Can!" moment.

In Alien 3, director David Fincher seems determined - from the very beginning - to take that feeling of hope and flush it directly down the dumpster. Much like his movie Seven, you not only leave the theater believing "No, We Can't!", but you also wonder why we even tried in the first place. And you want to find the nearest shower.

The fourth movie, Alien Resurrection, is a fascinating train wreck of a flick. There are several excellent movie moments - Ripley blowing the head off an Alien with a shotgun comes to mind - but they never coalesce into a coherent film. Horror often walks a tightrope between being scary and being unintentionally funny and at the end of the movie, when the Mother Alien and her spawn are sharing a tender moment, it's hard to suppress a giggle.

As for the Alien-Predator mashups, the first one is okay. Having Lance Henriksen around is a nice touch and the birth of the Predalien is kind of cool, but other than that it's nothing special. I haven't seen the latest yet. Since all the reviews suggest it sucks Scrabble tiles, I'll wait for it to come to Skinemax.

So I guess I don't agree that two-thirds bite the wax tadpole. Maybe half. Or maybe I do agree and just have a weakness for tadpoles, wax or otherwise. Either way, suddenly I find myself with a nagging desire for more "Aliens" stuff.

Go figure.