Verdict:
Alien and Aliens are movies belonging to two different genres: horror and thriller respectively. The tension in the first film was palpable right from the beginning. There were creepy sound effects mixed in with the space music that made the exploration scenes really tense. The titular alien was a killing machine. The sequel trades the tension in for gunfire and explosions, while the aliens are much more vulnerable this time around.
The writing in the sequel is of mixed quality. Most of the lines uttered by the marines in the first half of the film are horrible. I understand that the creators were trying to make the marines out as macho grunts, but what they ended up with are exaggerated gestures and cheesy meaningless lines made out of misused army lingo. “Fire in the hole” does not mean actual fire in an actual hole. Right at the beginning, there’s a fake-out scene where something bad happens but turns out to be a dream – a hated cliché. The writing is definitely better in the first movie.
Nonetheless, the characters are fun and memorable. The film is filled with brilliant little bits, like a guy wakes up from hibernation and his first action is to put a cigar in his mouth. Sigourney Weaver is back of course as the strongest female lead of all time. She is both strong but vulnerable, giving the character realism and relatability. Paul Reiser as the villain is exceptional. His villainy feels realistic and the way it is revealed over the course of the film feels natural. A little adorable girl Newt is played by Carrie Henn. Newt is a cute kid, with the value of her acting varying from line to line, as you’d expect. Either way, she does not talk a lot. Aliens is famous for Bill Paxton’s appearance. He overacts a bit, but remains very entertaining. Everyone’s dialogue is a little corny, but nobody in this film is bad.
The music is not as tense and integrated with the film as in the first film but nonetheless Horner created an iconic theme with a core of snare drums and metallic percussion.
World design is one of the facets that is improved in the sequel. There are painstakingly built colony buildings, various machines and of course the Sulaco ship model. A lot of it is primarily found in the Directors’ Cut, which some people do not like, but I would highly recommend it if you’re into world building. Although CRT screens may look outdated, their size and static just adds to the creepy atmosphere. The Aliens themselves move a bit clunky, but the design is still impressive, and most importantly, no CGI effects were used. The editing is skillfully executed to portray the creatures as realistically as possible. These practical effects ensure that the movie ages well. Yes, occasionally you can clearly see that something is a miniature, but that is still much better than the blurry computer effects of later years.
There are some strange visual issues. Sometimes mockup models are superimposed onto a background, presumably using green-screen, and that does not look good. There is an outline visible around the objects, which just looks weird. Remarkably enough, the first film did not have this problem nearly as much, as it did not try to add so many effects with moving vehicles.
Aliens has some of the most quoted memorable lines but also many dumb ones. The music is iconic. The action is great, albeit at the cost of tension. Despite the flaws, the atmosphere and the characters are so good that Aliens can rightfully be called one of the best action movies of all time, as well as one of the best sci-fi movies.