ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997)
Starring Sigourney Weaver and Wynona Ryder
Eager to carry on with its "Alien" franchise, 20th Century Fox gave "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" scribe Joss Whedon a seemingly impossible task: Write a screenplay that brings back the character of Ripley, who committed suicide at the end of the third movie.
There was some talk of making the entire third movie a dream. Whedon finally settled on cloning Ripley (played once again by Weaver) and having the alien embryo, implanted in her in the third film, removed and become the basis for the fourth film. She returns as Ripley, but not exactly. She's now a super-human being with acid for blood and mild memories of the events that transpired in the first three films. It's also something like a century since the incidents in Part 3.
Michael Wincott (who played the baddie in "The Crow") is a welcome presence as the captain of a pirate space ship and Brad Dourif is on board as a scientist who lusts after the alien's incredible killing capability. Ryder is a little weak as one of the pirate ship's crew. French art filmmaker Jeunet, who made the excellent "City of Lost Children," was recruited to direct and the result is a mild improvement over the third film, with more suspense and more action. He also brought along Ron Perlman, who was seen in "City," as one of the good-guy pirates.
All in all, the film delivers good schlock, plenty of great make-up effects (including a scene where Ripley runs into a bunch of freak replicants of herself that were mangled by failed cloning), but it still pales in comparison with the first two in the series. Although it bombed at the U.S. box office, it was hit overseas and there's talk of yet another sequel, but it will probably be long time coming if it ever happens.