Grim and uncompromising, ALIEN3 was a troubled, expensive production that burned through an assortment of directors before it finally landed on the screen courtesy of
David Fincher, a filmmaker whose work dwells on serial killers, crime, and the darkest sides of human nature. If cheering sci-fi fans thought that Fincher would continue the militaristic heroics of the previous
Aliens they were badly mistaken.
The original Alien seemed gloomy and gothic, more of a haunted-house chiller than the cosmic fairy tales popular at the time and this one goes even further to convey a sense of desolation and hopelessness. There's not an ounce of humor here, but if there were, it would have to be someone saying to Ripley at some point, "It sure sucks to be you!" Weaver does a commendable job, in a very grueling physical performance that takes the beleaguered heroine to the outer limits of despair and ultimate sacrifice. But if science-fiction is meant to convey a "sense of wonder," the question here is "wonder who would find this entertaining?"