"Tiptoeing into weird Freudian areas and moments of grotesquerie new even to this series, "Alien Resurrection," the fourth entry in Fox's almost 20-year-old franchise, is a generally cold, though sometimes wildly imaginative and surprisingly jokey, $70 million scarefest that may prove too mixed a meal to scare up monstrous business among mass auds. French helmer Jean-Pierre Jeunet — the more directorial half of the duo behind “Delicatessen” and “The City of Lost Children” — has breathed new life into the series on several fronts, and proves no slouch in delivering the action set pieces. But the movie is held back by a lack of emotional engagement at its center and a pottage of half-assimilated, European-flavored quirks."

"Witness the resurrection."

"Then there’s Ripley herself, whose transformation has all the hallmarks of a Whedon heroine. Nearly every Whedon project seems to have a woman with special abilities given to her by one shadowy cabal of men or another. Inevitably, she rebels and takes back her autonomy with force. This happened with Buffy, it happens with River in Serenity, and it happens with Echo in his later series Dollhouse. Ripley’s rampage in Resurrection is textbook Whedon patriarchy smashing, but it’s also a fitting conclusion to her relationship with Weyland-Yutani. The company is replaced by a galactic military, but it’s all part of the same consolidation of power. The aliens represent the line corporations, governments, and armies (are these three even distinct?) are willing to cross to achieve their own ends, so Ripley’s resistance is always essentially pitted against the same thing. In Resurrection, they accidentally empower her through the very process that was meant to use her up. By reducing her to the level of meat to be experimented on, she and the xenomorphs literally become one. Everything and everyone is just a plaything for those in power. In one of the film’s most cathartic (and disturbing) scenes, Ripley torches a lab full of failed Ripley clones, one of which painfully begs her for death. One of Ripley’s new crewmates, played by the always scene-stealing Ron Perlman, doesn’t get why she’s so angry as to be wasting ammo. He chalks it up to being “a chick thing,” which is a fitting final note. The control over human bodies has always had gendered undertones in the Alien films. Ripley is a woman whose physical autonomy is always under threat, either from the aliens or from her patriarchal corporate overlords. Here, she takes back control more divisively than ever before."

"As a series of action set pieces, the movie is frequently gripping and always highly watchable. In one extended section — geographically reminiscent of “The Poseidon Adventure” with its underwater swim and vertical climb — there’s a real sense of claustrophobia as the beasties pursue their human lunch underwater, and the “Goldfinger”-like demise of the final alien is a typically imaginative tour de force. Editing by Jeunet regular Herve Schneid is especially tight (pic is the shortest of the quartet). Darius Khondji’s lensing, aided by the silver-added ENR printing process, emphasizes deep blacks and soft ochers, with flashes of electric blue supplying visual relief. Nigel Phelps’ production design crosses geometrical sets and clangy brute iron with the Victorian-industrialized look of Jeunet’s own “Lost Children.” Whedon’s script injects some of the rough, testosterone humor of “Aliens” into a story that tries to build on the cross-species subtext of “Alien3.” However, when the movie strays into weirder territory — where, one feels, Jeunet’s heart really lies — there’s a growing feeling of inadequacy. Pic’s interest in Ripley’s split, half-human personality and her maternal bond with the Queen leads to some of the most intriguing — and cheesiest — stuff in the picture, but overall come off more as exotic inserts than fully assimilated sequences. Upside moments include the discovery of a horrific lab (straight out of “Lost Children”) and Ripley’s late-on “embrace” of her fearsome offspring; downside is a laughable Newborn that all but blows the pic’s finale."

"It’s almost as if the pic is afraid to enter the darkened rooms whose doors it keeps opening, though if it had, a truly original movie could have resulted. As it is, the finished film shows many signs of creative push and pull — Whedon’s original script was extensively changed during production — from unexplained ellipses in the plot’s early stages, through dialogue that is surprisingly jokey and unelevated (considering the themes at play), to a storyline that seems unwilling to stray far from the action. In addition, the key relationship in the picture, between femmes Ripley and Call, has little chance to realize its potential and provide a badly needed emotional hook for the audience. In every respect, this is a cold movie that, even at the very end, fails to provide the sense of emotional release that the others in the series all managed to deliver."

"Now here is "Alien Resurrection." Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is still the heroine, even though 200 years have passed since "Alien3." She has been cloned out of a drop of her own blood, and is being used as a broodmare: The movie opens with surgeons removing a baby alien from her womb. How the baby got in there is not fully explained, for which we should perhaps be grateful."

"Bruce Davison as Willard Stiles (archive footage)"

"Ben Crowe as Himself"

"St. Benjamin as The Baller"

"Norman Alden as Policeman"

"James Luisi as Ed"

"Scott Garrett as Henry Gray"

"Lee Paul as Carey"

"Kaz Garas as Joe Greer"

"Meredith Baxter as Eve Garrison"

"Paul Carr as Kelly"

"Richard Van Vleet as Reade"

"Rosemary Murphy as Beth Garrison"

"Arlen Stuart as Mrs. Gray"

"Kenneth Tobey as Engineer"

"For the Summer of '72"

"Teamed up to Tear 'em up! [poster for double-feature pairing "Willard" and "Ben"]"

"Lee Harcourt Montgomery as Danny Garrison"

"[in tears, as Michael Jackson sings "Ben's Song" in the score] You'll get well, Ben, and I'll get well. We'll get well, Ben. [places Ben on a handkerchief] We'll get well, Ben. No one's gonna hurt one of my friends. No, sir. [gets out first aid kit, takes a cotton swab and gently rubs Ben's wound] It's okay. [Ben squeaks] You're the only friend I have. I love you, Ben."

"Where "WILLARD" ended... BEN begins. And this time, he's not alone!"

"Joseph Campanella as Cliff Kirtland"

"[sings] Start the day, you've been asleep too long. Start the day and sing a happy song. Smile, smile at everyone you meet and dance your way down each street. Oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oom pa pa. Oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oompa oom oom oom oom pa. Start the day, it's time to rise and shine. Off we go, the world is looking fine. Get dressed up, put on your Sunday best. Tomorrow you all can rest."

"Arthur O'Connell as Billy Hatfield"

"Ric Drasin as George"

"Fintan Thomas Swift — Barney"

"Frank Welker — Brainbots and Spider-bot"

"Declan James Swift — Peter"

"Dante James Hauser — Nigel"

"Will Ferrell — Megamind and Mega-Megamind"

"David Cross — Minion"

"Michelle Belforte Hauser — Damien's Mom"

"Jordan Alexander Hauser — Damien"

"Kevin N. Bailey — Kevin"

"Jeff Rawluk - Card Guard #1"

"Ahmet Zappa - Card Guard #2"

"Gregalan Williams - Police Officer"

"Erick Avari - Rocket (voice)"

"Dell Yount - Dr. Mockton"

"Michael Weatherred - Murphy"

"Scott Michael Campbell - 2nd Lieutenant Harold Reese"

"Charlie Robinson - Dr. Stanley"

"John Schuck - Gen. Myron Stone"

"Ed Begley, Jr. - Dr. Warner"

"Beverly Archer - Dr. Carnage"