Alien³

The first time in this cult franchise we have two key elements playing the main role. The first one is undoubtedly the Alien itself, and the second is the depressing and oppressive setting along with the morality and psychological profiles of the convicts – serial killers, violent criminals, pedophiles. David Fincher doesn't waste anything in his debut and his camera escapades (the Alien’s POV) are already a signature. Unfortunately, the monster is again only one and also annoyingly computer-generated when shown in full. Compared to the second installment, there is a slight downgrade, but the atmosphere is brilliantly depressing, and the play with lights is amazing. For example, the lighting of the background during the autopsy is worth mentioning. The emphasized faces alternating with short shots of the scalpel's sharp macro details are incredibly suggestive. Likewise, the prisoners have very well written characters, and the ending, as presented by Fincher, is not particularly surprising. Definitely a progressive and the most peculiar Alien. (2003-11-01)

Fincher's feature debut was clearly plagued by the studio's pansy wallet and promotion, which is quite visible even years after the film managed to reclaim its well-deserved reputation. Regardless, this goes hand in hand with the trend for each director to approach it radically differently, which is also done here to great effect. The atmosphere of a penal colony, where nothing works, is definitely something to behold, especially when you look at the local population, who have clearly done a number of unpleasant things in their lives. As an added bonus, there’s also decent Goldenthal music, great camera tricks with the FPS look, and a cut-out Ellen Ripley. 4 ½. (The rest I leave to the possibilities of the expanded edition.) (2009-05-28)

The subject is fine, Sigourney Weaver is great as always, the magic with the camera and its lenses in the tunnels of the prison labyrinth is perfect, and the film has Fincher’s typically bold and depressing creative signature. But that somehow doesn’t bring the film to the level of which Fincher is usually capable and which would have helped Alien3 to be as impressive as its predecessor. (2002-05-27)

I'm putting this film a little below Scott's original opus. Fincher's a talent, there's no denying that. Unfortunately, the third installment of the series was reportedly treated by the studio as unwanted, so it was a problem to fit it into the budget at all (which is visible in places). Yet, after Cameron's spectacularly militant shootout, this psychological play is literally a revelation in a completely repulsive space crime environment for the worst offenders. The creeping terror is trickier than ever, guns are scarce, and Ripley has to fight on two fronts -- a hungry intruder and creepy "roommates". Maybe the third film is something else entirely than what was expected, but in hindsight, I like it more than Cameron's contribution to the Alien family. (2004-01-27)

As an audio-visually powerful, toned-down, existential drama about seeking forgiveness and God in a God-forsaken place, this movie is excellent, but half way through it’s like out of nowhere Fincher remembers (or more likely the producers forced him to remember) that he is filming the new Alien and not a sci-fi adaptation of something by Dostoyevsky. So, all of a sudden he forgets about everything that came before and then launches into an absolutely regular, uninventive kill-fest that loses all of the atmosphere built up in the first half. And this goes for both the regular version and the director’s cut, which is the better of the two, but just a better version of the same and not “something completely different" as many reviewers suggest. (2010-01-13)