32 Years Later, Alien 3’s Worst Ripley Decisions Still Don’t Make Sense And Almost Ruined The Franchise

Alien 3 is the second sequel to Ridley Scott’s genre-changing space horror, Alien, but, thanks to a succession of baffling missteps, the movie failed to live up to either of the previous installments. Following the success of James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens, the Alien franchise seemed in a good place. However, Alien 3‘s troubled production and bizarre narrative decisions meant that the franchise has failed to reach the heights of the original movies in the four decades since their release.

The comparative failure of Alien 3 can be attributed to some terrible decisions concerning the iconic character, Ripley. Alien 3 takes place after Aliens, with Ripley crashing onto a planet holding a prison with around 25 inmates, confirmed to be “rapists and murderers.” The Alien franchise’s xenomorphs are deadly enough; there was no need to put Ripley in more danger by placing her in a room full of human predators, and this bizarre plot decision is one of many that make no sense. Ripley dies at the end of Alien 3, and the odd narrative choices almost killed the franchise too.

Alien 3’s Ripley Attack Scene Was Unnecessary And Predictable

There Are Few Redeemable Characters In Alien 3

One factor in Ripley’s iconic status is that she is not sexualized, so the decision to make her the lone woman among rapists, then both sexualize and violate her, feels like a betrayal of her character. Once Ripley’s situation was established, the attack scene was predictable (though mercifully short, as the enraged Dillon interrupts it) and entirely unnecessary to both Ripley and every other character. As Dillon was incarcerated for both rape and murder, saving Ripley does not undo his earlier crimes, and the failure to understand this fact affects the characterization of virtually all the male characters in Alien 3.

Alien 3 has few redeemable characters because no matter what the inmates do throughout the movie, they cannot atone for their past violence by fighting a monster. The only morally upstanding members of the Fiorina 161 community are the unpleasant warden Andrews and his assistant 85 – neither of whom make suitable allies. Even the mysterious Clemens, expertly played by Charles Dance, is identified as one of the planet’s more reprehensible inhabitants by his prison tattoo – despite his attempts to treat Ripley and understand the threat facing the facility. His death completely curtails the pair’s relationship, leaving Ripley utterly alone.

Alien 3 Killing Newt And Hicks Made The Rest Of The Movie Difficult To Watch

Alien 3 Wasted The Opportunity To Continue The Motherhood Symbolism Set Up In Aliens

Not being believed had been a recurring theme for Ripley in the first two Alien movies, and the ending of Aliens set Ripley up with supporters at last, but Alien 3 killed off Hicks and Newt, and left Bishop barely operational. Giving Ripley the beginnings of a team would have developed her story, and added new characters for fans of the franchise to care about. Instead, Ripley loses everything important to her before finding herself back at square one, fighting to be believed. This made the rest of Alien 3 extremely frustrating, repetitive, and difficult to watch.

The first two Alien movies established Ripley as a caring person. She looks out for Jones the cat throughout Alien, and then bonds with both Hicks and Newt in Aliens. This writing decision developed both Ripley’s character and the Xenomorph lore: we see the change in Ripley when she is defending somebody she loves, and Aliens‘ xenomorph Queen fight can be interpreted as two mothers defending their children. This motherhood theme could have been a defining feature in Alien 3 when Ripley discovered that she is impregnated with a xenomorph, but the many potential implications were never explored.

Alien 3’s Strange Story Choices Killed What Could’ve Been A Great Movie

Director David Fincher Disowned His Own Movie

Alien 3 should have equaled the success of the first two movies in the Alien franchise. The technologically lacking prison setting gave Alien 3 an almost post-apocalyptic feel, which would combine another new genre with the original science-fiction horror concept. The setting was interesting and the cast featured veteran actors Charles Dance and Pete Postlethwaite alongside Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ripley, so Alien 3 had some redeeming features. However, the decision to make most of the characters rapists while killing off Aliens‘ fan favorites set Alien 3 up to fail, even in the opinion of its director.

Sigourney Weaver confirmed that Alien 3 director David Fincher didn’t have much creative control when directing the movie. Alien 3 had already been passed between several directors and writers and Fincher had to fight to shoot the vision he wanted while rewriting the original script. Fincher eventually disowned Alien 3, saying at the Tribeca Film Festival (via The Wrap,) “I wanted to make all my own mistakes instead of inheriting them from other people.” Still, while the worst Ripley decisions in Alien 3 were terrible for the franchise, Alien 3 does have good moments, and, as the Alien franchise is still going, things could have been worse.

Source: The Wrap