My second viewing of this one.  

Cameron does a more than respectable job fulfilling the hopes and dreams of fans of the original Alien, but at the same time takes it in his own hands by twisting the genre a bit and adding in one of his favorite elements: badass marines.  As much as I love Bill Paxton he came off as very over the top on this watch—the rest of the cast is good to great.  It’s really Weaver and the minor snip-bits we get of Lance Henriksen’s Bishop that are the cream of the crop.  Even though direction is a tad above par, we feel comfortable with this rag tag group of jokesters and familiar faces.  

Excusing any of its flaws its really Cameron & co.’s brilliant take of the final showdown bringing the theme of Aliens to its apex;   the motherhood and “family“ growth apparent as we see Ripley holding Newt and staring straight into the eyes of the Queen at her nest.  Segueing into my assertion that the first three Alien films at least analyze parts of the human condition.  Alien mainly focusing on strengthening and adapting when the situation calls for it, and now Aliens with its brilliant take (particularly for Ripley) aspiring to have and grow a family (with Hicks and Newt).  It’s a perfect example of why Ripley has to be a woman, and could never be a man (and not just being a woman for the sake of filling in an important quota).  

Overall, on par with the original which I recently just knocked down a notch.  Both are 4 stars, easy.  Stay tuned for my review on Alien3.