Saturday Night Weaver

No, whatever impact this sequel leaves is due, in greater measure, to Sigourney Weaver. This ever-statuesque performer plays the maiden warrior as a cross between Telly Savalas and Julia Child; when she's not being a bald-headed sourpuss, she's confounding us with her line readings from Mars. Weaver's amazon athleticism and actressy mannerisms have rarely been put to better use: she can land a face-busting hook without losing her composure; she can run down a subterranean alley without breaking a sweat. (To demonstrate these unique abilities, Weaver punches a prisoner in the mug and races throughout Fiorina 161 without a drop of perspiration.) She's magnificently silly, like Joan of Arc playing rough-house with the boys in Sing-Sing. Weaver is triumphant as bad-mama Ripley, but truth be told, Alien 3 isn't really worthy of her.

ALIEN 3
Directed by David Fincher; written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson; with Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, and Lance Henriksen.

Rated