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Alien 3 Brought Back The Original Movie’s Best Xenomorph Detail
Alien 3 is one of the most divisive movies in the Alien franchise, but it cleverly brings back the best gimmick of the original Alien. Picking up directly after the ending of Aliens, Alien 3 sees Ripley marooned on a prison planet, with her and the inmates discovering that a new xenomorph has been born and is loose among them. As they band together to stop it, Ripley also makes the discovery that she is impregnated with a xenomorph queen, leading her to elect to destroy herself after the rampaging xenomorph has been stopped.
Alien 3 was a tough behind-the-scenes experience for David Fincher, who has since disowned the movie that was his feature directorial debut. Alien 3 killing off Hicks and Newt (Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn) is also one of numerous narrative twists that led to the film's polarizing reputation. With that said, Alien 3 makes one very wise decision in having only one xenomorph, a smart move for the film to make after Aliens.
Alien 3 Returned To Having Only 1 Xenomorph (Like The First Movie)
The original Alien benefits from the dread of its xenomorph lurking throughout the vast Nostromo, with the characters never knowing when and where it might pop up. By contrast, James Cameron's Aliens is all about escalation, with Ripley and her space marine allies battling a swarm of xenomorphs that have overrun a human space colony. With Aliens upping the scope of the Alien movie franchise so much and shifting it from horror to action genre-wise, Alien 3 makes the smart decision to take its own scale back down.
As in Alien, Alien 3 takes place in a vast maze of a setting with its prison planet. Alien 3 following the template of Aliens in having it crawling with xenomorphs, while matching or even raising its stakes, could also have easily felt like more of the same after Aliens. Ultimately, Alien 3 taking on more of an Alien-style template benefits the film in numerous ways.
Why 1 Xenomorph Was Best After Aliens
As in Alien, the xenomorph in Alien 3 arrives and attacks its human prey right when it is least expected, with every xenomorph kill in the movie maximally shocking. Having one xenomorph in Alien 3 also allows the movie to revisit Ridley Scott's approach to the xenomorph Alien, with its horror-movie tone working in an equally valid way as the action-packed Aliens. At the same time, Alien 3 does not completely forsake the action-trappings of Aliens, as seen in its climactic xenomorph chase.
Using just one xenomorph, Alien 3 maximizes its tension and builds to a climax that is both action-heavy and terrifying. Alien 3 may be regarded as a love-it-or-hate-it Alien movie. Still, the decision to keep the xenomorph count in Alien 3 to one stands as one of its great narrative strengths.
