From Aliens to Alien 3: The Evolution of the Xenomorph

In the first sequel, and dare I say slightly better film, is when we see the xenomorph change in appearance. James Cameron doesn’t change too much about the life cycle, other than providing an answer for the creation of Alien eggs, which we’ll discuss soon. 

Stan Winston, the creative genius who helped invent many practical effects throughout his brilliant career, kept the appearance of the face huggers mostly the same except for elongating its tail for jumping and running during its famous scene with Ripley and Newt. And Winston also added fingernails to the face hugger. You can hear them clicking along the floor when it pursues Ripley. The nails give the face hugger more relatability to that of an actual animal. Like the claws of a cat or the talons of a velociraptor, its prey knows that when the face hugger approaches and catches them it will have the ability to cut them and inflict pain on them. 

Aliens 1986

Before we get to the Queen, we should discuss the chest-burster in Aliens. Cameron improved on the original design. He gave the overall movement of it more flexibility. Whereas the original chest burster robotically turned from left to right, Cameron’s version has full flexibility. The two arm stumps in the first film have been replaced with full arms, giving the chest burster longer arms and hands it uses to wiggle from the host’s chest. Even the ferocity of the chest-burster is amplified in Cameron’s version. Whereas Ridley’s chest burster was relatively quiet when it birthed from Kane’s chest, only making a slight squeal before it slithered off, Cameron’s chest burster is psychotic on sight. Ridley’s version was that of a creature taking in its surroundings first, learning and observing the Nostromo crew. The chest-burster in Aliens seems to not care about its surroundings. It comes out from the host ready to kill.  

Cameron’s version of the adult xenomorph has been reimagined somewhat, too. Its smooth, shiny head has been replaced with a ribbed look, giving the xenomorph a blatant insectoid appearance this time around. Its dorsal spines are the same, but its hands and feet have been improved with more attention to the nails of their digits. Also, the overall body suit of the xenomorph has been tweaked to include numerous patches of ribbed skin, as if we’re seeing what it looks like underneath its fleshy exterior. This constant use of ribbed lines over its body and head certainly gives Cameron’s xenomorph a more hellish look, like it's still molting into another form.  

But the real gem of Cameron’s film is the Queen. The reveal of the Alien Queen is Cameron’s twist surprise to his audience. Whereas Ridley gifted us with the unexpected chest burster nobody saw coming, the presence of the Alien Queen does the same for the sequel. The Queen is totally original in the vast scope of cinema and earns its right as a monumental achievement in practical effects.  

Its ovipositor lays each large egg covered in thick residue. The massive ovipositor itself hangs from the ceiling by residue the xenomorphs use to create the hive. The Queen sits on her throne made of large, single protrusions, like the dorsal spines used to breathe. Again, the appearance of singular lines like bones or ribs is used with the xenomorph species to convey an insect design, like the Queen is sitting in the middle of a web and she’s the spider awaiting her prey.  

Other than being much larger than her warrior xenomorphs, she has four arms, too. Two massive arms she uses for reach and for battle, and two smaller arms she uses for close-up grabbing. She isn’t just a xenomorph giving birth. She holds status over the others. Her appearance suggests this. Her head has a three-pointed crest to it, like a crown. She’s royalty. Her mouth section is withdrawn inside a carapace, like that of a turtle shell. It protrudes when she greets Ripley and Newt. Also, this section can move fluidly. It can turn left and right without using its entire head.  

Aliens 1986

The Queen also has some type of non-verbal communication with her underlings. Perhaps it’s just body language she gives or some type of telepathic ability, but they understand her and obey her orders.  

Another addition Cameron made was the use of the xenomorph tail. In Ridley’s version, the tail wasn’t a primary concern other than to give it an animal-like appearance. Cameron weaponized the tail in his version. The xenomorph's spiked tail tip can incapacitate its victims and the Queen’s tail can fully pierce through a body. 

Whereas the insect traits were lightly suggested in Ridley's film, the xenomorph’s primary symbolism was that of corporate greed. The Queen bears the weight of individual symbolism in Cameron’s film to represent and mirror Ripley’s motherly protection.  

Alien 3 is where the story of Ripley and her dealings with the xenomorph become muddled. Mainly because of studio interference David Fincher’s vision was complicated, to say the least. However, the life cycle of the Alien is on full display here. The filmmakers knew that after telling two stories of face huggers and xenomorphs attacking humans it was risky to once again repeat. That’s where they went wrong. Not only did they kill Newt and Hicks, but they left unanswered plot holes within their own story.  

The mysterious egg plastered to the wall is just as ridiculous as the face hugger impregnating Ripley and also impregnating the dog. For two films, it’s known that after a face hugger implants its embryo in the host, the face hugger dies.  

The face hugger attacks a dog off-screen and later pounds its way through the dog’s chest. This version of the chest burster is far different from the one we’ve seen before. It comes from a dog, so the xenomorph expectedly takes on attributes from the dog. It moves on all fours like a dog. But the main difference is that it’s not a chest burster that needs to morph into an adult xenomorph. This version is already a xenomorph (in the Special Edition), just smaller. It will later grow and somehow develop a spitting technique it uses on one of the prisoners. Other than returning to the smooth head of Ridley’s xenomorph, the creature in Alien 3 seems discombobulated. It’s as if the filmmakers didn’t have a clear vision of the xenomorph they were creating.  

Queen Facehugger

They should have included the Queen face hugger that had impregnated an ox in a deleted scene. That may have provided more answers. The Queen face hugger, sometimes referred to as the super face hugger or royal face hugger was specifically birthed from the Queen. The royal face hugger was quite larger than the average face hugger and much darker in complexion. The most notable difference is its webbing between each digit. Giger designed this version with webbing and retractable fingers to adapt to its environment. Its skin was tougher than the common face hugger, suggesting an armor that would defend against attacks. Its tail also had a barb, like a scorpion, to attack its prey.  

Perhaps the biggest difference from the previous Alien films is the ability for the Runner Alien in Alien 3 to see, or should I say, for the film to show the audience that a xenomorph can see. Xenomorphs do not have eyes. The two previous films suggested the xenomorphs know their surroundings and the people in those surroundings from unknown methods. The attempt to explain their sight just further subtracts this film’s prestige and inclusion into the Alien franchise. As much as I do enjoy Alien 3, it’s where the series began to take a downturn.

The Mighty Dollar in New Jack City

As the movie begins and the camera takes us through a tour of the New York skyline, voiceovers of journalists tell of the current news. It’s 1986 and the country is in disrepair. Poverty, murder, and drugs seem like unfixable elements throughout inner-city America. So, in just a few minutes, the story has told us the horrible world we’re about to experience. And once the helicopter camera brings us to the Queensboro bridge, we see this begin to act out. 

The Duh Duh man, a large henchman, dangles a guy in a suit by his feet off the bridge. Nino Brown, played perfectly by Wesley Snipes, opposes the man’s cries for help. The guy didn’t have Nino’s bread or drugs for him. And in that world of deadly drug dealers, there are no second chances, especially when it comes to money. They drop the guy. He falls to his death and we know who we are dealing with. Nino is a venomous drug lord who doesn’t mess around when it comes to his money.  

Even during the drug deal scene with undercover detective Scotty Appleton and wannabe-stick-up kid, Pookie is involved in a debate over an exchange of money for dope until Pookie runs away with the bag of cash. 

New Jack City 1991

Even Gee Money refers to others paying him as the IRS for nailing a basketball shot. He collects their cash before being called into the jeep with his buddies. Even his name, Gee Money, is a blatant reference to not just his character’s goal in life but to the story’s primary motif. Gee Money introduces crack to Nino and Nino immediately accuses him of his disloyalty to Nino’s current drug business. This is a theme we’ll see again later in the movie. 

During the Spotlite nightclub scene, Nino and his crew meet to discuss taking over the Carter, a large city project building. Nino gives a quick speech before he introduces his plans to sell crack. Nino wants to come off as righteous by justifying his drug dealing lifestyle by blaming the lack of money people can make on the economic times brought on by the Reagan administration. Under President Ronald Reagan, in the mid-80s when NEW JACK CITY took place, America was experiencing the trickle-down effect from Reaganomics. 

While middle to upper-class citizens sometimes benefited from this system, the lower class certainly felt its wrath. Nino’s reference to the Reagan Era and its capitalist policies is ironic in a way because Nino is a capitalist if I ever saw one. He even calls himself an entrepreneur later in the story. To Nino, the effects of America’s free market are bad, unless he can be part of that free market to make money for himself. Nino is seen watching SCARFACE twice in the film. The story of Tony Montana is very similar to Nino in that they came from the gutter and rose to great success by drug dealing. SCARFACE, just like NEW JACK CITY, is a blatant critique of American capitalism, too. 

When the messenger of the Italian mafia visits Nino to discuss the future of their partnerships, Nino doesn’t hide that he’s gone into business for himself. He cut the mafia out of their contracted deal. Nino makes a power play here against the mafia. He knows the amount of money he can make from the crack business and he doesn’t want to let anyone else in, even if that means going to war with the Italians. Keeping his 10% promise with them or perhaps even letting them in on the Carter operations would have been a nice gesture with the mafia. Keep the peace and make them money at the same time. That’s just good business. But Nino’s greedy. He wants it all for himself.  

Shortly after Carter was infiltrated, Gee Money found a new connection to begin another drug empire and maybe take over another New York project. He cuts a side deal in hopes of building his own drug business. He’s a disloyal friend and employee to Nino. Gee Money's disloyalty is foreshadowed during the jeep scene and comes to fruition as a result of Nino embarrassing Gee Money in the most famous scene in the movie.  

New Jack City 1991

Nino even hands out money to the neighborhood kids and the reverend, too. The old man reprimands Nino, making biblical references we’ll discuss later. But as devious as Nino is, he has no illusions of his predicament living in the poverty and crime-filled streets of New York. He knows that as successful and powerful as he is, he’ll never escape the drug dealer lifestyle. There’s no other option for him. He’s good at what he does and whatever obstacles are in his way, he’ll always return to pushing dope. Nino’s hopeless in that regard and has no problem taking other people with him. 

And after the big shootout when Scotty’s true identity is revealed, Nino meets Gee Money atop a building. They haven’t seen one another since they escaped. You would figure Nino would scold Gee Money for allowing undercover police in their crew. But Nino instead brings up that he knows Gee Money was making a side deal with Scotty. Nino considers loyalty to the drug game and to him personally in higher regard than the drug empire. It hurts Nino the most that his money was affected by Gee Money wanting more than what Nino was making with him.  

In the capitalist system, which Nino represents in the story, the betrayal by a business partner is an unforgivable offense. Gee Money showed this earlier on and it’s the main reason why Nino went to war with the mafia. There's no honor amongst thieves and it’s always business. It's never personal. 

Why Doc Holliday is the Heart and Soul of Tombstone

In the later 1980s, Hollywood saw a resurgence of Westerns. Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland's YOUNG GUNS films (the sequel was better than the first). Then Clint Eastwood graced us with his final Western as an aging gunman who regretted his murderous past in UNFORGIVEN. In 1993, Kurt Russell led the classic TOMBSTONE. Just like UNFORGIVEN, it's more of a character study than a plot-driven narrative. That's why TOMBSTONE is still so popular today. The film focuses on its characters to move the story forward. 

And while Russell's portrayal of Wyatt Earp is fantastic, as are the other cast members, Val Kilmer's role as John "Doc" Holliday steals the show. 

Tombstone 1993

Holliday's snappy lingo and sarcastic personality set him apart from his Earp comrades. Whereas the Earps care more about law and order (like Virgil and Morgan), and Wyatt focuses on establishing businesses, Holliday's anti-hero attitude and moments of lust and debauchery give the audience a taste of his rebellious nature. Holliday doesn't struggle with any moral justice of his conscience. He cheats, steals, and insults others. He knows he's dying of tuberculosis and likely won't live to see himself cured of it, especially with the Hungarian devil Kate by his side to fill his need for booze, smoke, and sex.

But what he lacks in his ability to refrain from earthly temptations, Holliday shines with his allegiance to his friends. 

He never breaks from the Earp family. Even though Virgil quietly mentions he doesn't particularly care for Holliday, he never turns Doc away or disrespects him because Virgil knows Holliday will always be there to support the Earp brothers. Holiday is an unofficial adopted brother of the Earps, especially by Wyatt.

As rough and rugged and righteous as Wyatt is, he's a softy for the people in his circle. Although he eventually leaves his druggy wife Mattie for the playful Josephine Marcus, Wyatt spent much time putting up with Mattie's drug use. The same goes for holding Holiday's criminal lifestyle. Wyatt knows Holliday can be trouble for him, but he stands by Holliday anyway. And Holliday knows this. Wyatt doesn't judge him.

Doc Holliday Doctor Holliday GIFfrom Doc Holliday GIFs

That goes a long way in a friendship. Keeping boundaries with friends keeps friends. In only one moment Wyatt attempts to save Doc from his drunkenness, to which Holliday quickly refutes his lecture. Wyatt quickly backs away, respecting Holiday's wishes. 

Holliday isn't only the anti-hero, he's the tragic hero of the story. 

He never had any family or love in his life. Even friendship was very limited. It's because of Wyatt's genuine friendship with Doc that he represents a lost soul who wants to family but he isn't able to achieve it. Whether because of the tuberculosis that afflicts him or his cheating skill as a poker player, Holliday's fate is a tragic one because of what stands in his way to living righteous like Wyatt.

That's why Holliday is the standout character in TOMBSTONE. He represents, in a way, everyone who isn't able to get the things they want and instead falls into despair, but still helps his friends along the way. 

Blade Runner 2049 Told the Wrong Story

Ridley Scott's 1982 Sci-fi masterpiece BLADE RUNNER was ahead of its time. It wasn't well received back then. It was seen as too unreliable and dragging in many spots. I guess the world didn't see the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence coming. BLADE RUNNER gave birth to a new subgenre of science fiction--Cyberpunk.

Blade Runner 1982

Nowadays, cyberpunk is commonplace and celebrated by its millions of fans. This includes myself. The subgenre has rightly found its respect and place in movie history with the several cyberpunk films released since BLADE RUNNER. 

Because of the genre's success through the past few decades, with great films like THE MATRIX, TOTAL RECALL, and MINORITY REPORT, the buzz began happening to produce a sequel to BLADE RUNNER.

Not a good idea, in my opinion.

It didn't need a sequel. It needed a definitive ending from Scott. He created several versions of BLADE RUNNER through the years, each with its own new spin. (I refuse to think Deckard is a replicant. It doesn't make any sense and negates the sequel.)

The reason 2049 sucked, besides the stale acting and 2-D texture of digital filmmaking, is because of the retcon of Rachael. PROMETHEUS, another one of Scott's offshoot sequels to his prior franchise ALIEN, fell victim to the same retconning. The space jockey was related to humans? Really?

via GIPHY

Whereas Rachael, in the first film, was said by Deckard's superior, Bryant, was a Nexus-6 version of the current replicants manufactured by the Tyrell Corporation, in 2049 she's suddenly now a Nexus-7. And the only one in the world. Apparently, Rachael was unique. But it was never conveyed as such in the 1982 version. She was just as smart as Roy, Leon, Zhora, and Pris (just not deadly).

But because Hollywood thinks audiences are stupid and won't remember such details, Scott and his team retconned Rachael to be a newer model. Thus, her new prototype model gave her two specific gifts. 

1. She could live just as long as a human being.
2. She could procreate.

Don't get me wrong. I respect the grand idea, but such ideas weren't mentioned at all, not even slightly, in the 1982 story. 

Because Scott and this team decided to go with this storyline, what followed was a storyline that was unable to grab the attention of the audience. Not only was the Rachael character not in the film, but it was a mystery as to who the child of Rachael was. 2049 led audiences to a boring mystery, thinking that Agent K (Ryan Gosling) was somehow the offspring of Rachael and Deckard. 

And then we find out he is nothing special. He's still just a replicant sellout who tracks and kills other replicants. At the very least, they could have had a father/son adventure storyline. Deckard and K could have gone through the cliche moments of getting to know one another. And then one could have died to show the other the importance of life. Or whatever. Something superficial, cliche, tired, or expected. It still would have been better than the out-of-touch story we got in 2049.

To the filmmakers involved, it probably felt like a good idea to retcon the Rachael character. But it truly was the worst choice they could have made for a sequel to one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.