It might have slipped by unnoticed but apparently in the 1990s Aliens landed. According to this film the transition went pretty well… uneventful even.
Dubbed ‘Newcomers’, these humanoids integrated effortlessly into society, adopting the language, customs and making their way the same way as humans do. The only difference being the large egg shaped spotty heads and a few subtle differences that are of course played up through the film (sour milk makes them drunk, sea water kills etc.).
But as with real life, some people don’t take too kindly to those that are different. So when human cop Sykes (James Woods) sees his partner killed by Newcomers (I’ll use capitals so as not to offend them) hopped up on a super-drug and using super-bullets to kill his partner, he is super-pissed to find himself saddled with Newcomer Sam Francisco (Mandy Patankin) as his new partner on the case.
The two mismatched cops from different backgrounds get off to a rocky start. Sam is by the book and a little naïve, Sykes a grizzled vet who barely tolerates his partner but nonetheless needs him to get his man.
Terence Stamp plays a prominent Newcomer with a similarly prominent role in the story, and an exotic female Newcomer arrives to test Sykes’ devotion to hating all things alien…
Funnily enough Alien Nation hardly breaks new ground despite having outer space beings as primary characters. but if you ignore the alien dimension and replace them with, say, Hispanic people, then the film would continue on in exactly the same middling cop fashion, with Sykes merely a racist this time.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the alien elements added one new flavour. Looper could easily be set in present day except it has production elements and creative touches that allow you to believe it is largely set in the future. Not so Alien Nation, they get drunk on milk and the notion of building a sandcastle as the tide comes up is terrifying, but aside from that these are some of the blandest alien beings going around. No ray guns, no nuthin.
I don’t want my aliens to assimilate effortlessly into society. I want them to do crazy alien stuff. By largely integrating Sam and his peers into our world you diminish any justification for them to land here in the first place, especially when you lumber them into such a by the numbers mismatched cops film as this.
Final Rating – 6 / 10. In this week’s episode of Law and Order: Alien Murder Unit, a spotty headed guy kills another spotty headed guy. *Reaches for remote*
