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I’m Sorry, But It’s Not an Alien Movie Without Ripley

Sigourney Weaver has moved on from Alien, but if the new legacy sequel, Alien: Romulus, is any indication, the franchise hasn’t moved on from her.

And director Ridley Scott and his screenwriter, Dan O’Bannon, pull what you could call a reverse Psycho: While that Alfred Hitchcock classic boldly knocked off its ostensible heroine about a third of the way through, Alien slowly whittles down its ensemble until the only person remaining is Lieutenant Ripley. Except that Aliens somehow both hardens and softens Ripley: For all the events of the first movie that made her battle ready — a long-hauler gone full soldier — she also drops the professional steeliness when interacting with the lone survivor of a terraforming colony, the adolescent Newt. When, for example, Waterston shows up in Covenant in a white tank top, short hair, and a firearm slung over one shoulder, it’s a clear nod to Ripley’s look in Aliens — another counterproductive echo, just like the rifle scene in Romulus.

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