Let's break this down:
1. Special effects - I think they look great and hold up. There is only one green screen shot, when the dropship crashes, which - I give you that one - looks obvious, and immersion breaking. However, I cannot recall any other shot that would be justified to point out as "dated FX". Most of the effects are puppets (suits), models and miniatures, which are present in the shot, in camera - so calling them "dated" does not make sense - for me at least. Please cite your specific shot examples, apart from the dropship crash.
2. YMMV. I think the "kid" is not overused, and is potrayed as having suffered major trauma, so a couple of cheesy lines or unpleasant tone of voice can be tolerated. But if you found her especially annoying - I can understand that too.
3. The first 45 minutes are the buildup, to show how Ripley is affected by the trauma, how W-Y is treating her (not letting her fly, demoting her to a dockworker, Burke, etc.). And to kick off the plot with the board meeting and to get acquinted with the marines. I don't think any of this counts as "nothing". Do you have the same complaint about Alien? The beginning of Alien is about getting acquinted with the Nostromo and the crew, and similarly "nothing happens"... right?
4. Again, when the plot is switching into a higher gear after the hive rescue, you are calling it "nothing" - so what constitutes as "something" for you? I could say that "in Alien, the facehugger attaches to Kane's face, and after that, nothing happens, until the endings" - and that would not be any more valid criticism, than what you are doing in your #4. I don't even understand what you mean. It would be one thing if you said: "pointless / ridiculous things are happening", and we could debate what is pointless about them. But to say nothing happens... is factually not correct.
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sati_84 (467)
a year ago
5. You at least have some criticisms here. So let's see: you say "Cheesy Cameron" - and that could be fair, if you specified which scene was "cheesy". But you seem to think the whole Ripley VS Queen fight is cheesy? On surface level, I might be able to understand that, but think it is well built up in the movie, and fits the plot. It is not just there because Cameron wanted to do some hand to hand combat between Rip and the Q, it is justified, why it is happening. The "look over here" move, now that you mention it is risky, but the way it was portrayed in the movie, conveyed the desperation when Ripley tried everything she could to get the Q off of Newt. Of course, under a bit of scrutiny, it's a bit cheesy, but in the moment, the movie is so well done, I did not notice it, nor did I ever think about it this way (and I like to overanalyze movies!)
6. No criticism here to react to, but I'm glad you mentioned the performances as positives - agreed :-)
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