The famous "Empire" magazine selected a list of "50 Greatest Sequels" in 2009. "Alien 2" defeated strong opponents such as "The Godfather 2," "The Empire Strikes Back", and "The Dark Knight". The leader, became the greatest sequel in film history selected by "Empire" magazine. Today I will analyze the greatest sequel in film history from the perspective of an action movie. We can be sure that Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic "Alien" is obviously not an action movie. And James Cameron is a very thoughtful and talented director. He took over the shooting of the sequel, and of course he had to integrate his own style. But Cameron is a very clever director. He knows that if it is separated from the style and characteristics of the first one, it will not be a good sequel. Therefore, in "Alien 2", we see that, like the first, a long period of time before the film is paving the way to create an atmosphere. A key factor that makes "Alien 2" superior to most other action movies is that James Cameron hides his motivation for making an action movie well in the front part of the movie. If you don’t know anything about "Alien 2", you would not think you were watching an action movie during the first 30 minutes of watching the movie, or even the hour before. Cameron's movies have never lacked foresight, which is why his movies are so long. Cameron spent a lot of time to pave the way. He made full use of time to explain the story background, story environment, character relationships, situation analysis, and so on. However, these rich preparations are not boring, but are being carried out in an orderly manner. With the slow development of the film, the audience has gradually been integrated into the film, as if they are in it. At this moment, the good show begins! First, in the 64th minute of the film, the heroine Ripley launched a thrilling individualistic rescue. The climax of the film began with Ripley taking the elevator to rescue the little girl Newt, and it lasted more than 20 minutes. An excellent classic action movie should have a story, and an action movie with a story is the best. The so-called "with story" refers to the behavior of the protagonist in the movie, which is motivated and purposeful, rather than beating for the sake of fighting or shooting for the big scene. Some movies use thrilling action scenes as the climax of the movie, which makes the audience very excited to watch, but the arrangement is actually not appropriate. For example, the last climax of the latest 007 movie "Death in the Sky" can be regarded as the final battle between Bond and the villain Silva. But why the decisive battle is necessary, why there is this decisive battle, the audience is not very clear. It seems like Silva is trying to kill M Madam, Bond wanted to protect Mrs. M, but in the end Mrs. M also died, and the villain Silva also died. So what was this decisive battle for? What motive and purpose was it for the audience? It is very unclear. Not to mention that the movie started with a plot centered on the theft of the hard drive, but later, the problem of the theft of the hard drive has disappeared, and no one seems to care where the hard drive is going. This is not to say that "Death by the Sky" is a failed work, but as far as the arrangement of its action scenes and climax is concerned, there are indeed problems. If an action movie has the best and greatest action scenes, but it does not have a good story, it cannot be called a classic. The reputation of "Mission Impossible 2" illustrates this problem. Once the action scene breaks out for a very clear reason, and the protagonist’s participation is based on full emotion and reasonable motivation, then the audience can easily blend in. The action scene in "Alien 2" is like this. Let's talk about the part where Ripley rescued in the middle of the film. It didn't break out suddenly. James Cameron used a technique similar to today's pseudo-documentary to create an atmosphere of horror and chaos. He spent a lot of time, letting us see the transformation process of those Marine Corps soldiers from confident to embarrassed. When the audience's psychological state was gradually stimulated to a high point, an action scene came up. In fact, the action scene was very simple and crude, but it firmly grasped the audience's heart. The climax of the film is also the same. According to the foreshadowing of the film, Ripley’s decision to rescue the little girl alone is completely understandable and logical. More importantly, the audience hopes she will choose to go. Save Newt. After the repeated bombardment that was difficult to breathe before, the audience now believes that the alien may suddenly appear at any time and any place. So Ripley’s search for Newt did not have a soundtrack and the scene was calm, but the audience was in a state of tension and was completely involved in it. Therefore, from the perspective of a thriller and horror film, "Alien 2" is also a successful work. In the end, the battle between Ripley and the alien queen was inevitable. At that time, the alien queen had completely trapped Newt. At this time, Ripley operated the cargo machine, which was very imaginative and reasonable, because The freight machine has already appeared in the film, which laid a wonderful foreshadowing. In the end, the plot of the alien falling into space continues the style of the first ending, while greatly increasing the imagination and visual effects on its basis. A classic sequel should look like this. Suppose a magazine is going to select a list such as "the greatest action film director in film history" , Then I think James Cameron must appear on this list. He is very clear about the truth: let the action scenes break out naturally according to the plot, only then will the best-looking action movies be made. He shot "Alien 2" based on this truth-a great sequel that will never be eliminated by the times.
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