From the small character details to the massive set-pieces, Cameron expands the Alien mythology and switches sub genres seamlessly. It truly is a perfect sequel.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 16, 2024

[James Cameron] takes the franchise in another direction by raising the stakes and turning the sequel into an action-packed, war epic [while] retaining the dread-inducing feel and tone of the first movie.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 15, 2024

Let's not mince words: Aliens is the greatest horror movie since Frankenstein. Here is a rare instance in which a sequel is infinitely superior to the original. Alien, the 1979 thriller, now seems like a preliminary sketch.

| Jul 30, 2024

Cameron is a master of machinery and weaponry, a technical wizard who replaces Scott's refinement with his own kind of muscularity... But with either film, you leave the theater drained, physically exhausted, well-rewarded for all your suffering.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 30, 2024

What can I say? Aliens is the scariest and most exciting movie I've seen in several years. My adrenalin was still racing an hour later. It's involving. It has well-drawn characters. It has consistency. And Sigourney Weaver gives a dazzling performance.

| Jul 30, 2024

The long-awaited sequel to Alien proves to be an extraordinary treat, as perfectly realized a thrill-a-second screamer as has ever come along.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 30, 2024

It is pure action built around the barest of plots. Yet, the characters, the catastrophes and the world Cameron and his special effects technicians envision is rich with texture.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 30, 2024

What a difference an "s" makes -- for the good.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2024

Delivering generously on the promise he demonstrated in The Terminator, Cameron has given us a seamless motion picture that transforms its not-for-all-tastes subject matter into the stuff of across-the-board appeal.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jul 30, 2024

A noisy, hectoring, mechanical piece of filmmaking. It beats you like a drum, but there's no resonance.

| Jul 30, 2024

It's a first-rate movie, satisfying in nearly every way. And it's terrifying. Ah, summer. Who could ask for anything more?

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 30, 2024

It's like a Romantic symphony that won't come to an end. But it keeps you high.

| Jul 30, 2024

A raucous and juvenile and terrifying entertainment full of guns, sweaty grunts, dirty fatigues, flame-throwers and ghostly creatures around dark corners.

| Jul 30, 2024

While Aliens would come in a distant second to Alien in any double-feature, it is a rapidly paced, hard-driving, very frightening picture that withholds nothing.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 30, 2024

Cameron's sequel is a worthy successor to perhaps the most satisfying science fiction shocker ever.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 30, 2024

What really makes this film click is Miss Weaver, who heads a strong cast. The singular intensity of her performance lends the movie a hard inner core that translates into memorable screen entertainment.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2024

Even though it's too long, director James Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien is a worthy successor.

| Jul 30, 2024

There is warmth without sentimentality. There is humor, but it never breaks the tension. Most of all, there are special effects that move the audience into another world.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 30, 2024

Aliens, a high-teach fright-fest leavened with humor, offers satisfying escape from the hot weather and hit comedies that dominate this busy moviegoing season.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2024

A familiarity with the original is not necessary to enjoy this effects-laden adventure. On the other hand, a strong heart is a must.

| Jul 30, 2024