Aliens (1986)

Directed by James Cameron

the following contains spoilers.

WHAT I WAS EXPECTING
I watched this back-to-back with Alien so before seeing either I figured that the aliens from the first film, while temporarily defeated, continued reproducing at an alarming rate and have made the earth cold, dark and extra slimy. It's up to Ripley (Sigorney Weaver) to kick some extraterrestrial butt with her gritty strong-willed determination and oversize weapons.

Everything I know about the plot I guessed from this poster

REACTIONS:
Watching this directly after Alien, I really appreciate how the story begins right where the last film left off. Sure, many years have passed in between the two, but since Ripley has been asleep for the whole time, she doesn't know anything that I don't yet. Right from the start, though, the film has a different tone and feel. There's no slow-boil build-up, the story launches straight into conflit as Ripley tries to convince all those around her that she has been in very serious danger and that heading back into it would be incredibly foolish. This is much more the kind of reaction that I expected someone to have after being terrorized by the monsters in the previous film.
This story is less concerned about Freudian imagery and is instead all about war and combat. Just in case that isn't clear enough from the addition of a gun-shaped ship filled with space marines, it also says so in the film's tagline.

James Cameron knows how to put on a spectacle but part of his films' appeal is how he grounds all the action to a strong emotional base. The addition of Newt and her touching interactions with Ripley was something I didn't expect.

Plus all spooky stories need at least one little girl who makes ominous statements

In Alien, Ripley wasn't about to let emotions cloud her judgement. She was willing to close the space lock on her own co-workers because of protocol. This time however, Ripley willingly goes back to rescue Newst and other characters.At first I wondered if this was just a case of character inconsistency but I realized that this was actually an attempt at character development. Along with Riple's discovery of aliens is the discovery of her own humanity. This theme of humanity plays out through several of other the other characters as well. Ripley calls out the Weyland Industry guy as being more monsterous than the alien monsters (and I think this was before he locked her and Newt in the room with the face huggers). In contrast, there's Bishop the android. Bishop's selfless actions redeem the negative opinions of androids caused by the first film and in the end show that he has more humanity than his flesh-and-blood boss.

And oh, the humanity!

In one of my favorite twists, the Riply and Newt motherhood subplot is smashed right into the alien-attack storyline. Ripley goes after Newt and encounters yet another mother: the Alien Queen.

REFERENCES EVERYWHERE!
Was "Not my daughter, you bitch" from the final Harry Potter book/film inspired by Ripley's confrontation with the Alien Queen?

This scene from Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death is from that same scene but more obviously intentional. There are even more references beyond this clip in the rest of the film.