James Cameron (“Titanic”) has made one of the few sequels that are superior to the original. “Aliens” is a fascinating movie with just as much suspense and sci-fi as before but this time with a faster pace and lots of great action sequences.

After Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver “Ghostbusters”) awakens from 57 years of suspended animation, she discovers the planet she and her crew visited in the first “Alien” has been colonized but contact has been lost. Ripley joins a bunch of marines as an advisor but when they arrive everyone is dead except for one little girl nicknamed Newt (Carrie Henn). The team of marines and Ripley then have to fight for survival as the aliens known as ‘Aliens’ (Xenomorphs to fans) attack in full force.

Sigourney Weaver is amazing this time as Ellen Ripley. The character feels deeper as her humanity is slipping away from her as she guns down the Aliens/Xenomorphs but the Newt character is the only thing keeping her from becoming just a cold killer as Ripley adopts a motherly role. The marines are fantastic. They’re so over the top and so fun that you can’t take your eyes off them. Although Michael Biehn (“The Terminator”) is good, Bill Paxton (“Twister”) makes for my favourite marine. The Aliens are done immensely well here.

“Aliens” isn’t a slow, horror vehicle like “Alien” but it has just as many great scares and wonderful suspense. Managing to keep the suspense and scares with a faster pace is hard but “Aliens” does just that. The action scenes are creative and mind-blowing. The score is one of the best aspects of the film. Despite a few cheesy moments “Aliens” is one of the best sci-fi/action films ever made with some great acting, fantastic action, suspenseful twists and turns and some unforgettable moments, making me enjoy this one more than the original “Alien”.