I think alien movies are really interesting, and much like zombie movies, there are fascinating human undertones embedded in the films' very natures. For instance, it is quite odd that in the vast majority of alien movies the aliens are of a single moral/ethical viewpoint- the aliens are either good and benevolent (ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Contact), or, more frequently, evil and malevolent (Predator, Independence Day, War of the Worlds). It should be noted that when I say "alien movies" I don't mean "space movies." Alien movies generally involve a one or more extra-terrestrial intelligences visiting our world. Space movies involve aliens and (generally) humans interacting in space, and quite necessarily, those aliens have a range of moral/ethical viewpoints. I think that the nearly unanimous portrayal of aliens visiting earth as strictly "good" (they want to be friends with us or share ideas) or strictly "evil" (they want to kill us for fun or to consume our resources) is extremely telling of where we are as a people today.
It is assumed in nearly all alien movies that the visitors are of a technologically superior background than we are; after all, we can't very well pack off to some inhabited alien planet on a whim. This naturally sets up an interesting premise for either the "us vs. them" alien movie, or the "us & them" alien movie: "How do we stand up to the awesome destructive power of [whatever]?" or "What characteristics do we share in spite of our vast differences?" Take one of these, top with a thin-layer of plot, find some CGI guys, and we'll see you next summer.The fact that they are technologically superior isn't what makes them interesting, but the fact that they have come so far borne of a single mindset is.
This singularity of thought is either encouraging or disturbing, but in all likelihood the most unrealistic thing about all alien movies. The aliens in Independence Day, for example, are unanimously fine with systematically killing every living thing on the planet. Not one single alien stands up and says, "you know, those earthlings seem like real nice, albeit quaint, organisms; we might be better off moving along." Of course, it wouldn't have been a very interesting movie if they had (or would it... more on that in a bit), but the fact that we take it for granted that they won't and that we immediately know that our salvation must come from us and not a moral objection from our would-be oppressors is disturbing on many levels, not to mention relevant in today's (and our recent past's ) tumultuous ethical climate (e.g. does preventing Iran from acquiring the potential to make nuclear weapons protect us, protect others, or enable us to enforce our will upon them?). Or for an trickier ethical tango, consider the benign aliens of ET. Is it all plausible that if your child became lost and was tortured by strangers, that you would simply pick them up and leave, especially if you possessed the capability to extract vengeance on those responsible? You might say yes, but when actually faced with this situation, I am guessing you wouldn't.
The single-mindedness of aliens in alien movies serves as either a way to pit our own virtues against something intrinsically foreign and evil, or as an implausibly perfect model to which we can hold ourselves up. Each way of thinking presents its own set of problems; the first allows us to justify our actions and continue along our devastating way until either we're dead or we become the destroyers, while the second sets us up for failure at every step or forces us into unresolvable moral dilemmas. Yet there are a few alien movies that manage to shuck the singularity. I say there are a few, but I can only think of one1 at the moment: Transformers (the new one).
Now, I understand that the movie was not critically acclaimed or universally loved (apparently, Optimus Prime's lips are more important than the actual merits of the movie), but I think that this might be one of the best, and definitely most distinctive, alien movies ever made. However, this is not a review of the movie, but rather an exploration of the "alien movie sub-genre," a term which, by the way, I loathe almost as much as the pretentious people who would use it (not to mention the movie critics). Transformers is unique (or at least, pretty unique) in that there are two distinct groups of aliens who visit the planet, and whose morals, while not running the entire good-evil spectrum, are quite a bit more varied than the single-dimensional ones found in other movies of the ilk.
The Decepticons (those are the bad guys) are not without their wiles. In fact, they spend much of the movie sneaking about trying to solve the mystery of where their leader is. They do cause some havoc, however, but even in the heat of battle, they are more concerned with achieving their main objective than killing everything in sight. Not only does this make them more interesting as characters, and better villains, but it also makes it easier to identify with a Decepticon. You might be thinking that is a bad thing, but if you are, for example, a child, who is sneaking around being mischievous, you might think better of it if you recognized your actions as similar to a Decepticon. Similarly, Autobots (those are the good guys) demonstrate a wider range of moral and ethical thinking than your average alien. ET, for instance never really considered if it was right or wrong to rely on his human friends for help. The Autobots certainly have a code that they act by- don't hurt humans- but it isn't dogmatic. In fact, some of them have to be reminded of it, which implies they have a choice about it. They even have to consider rescuing one of their own over achieving their other goals- "no Autobot left behind" isn't a phrase in their operations manual.2
(to be continued... check for edits, footnotes, and a conclusion soon)
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