Whedon's Aliens...I don't know. To me, the intellect was there. They definitely used their previous entrapment to their advantage later on when their disappearance/escape was being investigated and had many other moments. But, to me, they still had that movie monster feel- that they felt more like plot devices than the prime mover. Everything was rooted in the whim of the Queen even if there was the occasional deviance from the motive. In Alien and, to an extent, Alien³, the fact that it was the solitary piece in the proverbial chess game worked better because you got the feeling that not only was it a creature that was intelligent but was also vindictive based on its own whims. In Alien³ that's something one can contest, but you still got that feel that it was sentient in a way beyond just being a smart pawn for the hive's main focus.
