Alien 3 catches a lot of shit, but I had high hopes for any sequels because it left the door wide open for a new arc that could have involved Weyland-Yutani, the USCM and even Bishop II, but without Sigourney Weaver. Ripley's story was over. We were liberated.
Alien Resurrection not only brought her back, it shat upon all the excellent worldbuilding done by the first three movies. I actually think AvP and even AvP:R are less damaging to the franchise than AR was. May it rot in movie hell.