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Reviews
AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
Quite Disappointing
The 1st Alien vs Predator wasn't as terrible as made out to be but it did leave a sour taste in the mouth. The Studio's decision to go ahead with a sequel seemed to stem only from the Box Office success of the first film, as opposed to any creative reasons. At the time of AvP's release Anderson often said that a sequel was never intended, despite the open-ended conclusion to the film. Fox however thought better of that + this is what they served up...
Alien vs Predator: Requiem is an unnecessary sequel + all around an unnecessary film. One of the key selling points was the R rating that the previous film lacked. The "gore" in this film however is beyond ridiculous + really isn't anything to get excited about. It's the type of gore you would expect to see in an 80's slasher film but not an Alien or Predator movie. Speaking of Slasher, that is essentially what this film is, a Slasher flick with Aliens + Predators. The setting is a small American town which totally goes against anything set in the previous Alien films (with Aliens running loose on Earth + all). The characters are mostly teenagers with few exceptions. The script is absolutely dreadful + the dialogue horrendous. Many lines came off as being funny even though that was never the intention of the film. The pacing of the film is also a key issue here. Everything feels rushed + the movie never really takes its time to build itself up. The lighting + texture of the film also left much to be desired, such as what was actually going on on screen.
The film isn't all bad of course, just extremely disappointing. The movie starts well enough with us on the Predator ship last seen at the end of AvP. I would have to say that most scenes following Wolf (the star Predator) were excellent, starting with his introduction + the shots of the Predator home world. The scenes with Wolf were the only scenes that were really interesting + pulled you in, making you believe you much a much better movie than you actually were. A few other scenes were very interesting as well but they were few + far between.
As for the Aliens however... they have been reduced here to nothing more than bugs. There designs aren't terrible but they certainly aren't great. The real problem is their seeming lack of intelligence in the film. The new reproductive system introduced in the film by the Predalien is also completely pointless. It is of course unexplained + yet i think that is OK as i don't really want an explanation.
There are some decent scrums in the film between the two title creatures which are entertaining but the Predator often has the upper hand. The problem with a lot of them, espec the Sewer battle, was that they were way to dark and the editing was very poor in a lot of spots. The film really seems very poorly put together. With it's script it was never going to be great but it could have been flushed out so it didn't seemed rushed + the editing certainly could have been better. One key instance, speaking of fleshing the movie out, is the National Guard sequences that was advertised before the film. It came and gone it what seemed like 2 minutes. It would have been a perfect opportunity to create tension + suspense but it was wasted. As soon as the guards stepped on to the ground they were taken away.
Overall i feel this film was very unneeded + we would have been better off it had not been made. There were some good aspects + scenes that could have been very good if executed well but they simply weren't. A sequel to AvP nev er seemed necessary although a quality follow-up would be gladly welcomed. This however is not that film. It is Fox trying to make a quick buck off the name of "Alien" + "Predator" + nothing else. If they wanted the film to be good they could have started by not green lighting the awful script. Maybe they will get it right with AvP 3 (it's bound to happen eventually) yet my fear is they will only lower the budget further + we will be left with another half-assed Alien vs Predator.
Showdown at Area 51 (2007)
Disappointing
This was quite disappointing. I had higher hopes for this movie, although i'm not sure why. The movie started decently enough but soon became worse + worse until it was just hard to watch for how bad it was. The movie doesn't even take place in Area 51. The story (or lack there of) is incoherent and the acting is hardly any better. A few of the actors deliver alright but the dialogue + story just isn't there. Very little about the "plot" really makes sense in the film + it seems the writers were making it up as they go. The directing/camera work on the film is also quite shotty. O well, this is what i get for trusting the Sci-Fi channel.
Fantastic Four (2005)
Sweet Movie
I went to the midnight showing and although the theater was almost packed but it was a smaller theater and drew nowhere near the size crowd that batman begins had at midnight which is discouraging for the box office but anyway... this movie rocked. Now, I'm not a hard core Fantastic Four fan but I know them well enough for various comic books I've picked up and their appearances in Spider-Man comics (I'm a huge Spidey fan) so I don't know what all the hard core F4 fans will nitpick at but to me it was great fun. There is a lot of humor in the film and the characters are great and mesh well with each other. I'll probably see this one again sometime.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Decent Yet Unsatisfying
Alien vs Predator is a film that isn't as bad as many people make it out to be. It isn't a great film by any stretch but bringing the Alien and Predator together on-screen isn't exactly an easy task, especially with 20th Century Fox pulling the strings. Paul W. Anderson seemed to impress them well enough with his concept and this is what Fox whipped up.
The basic premise of the film goes against continuity set in the Alien films by placing Aliens on present day Earth. They manage to get away with it however by setting the film in the remote region of Antarctica and keeping the Aliens beneath the surface. The setting is something I found to be fantastic about this film. I enjoyed the Arctic Whaling Station as well as the Pyramid beneath the ice. I wish more time was spent both on the surface and in the Pyramid to build up the atmosphere and tension of the film. The setting of the Pyramid was brilliant but it really wasn't used to it's full potential. Of course the reality of discovering a Pyramid so far beneath the ice is a stretch but we'll ignore that for now. If more time could have been used to create a sense of fear when wandering through the Pyramid, especially once separated from each other, the quality of the film could have been greatly improved.
As for the characters themselves... they were decent. I didn't hate any of them and some attempts at characterization where made but ultimately it feels as if they are rushed and just shoved upon us. I guess the trouble is that none of them are really that interesting and whether they live or die is of little consequence to us. Lance was definitely a welcomed addition to the cast, even if it goes against Alien continuity if you consider Bishop in Alien 3 to be human – this being the popular consensus.
Of course the real reason everyone wanted to see this film is because of the title creatures. While they are portrayed well enough although many issues are to be had with both. The Predators were not the Predators we had become accustomed to in the first two Predator films. They are bulkier and certainly aren't as wise as we have seen in the past. The wrist blades also appear different and perhaps the most notable change is the Thermal Vision. Many people feel the alteration of the Predators vision style severely hurt the quality of the film but it is never something that really bothered me. It was used well and the "Alien" vision mode the Predators had looked great. My only real issues was their wrist blades – I don't really mind the change of look but if your hunting a species with acid for blood shouldn't your primary weapon be more potent against them?
The Aliens, especially the Grid, were portrayed well although in behavior they seemed to shift between clever and mindless beasts throughout the film. The costume designs really aren't the greatest (they are the same suits as A: R with a black coat of paint) and the CGI appeared quite bad in certain parts. The Alien Queen however was fantastic and contributed to many great shots and moments in this film.
The name of this film however is "AVP" and that is one of the big let downs in this movie. There really weren't many scenes of Aliens fighting Predators. There was one major clash but not much beyond that. People who go to see a film titled Alien vs Predator expect to see lots of clashes between the two. The level of gore in this film is another reason it often faces criticism from series fans. I however don't think it is needed for there to be buckets of blood to make a good film. The PG-13 rating takes nothing away from this film what so ever. More Predator and Alien blood would have been welcome of course.
In conclusion this is an adequate film that would be greatly helped if fleshed out by 10-15 minutes of tension building scenes. Some people will argue it needs much more than that but I truly believe a few more quality scenes would help improve this film. The film really does start out with a lot of promise. It really does a fairly nice job of building up excitement yet unfortunately fails to deliver in the second half. More screen time for the title characters and certainly more duels would have made this film stand out a lot more. Once great element of the film is the cinematography as there are many beautiful shots in this film, especially on the Predator ship and within the Pyramid itself. The potential for this was great and the end result is all right but it could have been much more.