Alien Vs Predator Movie Review:


Writer-director Anderson (who also herds the Resident Evil franchise) has such a terrible sense of horror that I despair watching his films. He seems to think that shrieking chords of music are all you need to scare an audience. Sure they make us jump, but that's not the same thing as being scared! So I was pleasantly surprised when after a garbled and, yes, jumpy opening this settled into a rather enjoyable action movie.

There's something under the ice in Antarctica and zillionaire Charles Weyland (Henriksen) wants to get there first for some reason. So he assembles a crack team of explorers, archaeologists and drillers. But it's strangely easy to reach this mysterious underground pyramid, which starts behaving strangely once they get there, especially when strange creatures pop out of strangely shifting doorways and start battling with each other. They are of course the nasty beasts from the Alien and Predator movies. Fortunately there are hieroglyphics on the walls that tell our intrepid (and doomed) team what's happening.

Yes the story is fairly ridiculous, and it doesn't really have anything to do with the four Aliens and two Predators. Basically it's just an excuse to get lots of people into a confined and confusing space so they can be picked off one by one. The main problem is that the first half of the film is incoherent drivel--the plot is just too sketchy and the suspense is limited to red herrings and Anderson Shrieks (TM). Then when those hieroglyphics finally explain everything (in astonishing detail), the film actually gets rather interesting.

It also helps that there are several superb actors in the cast, not the least of which is Lathan, who from the very beginning emerges as the hero of the piece. Her character is by far the most interesting, and where she goes is pretty cool too. We also have Bova's adept brainy beefcake, Bremner's adept brainy nerd, Salmon's tough guy sidekick, Flanagan's impatient thug, and so on, just to add some interest. And it's nice, in the end, to actually find ourselves cheering for someone.

Rich Cline

When one of his satellites discovers a heat signature on an island off the coast of Antarctica, Weyland Industries founder Charles Bishop Weyland (Henriksen) puts together a team to go and investigate. What they find is a pyramid that predates anything discovered in Egypt, South America or Cambodia. Thinking they have made the missing link to all the ancient cultures, the team arrive on the site to discover something totally unexpected. The pyramid is not a tomb but a proving ground for creatures the ancient peoples worshiped as gods and they had been drawn to this place to be sacrificed to their prey, a terrifying alien species.

Ever since we saw the skull of an Alien in the ship of a Predator back in 1990, this movie has been the Holy Grail for fans of Sci-Fi horror but can all that expectation actually be realised? Yes and no.

Bringing together two of the best and most horrific science fiction creatures is a great idea. The best selling comic books and computer games have already created a market for this match up so a movie was an expected outcome. The problem is that because of this massive momentum there was bound to be some level of disappointment amongst the fans, making it impossible to please everyone. You have the purists, who never wanted to see the film in the first place, preferring more individual adventures for their iconic creatures. You have the diehard fans of the games and comic books that wanted to see colonial marines caught in the middle of this epic battle who will be clearly disappointed. Finally you have science fiction fans that just want to see the movie for the spectacle and these are the people who will get the most out of it.

Creating a storyline that connects the two franchises, the games and the comic books was going to be difficult but the good news is that the premise for the movie actually isn’t that bad. The film reveals why the Predators come to Earth and their connection with the Aliens. We also find out how the Weyland corporation becomes involved and will centuries later instruct the Nostromo to land on the planet that kick starts the whole Alien saga. These plotlines that are introduced really for the fans of the two series but they are very welcome ones.

The plot is a very minor aspect of the movie however because all the filmmakers wanted to do was get these creatures to fight and when they finally do we witness the mother of all Sci-Fi battles. This is edge of your seat action as the two Goliath’s clash with pulverizing results. The makeup and creature design is some of the best seen in either series, as you’d expect as the advances in technology has grown tenfold since these icons last hit the silver screen. Combining the best in computer-generated imagery and makeup effects by Alien/Predator veteran designers Tom Woodruff Jr.’s Amalgamated Dynamics, the creatures have never looked so good. The Alien Queen is unbelievable, the Predators are even better armed and threatening and the Alien drones are more agile and vicious than they have ever been creating a visual treat that you can’t help enjoying.

The human cast is just victims caught in the crossfire and the lack of character development for most of them reflects this. To be fair this was probably not the main emphasis of the movie and you wouldn’t want to be distracted from the main battle. Sanaa Lathan probably has the best character as Alexa Woods, the Ripley-esque female lead who takes on the Aliens and stands up to the Predators. The rest are just fodder and sacrifices for the battle and are instantly forgettable. The only criminally underdeveloped character is Lance Henrikson’s Charles Bishop Weyland, the founder of Weyland Industries, which is the company behind Alien research in the franchise. The filmmaker missed the opportunity to introduce the character and the reason behind his company’s obsession with the creatures. This is only hinted at in the film, to the point that only true fans will pick it up.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator is Paul W.S. Anderson’s best movie (which doesn’t say much). As a piece of popcorn entertainment the film is very good but you can understand fans disappointment with the lack of story and a few missed opportunities to truly connect the franchises together. The sight of two Sci-Fi horror icons on the screen at the same time is worth the admission price alone however, as we finally get to see who would win in an all-out scrap between the two beasts. Let the war begin.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

 

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