While the rest of you were, I hope, getting happily drunk with friends and/or family yesterday, I was "enjoying" the two-hot-dog special at the Block (no other food places were open on Christmas at 11 p.m.), watching ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM (which I will henceforth refer to as AVP2, as the AMC's marquee did). A more conventional capsule review of the movie will appear next week in the paper (UPDATE: It's online NOW), and probably tomorrow on various Village Voice Media websites, but with the short word limits imposed by such things, it's hard to tell the fans what they really want to know. So without further ado, I give you the sci-fi nerd Q&A version, anticipating the queries of the mildly curious.
Is it as bad as the first AVP? I liked both okay, but this one is definitely not superior in toto.
"In toto"? Explain, please. Okay -- the Predator in this one is way more kickass than any in AVP1, even though he's played by the same guy, Ian Whyte. Unfortunately, there's no-one in the human cast as cool as Lance Henriksen or Colin Salmon, which brings the average score right back down.
What's a "requiem"? A mass for the dead. Which this franchise probably will be soon, for a few years anyway.
Why is this movie called "requiem"? I have no idea.
Does the movie advance the overall storyline of the ALIEN and PREDATOR movies in any significant way? Only in the very last scene.
Does it at least refer to existing continuity before that? Sorta. One of the main characters is named Dallas, like Tom Skerritt in the first ALIEN. And at one point, he yells out "Get to the chopper!" which doesn't sound as cool when it isn't being uttered by Schwarzenegger.
What about that new hybrid creature? How'd that happen? ALIEN 3 and the early '90s Alien toy line for kids advanced the idea that Aliens take on some characteristics of the host creature, but for some reason the Predator DNA is way more dominant than that of any other host, so the Predalien has dreadlocks and the obsecene-looking mandibles. Also, it has the characteristics of its own facehuggers -- it can lay multiple chestbusters in a victim's stomach by means of a very nasty French kiss. The chestbusters, however, don't have the dreads or vagina-mouths.
Whaaa? How do they explain that? They don't. And it adds nothing to the story, either. So there.
Who's in this movie? Nobody you know. Except that one chick who plays Dale Arden on the terrible new Flash Gordon TV show, the one that doesn't have rocket-ships, Hawkmen, or a bald-and-goateed Ming.
Is there female nudity? Only by corpses.
Is there any kind of metaphor or social commentary? Not exactly -- this movie's idea of subtlety is to have the Predalien attack a maternity ward, to show that all kinds of animals breed, I guess.
Any weird inconsistencies? The Aliens only seem to bleed acid when it's convenient for the plot. The Predalien manages to turn the aforementioned maternity ward into a Giger-esque hive pretty damn quick. And the Predator tries to dispose of all Alien "evidence" using a blue acid, but even though it melts stuff, there's still a blood-and-guts stain left over that would probably have DNA traces in it.
So what's good? This Predator is the badass of all Predators, with the best arsenal and fighting style, and there are long sequences with no dialogue that follow just him.
What's bad? Everything else.
Where does this movie rank in the grand pantheon of Alien and Predator movies? Next to last. It's still better than ALIEN RESURRECTION. In toto, of course.
December 26, 2007 15:48
Holy Crap! This is your job?!!! You're not making enough!
December 26, 2007 22:42
"Who's in this movie? Nobody you know. "
Millions of viewers of this movie will immediately recognize the character "Kelly" as "Michelle Dessler" from the hit tv show "24", who is played by Reiko Aylesworth. Just because you haven't watched 24, doesn't mean millions of other people haven't!
December 26, 2007 23:22
Hmmmm.... A lot of folks have told me that this film does not follow both the comic books or the graphic novels not does it continue after the first movie featuring both characters. It does seem to be influenced by ALIENS and PREDATOR 2. Despite the review or most out there, I'll see the movie anyway because it is cool anyway to see your favorite monsters battling it out - as campy as that may sound. I guess this takes place from the first one starring Sanaa Lathan. I thought the first one was entertaining. As for Reiko Aylesworth, yeah, she has an extensive television career...
December 26, 2007 23:37
Granted, I'm not caught up on 24...but if she does good work in it, her fans may not want to watch this -- it might ruin their favorable impression.
December 27, 2007 18:15
Ha! I spent my Christmas watching Gory Gory Hallelujah instead. Take that Luke.
December 27, 2007 19:18
That Predalien was the dumbest thing I have ever heard of in this series. Well outside of those 1/2 Ripley 1/2 alien things in Resurrection.
As far as I see it there have only been 3 movies.
Alien
Aliens
Predator
The rest are just a bunch of garbage direct to VHS quality B movies. The PC AvP2 game had a better story then both of these AvP movies combined.
December 27, 2007 19:47
Yea, Reiko Aylesworth's "Kelly" character was totally underplayed. When they first introduce her as a soldier returning from war, I thought "hey, she's going to be a kick ass character!".. in vain of Ripley or whatnot. Sadly, she sort of takes a back seat, and her character is presented very minimally. Fans of "24" will be disappointed because Reiko could have definitely pulled off a kick-ass, take charge kind of woman, as seen in "24". AvP:R suffers seriously from a lack of substance with the characters. It was good popcorn-munching fair, but by no means a quality picture.