Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem (2007)

TOO DARK!!! (but otherwise good)

I HATE how so many film makers seem to be in love with dark movies!!! 95% of this movie was filmed in severe darkness, and it makes me angry because it was very difficult to follow what was going on. There's lots of chaotic action happening in nearly complete darkness. CUT IT OUT!!! Stop making movies this dark!!! I had to turn the lights off to help me see the movie better, but that only helped slightly. Wow I feel like slapping repeatedly the movie directors who think it's such a great idea to use so much darkness in their movies.

Other than that, the story was perfect and I liked everything else about the movie. I would be glad to see lots more Alien and Predator movies, as long as they aren't so freaking dark!
August 26, 2008

A movie worth watching

Aliens vs. Predator Requiem picks up immediately where AVP Alien vs. Predator left off and the adventure starts with a bang.
I have to say that I am not a MAJOR fan of either the Alien or the Predator series, though I've seen all the previous movies and liked them. So, I cannot take part in discussing the technicalities and the specifics like other reviewers have. Therefore, coming from someone that is not familiar with the "details" I have to say that the movie was pretty good!
The acting is actually much better than its immediate predecessor (it was GREAT seeing Reiko Aylesworth from 24!), though the setting is not as good; AVP's Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones feel was definitely a bonus! Nevertheless, it is another action-packed thriller combining elements of adventure and horror.
The plot, the acting, the dialogues, the special effects, and the battle scenes, are all very good!
In conclusion, Aliens vs. Predator Requiem is definitely a movie worth watching, as it will surely provide for an evening's entertainment!
August 23, 2008

Big disappointment

I know lots of people thought the first movie in this series (Alien vs. Predator) had a lot lacking, but I still ended up enjoying it. Sure, it couldn't compare to the first Alien or Aliens by any means, but it held some merit nonetheless. But this film is a complete horror to a decent predecessor. The story line lacks direction and it appears that the director just chose to include as much horror as possible to shock value. So while it may have some moments, this is one movie you can avoid. August 23, 2008

A Letdown Difficult to See

In this 2nd Alien vs. Predator go-round, the directors (Bros. Strauss) strayed fatally from a plot formula that created the Alien and Predator films' original success: Surrounded by a solid, sympathetic, and colorful supporting cast, the lone hero/heroine emerges to battle a formidable alien adversary, and prevails. Along the way, the hero/heroine undergoes a journey of personal discovery involving courage and facing one's internal demons (for Sigourney Weaver's 'Ripley'), or (for Schwarzenegger's 'Dutch' and Danny Glover's character in 'Predator 2'), humility and loss. This personal, archetypal human heroic journey always was, for these series, fundamental to the films' quality forward motion--even more than the alien creatures themselves. This quality element lasted throughout the 'Alien' series (and with Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher directing the first three, respectively, we can understand why), dropping off somewhat with Alien IV. The original 'Predator'--ably directed by John McTeirnan of 'Die Hard' fame--maintained this quality; there was a considerable drop in directing/storyline quality with 'Predator 2' (not directed by McTeirnan).

In the first 'Alien vs. Predator,' director Anderson clearly tried to maintain this 'hero' motif, casting Sanaa Lathan as the new heroine. Unfortunately, Lathan was not strong enough as an actor to pull off this role with anything close to Sigourney Weaver's success; and Lathan's supporting cast was weak, with no real attempt on the writers'/director's part to establish either their rapport with each other, or the audience's sympathy for them. Yet this film had a few modest high points: 1) an interesting 'rats-in-a-maze' plot device involving a Incan/Mayan/ Aztec/ Egyptian pyramid hybrid; 2) the contrived predator training/hunt involving a captured alien queen and humans-as-hosts for the aliens-as-prey; 3) and a reasonable (if unoriginal) explanation for how the Predator race came to earth in the first place involving a 'Chariots of the Gods'-type of origin story. This film, in my opinion, has been unfairly criticized. Still, I think the PG-13 rating compromised its visceral integrity. Yet the creature effects were not bad, with some nice representations of the Alien queen. Overall, though, the film's well-conceived plot line suffered from poor plot/character development in general. It should have been easily two-and-a-half-hours long. Considering what it had to work with story-wise, it underachieved unbelievably. Still, not a bad film as these films go. Better than Alien IV and about as good as Predator 2.

But back to the film in question. It seems that the Bros. Strauss decided that it would be enough for this film for them to introduce a Predator/Alien hybrid creature (the 'Predalien') as the feature, previously unseen attraction, plus the requisite gore that would earn an 'R' rating. All other elements that Bros. Strauss included (i.e., an unsuspecting human/victim population; predator vs. alien; an earth encounter; a nefarious government conspiracy to 'study' the aliens at the expense of the civilian population; an ensemble group of 'everypeople' who must rise above their training/status; human fighters utilizing an alien weapon) had been seen and done before. No new ground, other than the 'Predalien,' was broken for this film. At least the first 'Alien vs. Predator' could claim this feat. In addition, and as mentioned earlier, this film lost the primary device necessary for this franchise's original success: The emerging hero/heroine. In this film, we see a 'normal' human group that very realistically--and mundanely from a storytelling standpoint--attempts to battle the aliens in their midst, with a few of them surviving realistically to the movie's end. Yet none of them is elevated cinematically to hero status, and so we as the audience sorely miss the riveting struggle by a singularly compelling hero against an awesome array of truly scary alien creatures--which made these movies greatly entertaining in the first place. It is as if Bros. Strauss decided that just the idea of aliens coming to a sleepy American town was compelling enough. They were wrong. And both the franchise and the audience paid dearly. It goes to demonstrate that even sci-fi/horror films need quality directing and writing to succeed, rather than just effects and gore.

Beyond all this, the film was simply too dark. I couldn't see what was going on half the time. Bad! Bad! August 22, 2008

Tooo Dark

I wonder what they were thinking. The film is way too dark. One has to strain their eyes to make out what is happening. True the Alien films used low lighting but this was overdone for this film. The actors in this movie make the last film AvP look like a masterpiece. Lance Henricksen was in the original Alien franchise and returned as a different character in AvP. To sum up the obvious:

1) Use higher lighting.
2) Don't use teen actors. August 14, 2008

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