Alien vs Predator [DVD]

If you forget that this is the continuation of two very successful franchises, and consider this as a graphic novel adaptation, then it is actually a bit more successful than people give it credit for.

In tone and spirit, this is much more of a Predator movie than an Alien movie - it is as an Alien movie this most disappoints. However, as Predator movie I would suggest this is better than Predator 2 was.

The plot is set in modern time, when a heat signature revealing a hidden pyramid under the ice is seen by satellite. The owner of the satellite, played by Lance Henrikson, brings together a team of archaeologists, biologists and `security' (the equivalent of Star Trek redshirts I guess) to investigate. What they find is a pyramid used by Predators to hunt the ultimate prey - the Alien.

The rest of the story is just bunkum, and don't think too hard about many of the continuity points because much of it does not quite work, but the action scenes are handled adequately, mostly by pilfering ideas from the previous movies and reproducing them in watered down form for characters we have not yet come to care about. Best original (-ish) idea was that the pyramid reconfigures every 10 minutes once activated, to add spice to the hunt and help split our characters up to be picked off one at a time.

Saana Lathan is no Sigourney Weaver, but a stronger character than one might expect from Paul W. S. Anderson (who also directed Mortal Kombat). Nice to see Colin Salmon, the English actor of several Brosnan era Bond movies, in another role - shame it wasn't in a better movie.

Overall, this is not a disaster as a movie given its rushed production and low bdget - but don't go in with any expectations of anything approaching even the worst of the Alien movies. Think of it as a so-so Predator sequel and you get the idea.

3 ½ stars - I'll opt for 3, because of the corny script at times.

Aliens. Predators. You would have thought with two of the greatest cinenmatic monsters in one film, it'd be difficult to get it wrong. Still, Paul 'WS' Anderson does a fairly good job. This time a team of Arctic explorers led by Charles Bishop Weyland (the founding 'father' of the 'Company' from the Alien series) are drawn to a temple in the antartic after it's identified by satellite. Thus begins an hour and a half of thrills, spills, schlock horror and a total absence of anything to put it on a par with the franchises that spawned it.

Which is not to say that it's a bad film. Whether or not you enjoy Alien vs. Predator is really dependent on what you're expecting. If you're looking for the intelligent plot exposition you found in the first 3 Alien movies, you're likely to be heavily disappointed. If, however, you're looking for the gratuitous gore (albeit largely Predator / Alien) and sense of suspense that went with the first Predator film, then you're a lot more likely to walk away happy.

AVP is somewhat of a mixed bag. Anderson is definitely a man who believes in old school cinematics (he wisely dispensed with the use of CGI unless it was absolutely necessary), but some of the cinematography and editing leaves a lot to be desired (one of the main AVP fights is shot so close and edited so quickly that it makes it very difficult to really see what's going on). For the most part however, the film retains a palpable sense of tension throughout and is a guaranteed to provide a few jumps and thrills for first time viewers. Special mention should be made for the set design which is superb and quite convincing - it's obvious where Andersons forte lies...

Where the film does fall down though, is on its script and storyline. The script is almost unnecessary - merely providing a vehicle from which to jump from one fight to the next. The actors make the best of what they're given, but ultimately much of the dialogue is cheesy and unsatisfying. As for the storyline - it broke so many rules of the Alien franchise (there's no Ripley, the suggestion that Charles Weyland provided the prototype for the Bishop android, the discovery of the Alien creature prior to the events of Alien, the lack of further exposition of the Alien lifecycle etc.) that many of the diehard fans from the original franchise must have run screaming for their Quadrilogy boxsets. Thankfully though, the film was never meant to be philosophised about in the same way as the originals and can only be taken at face value - it would have been far worse had Anderson attempted something more complex. Having said that though; it is sad that there is too much which is left unexplained or uncovered in this film - it simultaneously expects the audience to have an appreciation and understanding of the original franchises and to also ignore them due to the glaring continuity errors.

Ignoring the originals though, is ultimately the answer to appreciating AVP - if you can see it for what it is (an entertaining action romp with lots of monsters) then you're likely to think it's fantastic. For purists though - this is best avoided and filed away with 'Alien Resurrection'.

On the DVD itself you'll find an extended version with a different beginning (readers of the book will already know of the plot line set in the early 20th Century), some deleted scenes (nothing special, but a couple which would have been nice had they been included), commentary from the director, Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen, a making of featurette and on the DVD - Rom some features on the original Dark Horse comics. Probably worth the extra £3 you'd shell out over the 1 disc edition.

With regards to the deleted scenes and added beginning - for fans who were disappointed with the lack of gore and low rating of the movie in theatres - this will do nothing to change their opinion, nor will it do much to rectify some of the plot holes - these scenes are curiosities; nothing more. The title 'Extreme Edition' is possibly a little misleading and I daresay only placed in order to play upon these hopes.

Overall though, for the average horror film fan with nothing better to do, this film is an entertaining piece of popcorn fiction and worth a look.

I actually quite like this movie but then I'm an Alien nutjob! My hubby is more on the side of the Predators and the kids are in the middle. We watched this in sheer delight the first time and I was perfectly happy. It's not until I'd watched it again that little things began to niggle at me.

For instance, the amount of time it takes for the face huggers to do their job and for the aliens to burst out of the chests was a litte too quick. And I fail to see that a Predator would be so quick to help a human in real life...listen to me talking like this stuff would actually happen!

Anyway, it's a good story and gives a good explanation as to where the Aliens originated from. It's also good to see Lance Henrickson back playing Bishop, (of sorts anyway!). Don't be too put off by the bad reviews, I wasn't and I enjoy this film quite regularly.