Amazon.co.uk Review
For those who found 2004's
Aliens vs. Predator too lightweight in the gore-and-guns department,
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem offers a marked improvement in both categories, as well as a respectable amount of rumbles between the title extraterrestrials. Set in the 21st century (which predates the story to all of the
Alien features),
Requiem sends a crippled Predator ship crashing to Earth in a small Colorado town; unbeknownst to the locals, the craft is loaded with H.R. Giger's insectoid monsters, which make quick work of most of the population. As the human cast is slowly whittled to a few hardy (if unmemorable) souls, a Predator warrior also arrives to complicate matters and do battle with the Aliens, as well as a ferocious Alien-Predator hybrid (dubbed a Predalien by the sci-fi and horror press).
Visual-effects designers and music-video helmers The Strause Brothers (who make their feature directorial debut here) keep the action on frantic throughout, which is wise, since the dialogue and characters are threadbare at best; that should matter little to teenage male viewers, who are inarguably the film's key audience. Fans of the
Alien franchise, however, may find the offhanded nod to the series' mythology given during the finale its sole saving grace.
--Paul Gaita, Amazon.com
Synopsis
Alien vs Predator relegated its intergalactic grudge match to Antarctica, keeping most of humankind gleefully ignorant. This time around, though, the destruction takes place in suburban America and facehuggers, alien hybrids, and the dreadlocked Predator wreak havoc. Directors Colin and Greg Strause (billed as 'The Brothers Strause') use their visual effects backgrounds to create a steady stream of monsters, gore, and goo. Picking up where
AvP ended,
Requiem sees a Predator on a homebound spacecraft when a baby alien/Predator hybrid bursts from his chest, causing the ship to crash in the Colorado woods. Several facehugger specimens escape, planting eggs down the throats of a hunter and his son. Soon, baby aliens emerge from their bodies and head for town, where ex-con Dallas (Steven Pasquale), Iraq War vet Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth), pizza delivery boy Ricky (Johnny Lewis), high school heartthrob Jesse (Kristen Hager), and sheriff Morales (John Ortiz) have their own separate encounters with the creatures.
The dead Predator's home planet receives a transmission of the alien outbreak, and a fellow denizen of his world is dispatched to clean up the multiplying aliens, eventually causing enough death and destruction for government intervention.
Fans of the comic books and videogames will appreciate the Strauses' adherence to the lore of the series, but others will probably just find thrills in the copious special effects, which are frequent and of a high standard.