AVP: Alien Vs. Predator ««
PG-13, 101m. 2004
Cast & Credits: Sanaa Lathan (Alexa Woods), Raoul Bova (Sebastian de Rosa), Lance Henriksen (Charles Bishop Weyland), Ewen Bremner (Graeme Miller), Colin Salmon (Maxwell Stafford), Tommy Flanagan (Mark Verheiden), Joseph Rye (Joe Connors), Agathe De La Boulaye (Adele Rousseau) Carsten Norgaard, (Rusten Quinn), Sam Troughton (Thomas Parks). Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.
I don’t see what executives over at 20th Century Fox were worried about when they decided against allowing movie critics to screen their latest film, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, days before its nationwide release August 13, 2004, or for those who believe in superstitions, Friday the 13th. The film is critic proof. The fact there were no reviews bashing the film in any newspapers or entertainment magazines that Friday didn’t keep the movie going public from seeing it.
“AVP” placed first on the list of movies people paid to see opening weekend bringing in $17 million. I don’t think I’d be too far in my assumption if the reason for its success stems from the fact this was the only big title opening that weekend as opposed to little independent films like Garden State (2004), which was only being released on a couple screens per city.
For die-hard fans of the Alien and Predator franchises, this is no doubt a long time coming sci-fi/horror nerd's wet dream. In one corner is a slobbering, salivating multi-toothed creature whose body spews out burning acid and can melt through metal when the creature injured from the Alien films. In another corner is another species from outer space whose only purpose is to hunt down humans from the short lived Predator films. This is like getting the opportunity to witness a heavily promoted boxing match between two heavyweight champs; the chance to see the two deadly creatures go at it in a 90-minute bout and find out who will emerge victorious.
Trouble is AVP: Alien Vs. Predator is a curiosity piece and nothing more. The only attachment the film has to the ones which starred Sigourney Weaver and Arnold Schwarzenegger are the creatures themselves. For a while, the film reminded me of how Indiana Jones always got into trouble every time he went digging for artifacts. We see an expedition led by a wealthy industrialist (Lance Henriksen) transcribe age old writings on concrete walls as they make their way through an ancient pyramid located hundreds of miles beneath the frozen Antarctic wasteland. Instead of worrying about the curse of a dead mummy, the archeologists find themselves in the middle of a war between a mother alien and her batch of multi-legged face huggers and a group of predators who’ve been sent by their home planet to hunt down the species.
The best scenes are the ones between the title characters, or should I say creatures, as the predators engage the aliens with their own planetary weapons blowing away jumping face huggers and impaling every alien’s head on a spear as a mark of their kill. Like The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), which was a two-hour exercise in visual effects, Alien Vs. Predator is macabre eye candy and is marginally better but not by much. I liked how the mother alien was awakened through shards of blue electricity the way Frankenstein’s monster was brought to life. I was intrigued by the background story of how millions of years ago humans built Aztec pyramids who then sacrificed themselves to the aliens while under the rule of the Predators.
The entire cast, however, with the exception of Henriksen are practically all no name actors and actresses whom I have never heard of and will probably never see act in any other movie unless it’s another B grade horror or science fiction film. The characters are nothing more than bait which is exactly what all those teenagers were whom Freddy Kruger and Jason terrorized and killed in the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises.
If there is anything memorable to be gained from watching AVP: Alien Vs. Predator it’s that the best line said in the entire film is something I couldn’t understand. When one of the characters asks, how do you say, “scared shitless” in Italian, the guy says "Non vedo l'ora di uscire da questo piramide con te, perche mi sto cagando adosso…or something like that.”
©8/20/04
PG-13, 101m. 2004
Cast & Credits: Sanaa Lathan (Alexa Woods), Raoul Bova (Sebastian de Rosa), Lance Henriksen (Charles Bishop Weyland), Ewen Bremner (Graeme Miller), Colin Salmon (Maxwell Stafford), Tommy Flanagan (Mark Verheiden), Joseph Rye (Joe Connors), Agathe De La Boulaye (Adele Rousseau) Carsten Norgaard, (Rusten Quinn), Sam Troughton (Thomas Parks). Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.
“AVP” placed first on the list of movies people paid to see opening weekend bringing in $17 million. I don’t think I’d be too far in my assumption if the reason for its success stems from the fact this was the only big title opening that weekend as opposed to little independent films like Garden State (2004), which was only being released on a couple screens per city.
For die-hard fans of the Alien and Predator franchises, this is no doubt a long time coming sci-fi/horror nerd's wet dream. In one corner is a slobbering, salivating multi-toothed creature whose body spews out burning acid and can melt through metal when the creature injured from the Alien films. In another corner is another species from outer space whose only purpose is to hunt down humans from the short lived Predator films. This is like getting the opportunity to witness a heavily promoted boxing match between two heavyweight champs; the chance to see the two deadly creatures go at it in a 90-minute bout and find out who will emerge victorious.
Trouble is AVP: Alien Vs. Predator is a curiosity piece and nothing more. The only attachment the film has to the ones which starred Sigourney Weaver and Arnold Schwarzenegger are the creatures themselves. For a while, the film reminded me of how Indiana Jones always got into trouble every time he went digging for artifacts. We see an expedition led by a wealthy industrialist (Lance Henriksen) transcribe age old writings on concrete walls as they make their way through an ancient pyramid located hundreds of miles beneath the frozen Antarctic wasteland. Instead of worrying about the curse of a dead mummy, the archeologists find themselves in the middle of a war between a mother alien and her batch of multi-legged face huggers and a group of predators who’ve been sent by their home planet to hunt down the species.
The best scenes are the ones between the title characters, or should I say creatures, as the predators engage the aliens with their own planetary weapons blowing away jumping face huggers and impaling every alien’s head on a spear as a mark of their kill. Like The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), which was a two-hour exercise in visual effects, Alien Vs. Predator is macabre eye candy and is marginally better but not by much. I liked how the mother alien was awakened through shards of blue electricity the way Frankenstein’s monster was brought to life. I was intrigued by the background story of how millions of years ago humans built Aztec pyramids who then sacrificed themselves to the aliens while under the rule of the Predators.
The entire cast, however, with the exception of Henriksen are practically all no name actors and actresses whom I have never heard of and will probably never see act in any other movie unless it’s another B grade horror or science fiction film. The characters are nothing more than bait which is exactly what all those teenagers were whom Freddy Kruger and Jason terrorized and killed in the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises.
If there is anything memorable to be gained from watching AVP: Alien Vs. Predator it’s that the best line said in the entire film is something I couldn’t understand. When one of the characters asks, how do you say, “scared shitless” in Italian, the guy says "Non vedo l'ora di uscire da questo piramide con te, perche mi sto cagando adosso…or something like that.”
©8/20/04
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