Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

Directed by: Colin Strause, Greg Strause
Written by: Shane Salerno
Starring: Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylesworth, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis, Kristen Hager

Score: 5/10

Fans of the Alien and Predator movies have come to grips with the fact that they’re probably never going to see an Alien 5 or Predator 3. Stand alone movies in both franchises seem to be dead, so instead, fans have to settle for a combination of the two. In theory this shouldn’t be that big of a compromise. Having Aliens and Predators battle it out has always been a geek fantasy, but after having Paul W.S. Anderson butcher the first Alien vs. Predator flick, it was easy to see that perhaps a proper Alien and Predator movie might never happen. Well, the next installment of this mash-up series is now upon us, and while it’s vastly superior to the first one, it’s still nothing to cheer over.

In this follow up to Alien vs. Predator, a predator ship has crashed on earth carrying with it a new species – the PredAlien. Which is some weird cross breed that is extremely pissed, and looking to kill anything that moves. With it, comes a sleuth of Aliens to help battle a lone Predator who has also just landed on earth. The humans do nothing but get in the way.

After watching the first Alien vs. Predator flick, I was pretty much amazed of how bad it actually was. Let’s face it people, it’s not that hard to make a decent movie consisting of these two iconic creatures. I’m not asking for much when it comes to seeing these guys fight for ninety minutes. Well, one of the main problems with the first one is still evident in this sequel, and that’s those pesky humans. All of the human characters are absolutely horrible, ranging from terrible dialogue to over the top cliché. Here’s a note for any future installments – You can have human characters, and let’s face it you need them to an extent, but there’s absolutely no reason why they have to just be one dimensional walking Alien food. People die left and right and you never even blink an eye at which character just bit it.

With all that being said about the human side to the story, the Aliens and Predators aren’t that much better. This is Colin and Greg Strause’s first flick and most of the time it shows, but the two do have their strengths. Coming from a special effects background is a big plus, especially for a movie like this. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem probably has the most use of practical effects in a movie this year, and it rarely relies on lazy CG. Having fight scenes with real stuntmen dressed in costumes is awesome to see, and just goes to show that you can still have realistic looking creatures without relying on computers. The biggest problem, though, with the action is the fact that the whole movie takes place at night. Everything is so dark, and you always feel like you’re being cheated, never getting the full picture of what’s going on. Not being able to see a majority of the fight scenes in a movie that is nothing but is a huge problem.

Overall, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem might fit the bill for hardcore fans of either series, simply because it’s a new movie with Aliens and Predators. Everybody else is just likely to be bored.