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The movies have long cultivated many of their better tales from other mediums; books are the most obvious and prolific. What doesn't work under the written word may work quite well with the aid of moving images. The same goes for comic books; the next natural resource of sorts that Hollywood has taken to mining concepts from.
The latest example of this is Alien .vs. Predator, a film with a concept so clever that it has no business being in such a mindless popcorn movie.
The two science fiction franchies were originally brought together in a graphic novel of the same name. The plot there (and here, as well) revolved around an ancient pyramid used by the Predators for a unique hunting expedition. Locked up inside the pyramid is an Alien Queen, restrained by a machine which can induce her to lay eggs on cue. The cue is the arrival of three young Predators, who are there to hunt and kill the Aliens to prove their worth as part of a rite of passage. How very Klingon.
This has, of course, been going on for thousands of years. And, of course, the alien bar-mitzvah doesn't go as smoothly this time as it has in the past, thanks largely to the presence of a group of human beings sent to study the pyramid. This group of random experts (all of whom are steeped in all of the the subjects which will come in handy later) is assembled by billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland, who has taken ill and is desperate to leave a mark on the world before he dies.
For whatever reason, no one in this group seems surprised when eye-popping extra-terrestrials start showing up left and right. The actors are supposed to read the script beforehand, but the characters aren't. No one who sees this film should be on the lookout for in-depth character development, but the absence of the obligatory "what the hell was THAT?" scene stands out.
It's been said that only about 20% of the Aliens and Predators you see on-screen are computer-generated. The film does, admittedly, do a fine job of making the two seamless. Both species look as real as the humans they so quickly kill off.
No cast member stands out as particularly exceptional. The star of the film are not the Aliens, nor the Predators, but the fight itself, which spans about half the movie and includes two significant bouts. I won't reveal the winner, if any, but I will point out that any good franchise-melding movie has to give both groups of fans something to cheer for. Freddy .vs. Jason knew this, and Alien .vs. Predator does, too.
Simply put, "AvP," as the hip kids are calling it, is a mediocre film made above-average by its concept. One would expect a story like this, as well as Freddy .vs. Jason, to employ a great many forced-fit story pieces. After all, what says "done just for the money" like welding two fading franchises together? Despite this, both films "FvJ" and "AvP" manage to give their stars surprisingly good reasons to get involved with one another, and give us enough action the rest of the way to make the rides worthwhile.
The latest example of this is Alien .vs. Predator, a film with a concept so clever that it has no business being in such a mindless popcorn movie.
The two science fiction franchies were originally brought together in a graphic novel of the same name. The plot there (and here, as well) revolved around an ancient pyramid used by the Predators for a unique hunting expedition. Locked up inside the pyramid is an Alien Queen, restrained by a machine which can induce her to lay eggs on cue. The cue is the arrival of three young Predators, who are there to hunt and kill the Aliens to prove their worth as part of a rite of passage. How very Klingon.
This has, of course, been going on for thousands of years. And, of course, the alien bar-mitzvah doesn't go as smoothly this time as it has in the past, thanks largely to the presence of a group of human beings sent to study the pyramid. This group of random experts (all of whom are steeped in all of the the subjects which will come in handy later) is assembled by billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland, who has taken ill and is desperate to leave a mark on the world before he dies.
For whatever reason, no one in this group seems surprised when eye-popping extra-terrestrials start showing up left and right. The actors are supposed to read the script beforehand, but the characters aren't. No one who sees this film should be on the lookout for in-depth character development, but the absence of the obligatory "what the hell was THAT?" scene stands out.
It's been said that only about 20% of the Aliens and Predators you see on-screen are computer-generated. The film does, admittedly, do a fine job of making the two seamless. Both species look as real as the humans they so quickly kill off.
No cast member stands out as particularly exceptional. The star of the film are not the Aliens, nor the Predators, but the fight itself, which spans about half the movie and includes two significant bouts. I won't reveal the winner, if any, but I will point out that any good franchise-melding movie has to give both groups of fans something to cheer for. Freddy .vs. Jason knew this, and Alien .vs. Predator does, too.
Simply put, "AvP," as the hip kids are calling it, is a mediocre film made above-average by its concept. One would expect a story like this, as well as Freddy .vs. Jason, to employ a great many forced-fit story pieces. After all, what says "done just for the money" like welding two fading franchises together? Despite this, both films "FvJ" and "AvP" manage to give their stars surprisingly good reasons to get involved with one another, and give us enough action the rest of the way to make the rides worthwhile.