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Alien vs Predator: Requiem
Let's not make any bones about it, Alien vs Predator was a pretty poor film, the human characters took too much precedence on the narrative to the extent of one forming some awkward quasi romance with the Predator. Is that really what a film about two battling screen legends should have. No. In this sequel however a clear attempt has been made to rectify this, there are obviously some human protagonists to follow but are wisely kept seperate from the Predator fighting the aliens, bar a few inherent cross overs. And perhaps the strongest point with these human characters is, ironically, how little the filmmakers care for them, gladly using the knowledge that the audience won't like them either or even want them in the film at all, which allows many smile inducing dispatches of them.
As much fun as is had with Requiem it's still very flawed, the target audience is painfully apparent with too many deaths being cut away from seconds too soon in a bid for that 15 certificate. Here's hoping the uncut DVD will include the gruesome deaths missing. Opposed to the first with multiple Predators against the aliens, Requiem offers just one so his fight becomes far more interesting, and while empathy is probably a stretch, he's certainly who the audience are rooting for. Aside from the editing, the other major problem is how the creatures are handled, often it's far too reminiscent of their previous incarnations to the point where their scenes could've effectively been copy and pasted. The predator is handled best, though unsurprisingly having only one to focus on but the directors seem at a loss as to how to show the aliens past copying others, from the swimming to the uncurling from ceilings, their framing and direction is unoriginal and evokes little tension. And they never seem to sure when to show them and when not to giving little scale or insight to their genuine threat. It's probably best not too mention the massacring of Giger's brilliant alien design apparent in the Alien/Predator hybrid, which seems like they literally mashed the two images together without consideration.
Past the gripes the film does work well, moving from the weak points of the original most notably in the character handling. From the opening with the little boy, the hope of his death is satisfied paving way for more characters to be remorselessly killed, which provides most the fun. Every cliched character from the hero to the love interest are fair game, to an extent. Sometimes the shock value seems a little forced, like impregnating the women in the pregnancy ward and audience patience is tested when it's revealed they must have a helicopter to escape (opposed to their tank) which happens to be at the hospital. But much of this is rewarded, from the hero's bad decisions leading to what we knows coming instead of convenient rescue and cliched characters getting what's not expected. Most importantly however the battles between the two species are well handled and enjoyable, although maybe not as fluent or exciting as the initial promise. There's some pretty cool moments when the collide and the predator is mostly badass providing fun kills but the film sometimes verges on tedious like the predators injuries being forgotten or his constant inability to hit a target and long range.
Overall Alien vs Predator: Requiem strives to break certain conventions of horror films and works to an extent but all this is still hampered when the unoriginal characters do survive. Nonetheless it is enjoyable and doesn't disappoint and i'd almost say it's possibly as good as the worst each franchise has to offer. It's certainly an improvement on the first so gets my recommendation if you're even remotely interested in them but would further recommend waiting for an uncut version and definitely an alternative ending.
Let's not make any bones about it, Alien vs Predator was a pretty poor film, the human characters took too much precedence on the narrative to the extent of one forming some awkward quasi romance with the Predator. Is that really what a film about two battling screen legends should have. No. In this sequel however a clear attempt has been made to rectify this, there are obviously some human protagonists to follow but are wisely kept seperate from the Predator fighting the aliens, bar a few inherent cross overs. And perhaps the strongest point with these human characters is, ironically, how little the filmmakers care for them, gladly using the knowledge that the audience won't like them either or even want them in the film at all, which allows many smile inducing dispatches of them.
As much fun as is had with Requiem it's still very flawed, the target audience is painfully apparent with too many deaths being cut away from seconds too soon in a bid for that 15 certificate. Here's hoping the uncut DVD will include the gruesome deaths missing. Opposed to the first with multiple Predators against the aliens, Requiem offers just one so his fight becomes far more interesting, and while empathy is probably a stretch, he's certainly who the audience are rooting for. Aside from the editing, the other major problem is how the creatures are handled, often it's far too reminiscent of their previous incarnations to the point where their scenes could've effectively been copy and pasted. The predator is handled best, though unsurprisingly having only one to focus on but the directors seem at a loss as to how to show the aliens past copying others, from the swimming to the uncurling from ceilings, their framing and direction is unoriginal and evokes little tension. And they never seem to sure when to show them and when not to giving little scale or insight to their genuine threat. It's probably best not too mention the massacring of Giger's brilliant alien design apparent in the Alien/Predator hybrid, which seems like they literally mashed the two images together without consideration.
Past the gripes the film does work well, moving from the weak points of the original most notably in the character handling. From the opening with the little boy, the hope of his death is satisfied paving way for more characters to be remorselessly killed, which provides most the fun. Every cliched character from the hero to the love interest are fair game, to an extent. Sometimes the shock value seems a little forced, like impregnating the women in the pregnancy ward and audience patience is tested when it's revealed they must have a helicopter to escape (opposed to their tank) which happens to be at the hospital. But much of this is rewarded, from the hero's bad decisions leading to what we knows coming instead of convenient rescue and cliched characters getting what's not expected. Most importantly however the battles between the two species are well handled and enjoyable, although maybe not as fluent or exciting as the initial promise. There's some pretty cool moments when the collide and the predator is mostly badass providing fun kills but the film sometimes verges on tedious like the predators injuries being forgotten or his constant inability to hit a target and long range.
Overall Alien vs Predator: Requiem strives to break certain conventions of horror films and works to an extent but all this is still hampered when the unoriginal characters do survive. Nonetheless it is enjoyable and doesn't disappoint and i'd almost say it's possibly as good as the worst each franchise has to offer. It's certainly an improvement on the first so gets my recommendation if you're even remotely interested in them but would further recommend waiting for an uncut version and definitely an alternative ending.