Alien vs. Predator -Requiem (AVP-R)

Cast: Kristen Hager, Sam Trammel, Robert Joy, Tom Woodruff, Jr. Ian Whyte, Chelah Horsdal.
Direction: The Brothers Strause.
Rating: 5/10

AVP-R is a film that somehow manages to make you want to watch a mindless killing spree of an alien and a predator as they duel on earth. It just amazes you about the extent to which they could have gone to and while doing so tends to fall short and not enough justice has been done to the alien and predator race.

If you have been a fan of the Alien and Predator series then this film will be a must watch but may just not leave you in awe of the two warring races. However the overall story is quite similar to its predecessor, alien lives and predator come to destroy it (huh?). The only fact this time is that the predator doesn’t care about the human race (the predators never cared about humans in the 1st place) and he doesn’t want to leave any evidence behind so he uses a fluid that disintegrates the carcasses. And unlike in the previous films the predator isn’t a hunter instead he’s more like a search and destroy squad with orders to leave nothing behind as proof.

The movie does have some thing that stands out though the sound effects are quite like the original alien and predator films. But this doesn’t work much as most of the scenes are filled with action and blood and gore. The film also marks the rise of the Pred-Alien; this folks is the alien that was impregnated in the dead predator from AVP 1.

While far away from the action on screen is the acting which is really not much to talk about as this was definitely no better than the first one in-fact it may have just dropped (huh?). While the script leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe the thing or rather the project looked different while on paper and translated to this thanks to the negligent execution of the film.

Apart from all of this there are some points of the film that when you think about it just make you wonder how the hell did that happen! Well for starters the aliens go from being newly born to full fledged man killers in a matter of five minutes! Strange... the next is that the sole predator manages to kill and rid the planet of so many aliens alone while helping himself with the humans also. It’s like he’s a clean up squad, just destroys and rids the remains of whatever comes in sight.

The humans play a really pathetic part in this film unlike the first where they actually involve themselves in the fight. (In the first AVP, the humans get their butts kicked as well). Here they are just there for foods, reproduction, and most of all bait. The last is used even by the US Army to lure the aliens and thus the predator to a common space and get nuked all at once.

Another few points AVP fans will notice is that; The predators wear their masks inside their ship, even though they are far away from earth which otherwise never is as the masks are usually battle masks. 2. The wrist bomb on the dead Pred is simply activated and the new predator just plainly walks off with it going off in the background. The flaw here is that usually when that explodes its like a small nuke going off. So what happened? Besides these there are a few more but you will have to watch the film to realize it.

On the whole if you are interested in a flick with lots of blood and gore and enjoy watching people get ripped apart this film will certainly satisfy all your senses and make you jump with joy. But I still fail to see why have the two races battle it out on earth and why does it look like just another Hollywood flick with lots of action and just not enough story depth.