“Terror, tension, and suspense all lose their effectiveness when we just don’t care what happens to the protagonists”
Reverting back to the heavy violence and free-flowing obscenities the franchise is known for, Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem manages to capture the appearance (and infrequently the mood), but never the essence of what made the original films so engaging. The gore is there but the scares are not, and great heroes and heroines are nowhere in sight. The creatures themselves have taken the spotlight yet again, and as marvelous a sight as they are, it’s hard to choose a side when there’s nothing at stake save for the lives of a few tiresome humans.
A Predator spacecraft unwittingly carrying a dangerous Alien hybrid crash-lands on Earth in a small Colorado town. Chaos breaks loose as the deadly creatures are unleashed upon the unsuspecting citizens, and the survivors must band together to stay alive. But the Aliens aren’t the only monsters they must contend with as another Predator arrives to hunt the “Predalien” and the just-as-inhuman military seeks containment.
A character runs onscreen in a blubbering mess, and a bewildered bystander queries, “What was it? What was chasing you?” The response is probably one of the hardest lines for an actor to recite with an authentic voice, especially when the answer is an alien life form. Too often films lose their credibility when just such a character is forced to quiver in fear and spit out responses indicating they have no idea what was chasing them – because certainly no one will believe them if they do. And usually that’s where the audience also starts to disbelieve. One of the key factors that hinders Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem‘s implausible plot is that the characters themselves don’t grasp the seriousness of their plight, and so their reactions are ill-contrived and questionable. The fact that most of the victims are teenagers also doesn’t benefit the once bloodcurdling xenomorphs.
The original Alien, Aliens and Predator films made estimable use of an adult cast that handled a situation in which none of them could possibly prepare for, in a manner that suited their mature and weathered personas. Here the Aliens and Predators have been reduced to a Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers slasher film killer, and have lost all of their eeriness and menace. When audiences are forced to root for the inhuman antagonists over the poorly developed lead humans, it’s clear that the studio has a character that they can no longer create a worthy plot for.
The atmospheric and claustrophobic designs of the first three Alien films are partially recreated in this second crossover film, but ultimately the larger sets and earthy locations could easily have been substituted for the shadowy corridors of a spaceship or terraforming planet compound. Since isolation was a key point to the plot of Requiem, it seems a lost cause to deposit the aliens on Earth, where highly illogical creations freely mix with natural earthbound realism. After all, it’s only in space that no one can hear you scream — space aliens just aren’t as threatening on Earth since they so rarely frequent such commonplace surroundings.
As each installment of the once grand Alien and Predator series premieres, it seems that the creators believe that the real stars are the monsters themselves (an arguable point, but one that only requires examining the original films to disprove). With this attitude, the Aliens and Predators receive more and more screen time and the humans are merely left to await their horrendous fates. When such focus on what are essentially the antagonists becomes so prioritized, the human characters become simple fodder to feed the surmounting bloodshed. But what good is all that carnage if the fate of these victims is meaningless? Terror, tension, and suspense all lose their effectiveness when we just don’ care what happens to the protagonists. The tagline of the previous film fits this entry more appropriately — “whoever wins, we lose.” But we’re the audience. Why should we have to lose?
– MoviePulse
Genre: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel
Running Time: 1 hr. 26 min.
Release Date: December 25th, 2007 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for violence, gore and language.
Directed By: Greg Strause, Colin Strause
Starring: Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, Gina Holden, David Hornsby, Johnny Lewis
SCORE = 5/10
kin242 says
bugger. I was looking forward to this and all the reviews I have read say its shite.
bugger. back to my alien quadrilogy again…
Kris says
Excellent review, I saw the movie tonight and what you say is spot on. I realize that the predator movies took place on Earth, but like you, I really think that they need to be taking place in space in the future. All of the Alien movies took place in the future as well as the video games. The movie itself felt like some idiotic horror flick where, as you refer to, we couldn’t care less about the human characters. The funny thing is that it is because of the human characters that the Predator and Alien are so terrifying. Plus, why can’t we really see how terrifying these creatures are? What happened to characters that we cared about getting Aliens bursting out of their chests or having their arm shot off by a Predator?
In the end, I think the AVP movies need a main character that we actually care about. What happened to Sigourney Weaver or Arnold? What happened to Danny Glover or the awesome personalities such as space marines or prisoners? I dunno where FOX finds these people, but for god sakes they could at least put some effort into the story/movie to make it feel like they give a damn.
Chris says
The reason theres no main human, because its not called AvPvH..its AvP..only that their fighting on earth..in all the other predator movies, they were fighting on earth
the movie was good, it was as the movie is called, aliens, vs predators..Humans really got nothing to do with it, there just there.
and how arent the aliens and predators not terrible? a little boy got a alien blown out his stomach, babys got killed, pregnant women had aliens explode out of them also..but i guess that was terrible enough..terrible would be watching a main character, happen 2 him..so everyone could run around pissed that their main character died
tom says
I have stopped going to the cinema these days. Instead I spent over £3500 on a projector, screen and amp/ speakers for my spare room. Companies like Fox don’t deserve a single penny of our money. The amount of trash they churn out these days and the decisions they make are unreal. Someone up top needs sacked. I’m glad my money isn’t filtering through their pockets!
ross says
AVP Requiem was SICK!
Had we known about the scenes with the babies and pregnant women we never would have went to see it and we love science fiction. This goes too far!
It’s just a gory piece of crap that further desensitizes our youth with no regard for the possible consequences.
Grizz says
I totally agree with this review. I saw the movie today and felt, while the aliens and preds were, as always brilliant, the human cast left a lot to be desired (in fact I was WILLING the aliens to dispatch them…particularly the lovey dovey teens) Why were there no big names linked to this picture? It played out like a telemovie! If it wasn’t for the aliens and preds, and some other creature substituted, no one would bother. For the record I F**KING LOVE BOTH OF THESE FRANCHISES!!!!! (on their own though!) Ah well, at least it wasn’t as bad as AVP1!! What got me though, was the crass and copout ending (if weyland yutani wanted their technology, why did they sanction blowing them to smithereens, why not capture a specimen???) A NUCLEAR BOMB!! for gods sake! (by the way, the EMP effect from the blast would have screwed their helicopter!!). There were aspects I did like, but they were few and far between (too much talking and very slow at the beginning!) AVPR 5/10
Connor Warren says
What the f*** is wrong with you people? You don’t go to an ALIEN VS PREDATOR movie to see the humans miraculously win. The shear fact that humans won in the first AVP movie made me and every other alien vs predator movie spit venom and shake with anger. The first movie was horrible, absolutely horrible. The predators were idiots and the aliens were far too robotic. Remember that scene where the alien and the predator fight? Remember when the alien is thrown through a wall and it spins around on the ground? A part of my soul died when i watched that scene. And as for those people crying about how it was nasty and “ewww the nasty alien creatures had goo dripping from them, i almost puked” This movie isn’t for you. This is for those AvP fans out there who pumped their fists in the air because this was truly an ALIENS vs PREDATOR film. The aliens moved beautifully and truly how an adaptive, intelligent being should. The predator was more athletic looking than the “500 lbs football player” model from the first movie. These creatures were warriors.
Connor Warren says
i have some corrections after rereading my own post
in “alien vs predator movie spit” movie should be fan
henrikki varis says
I sympathized with predator. The humans were so corny and stupid and aliens were only cannon or shoulder cannon fodder.
Who cares about the clishee teen.
What a sad excuse for a movie. I hope the predator will waste the people who cooked it up
Mike Horsley says
watched it last night – if you are a FAN of Aliens (the 2nd and best by miles of the quadrilogy) and the orginal Predator (the one with Arnie)films you will love this!
Requiem references Aliens in plot, music, lines, even whole sequences. Very violent, makes you jump, no comedy one liners, a true sci fi film made for adults NOT teens
The audience I watched it with was comprised of 40 something blokes and it was great. Watch the original Aliens film before you go and you will get it! The directors are obviously fan boys! Loved it! Its a niche film for an audience the mainstream has forgotten and ignored.
John Boozer says
OMG what a pile of predator poop. Whoever liked this film deserves to be locked in a coffin and lugged on a planet where hybrid crap idea aliens can open up your casket and dive in with you, to suck you off. This film was rubbish i’m glad i didn’t go and waist 8 quid in the cinema and downloaded it for free. Everything about this film was crap you cannot beat the old retro predator alien films DO NOT GO AND SEE THIS FILM ITS CRAP.
RexH says
Thank you Strauss brothers for piling up another worthless piece of garbage, you guys are now in the elite group along with Uwe Boll for making turds! And yes, the hospital scene with babies and pregnant women was totally unnecessary and in bad taste. You guys have 1 sick mind and imagination!
derek says
To all my sci-fi brothers and sisters and other life forms connected to me, Aliens 1,2 and 3 were amazing. There was a logic and a way that the aliens reproduced and multiplied. There always had to be a mother alien to produce pods that impregnated humans or any other life form which then gave birth (very painfully and fatally) to an alien.
In AVPR we saw a shuttle leave the predator ship but the alien that erupted out of the predator (from what I could see) was not a mother alien and if it was where did it lay the pods on the predator ship? And the shuttle that left the predator ship was not carrying pods it was carrying two impregnating aliens, which should not emerge from a pod until a suitable life form was available for it to impregnate.
How were aliens able to impregnate humans without having pods? I saw two humans being impregnated by aliens out of pods but afterwards humans were being impregnated by the alien soldiers. What happened to “Mother Alien”?
To be a good storyteller you should remember where you started from and not deviate from your basic concept.
AVPR CRAP!!! Hopefully you will get it right next time.