The AVP films have divided fans, with some saying that they're good and some saying that they're horrible and they're sh*t. I decided to do this film first since it has both the Alien and the Predator species in it and it causes debates over the fans. So I watched it with my Dad (who is a big Alien and Predator fan), who pointed out some things to me and I thought it was actually pretty good and I enjoyed it, but on with the review.
The plot is set in 2004 and follows a team of archaeologists assembled by billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) for an expedition near the Antarctic to investigate a mysterious heat signal. Weyland hopes to claim the find for himself, and his group discovers a pyramid below the surface of a whaling station. Hieroglyphs and sculptures reveal that the pyramid is a hunting ground for Predators who kill Aliens as a rite of passage. The humans are caught in the middle of a battle between the two species and attempt to prevent the Aliens from reaching the surface.
The acting is pretty good, especially with Lance Henriksen returning to his shining role as Bishop from Aliens. Sanaa Lathan sometimes suffers from a bad script but nevertheless manages to pull off a decent performance. Raoul Bova is pretty good to as Sebastian. The rest of the actors are Meh, but they're just there to get killed off. The action scenes between the Predators and the Aliens are pretty good but it still makes us all a bit dissapointed.
Now onto the bad things! First off, there's the rating (seriously PG-13?!) and the lack of gore that the other Alien and Predator films have, which is a setback on the film. It also is a bit boring in the first hour and the story does take a while to get started but after the Aliens and Predators meet, the film gets better. There is also some ludicrously tender moments between Lex and a Predator.
This isn't exactly the AVP film, I was waiting for from Fox and with a PG-13 rating designed to pack in as many teenage boys as possible, it doesn't muster the success of the original Alien and it's 1986 sequel, nor is it a stark, macho action movie like the first Predator. Does it deserve the hate it gets? No, not really. I enjoyed and I have to say it is a pretty good movie for what it tries to be.
-2.5/4 stars-
(I can hear the pitchfork's sharpening lol)
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Ozy Reviews/Revisits