Alien versus Predator Year: 2004 Director: Paul W.S. Anderson Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson Threat: Aliens Weapon of Choice: Spear IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Alien
Aliens
Predator
Alien³
Predator 2
Alien: Resurrection

Rish's Reviews
Drawn to a heretofore undiscovered pyramid buried under the Antarctic ice, an international exploratory team finds itself stuck in between two enemy alien races from two different Fox film franchises, both more than proficient at killing. And the body count rises.
I have to admit, I didn't much look forward to this one. Based on a video game which was based on a comic book which was based on a couple of film series, it didn't seem (to me, anyway) to be a flick that was screaming to be made. Though it make scads of money, I didn't see it until it got to the second-run theatre, but was surprised that it ended up being pretty good.
Based on a story (allegedly) by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, who wrote Alien, this was much more writer/director Paul Anderson's ballgame. Anderson gave us Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil, both also based on a video game, and one of tyranist's least-favourite films, Event Horizon, which was in itself an Alien ripoff. And while I won't say he's a brilliant filmmaker, his films always have a cool look to them.
I thought, judging from the way the film began, that this would be another stinker. I expected to have to not only turn off my brain, but remove the batteries as well. Luckily, simply turning it off was sufficient. Sure, there were some logic problems, and a silly action sequence right out of a Renny Harlen wet dream, but overall, it was a lot of fun. And far better than Alien: Resurrection. Not that that's difficult.
The film is visually interesting from beginning to end and rarely stops moving long enough for you to think or invest yourself in any of the characters. Not that you'd want to, since, just between you and me, none of them will be around long enough to care about.
While I'm no fan of Sanaa Lathan, she was adequate here, and I didn't outright despise her character (which would have been easy). It's great to see Lance Henriksen again, and the man's been in far worse films.
While nowhere near as good (or dark) as the first three "Alien" flicks, I think this sequel is a worthy followup to the "Predator" flicks (of which I like the second more). I was disappointed to find that, while the six films before this one were all rated R, this got by with a PG-13. But ah well. Also, they played around with the rules of the aliens (and did that annoying thing these movies often do where the monsters are super-fast and super-powerful when they need to be, but then not so tough when it's one of the more important characters up against them), but it was all harmless fun.
On the positive side, the special effects were almost invariably excellent. Since the cast was 99% unknown, and the film was shot in Prague, they spent all their budget on special effects. And good for them. It was great to see the Alien Queen again, and the Predators were quite impressive (I guess I'm an all-around Stan Winston fan). The best thing about the effects was their reliance, not on CGI, but on mechanics, prosthetics, and guys in suits. Doubley good for them.
Best Scare: Facehuggers are always going to scare me, period.
Posted: November 9, 2004

The tyranist's thoughts
As much as I love the Alien movies (yes, all of them), the idea of an Alien/Predator crossover has always made me cringe. I saw Predator only once and while I remember enjoying it, the whole idea of mixing the two worlds just seemed foreign to me.
Of course, I saw Freddy vs. Jason opening day so I really shouldn't claim innocence.
I never read the comics and never played the video games so I couldn't tell you whether this has been a good idea all along, but I can say that I'm impressed with the story that they came up with. This is a near perfect blend of the two worlds that denigrates neither and really only serves to enhance the mystique of both. This isn't brilliant filmmaking, there are enough flaws to make this an imperfect movie, but the idea is sufficient to make the action enjoyable and the banter forgivable.
I really appreciated seeing Lance Henriksen here and while a big part of me wishes Sigourney Weaver was involved, I know that's just not possible. I also enjoyed the archeological feel to the first bits.
I feel that I'm rambling a bit. If you are at all a fan of either franchise, this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Actually, it's taken me long enough to get around to reviewing it, I'd be surprised to find out that you haven't seen it yet. Posted: February 17, 2005

Total Skulls: 15

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie		Frankenstein versus the Wolf Man
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?