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Synopsis:
After the discovery of unusual activity in Antarctica, prompting investigation
by the Weyland-Yutani corporation, a team of archaeologists, led by
Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan) soon find themselves caught up in a battle
between two distinctly hostile species, with little hope of survival
themselves, they soon realise that only one side can win.
Review:
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| Oli
Crook |
Every
time a commercially successful film takes place, a worldwide cinematic
phenomenon happens; film studios and cinemas across the country are
suddenly flooded by films of the same genre, desperately trying to
re-create the
‘magic’ which made the film successful in the first place.
As a result of this, a trend of films occur until the next ‘event
filmÂ’ is released and the trend changes again; for example with
the release of ‘Scream’ followed a slew of big budget slasher
films, with ‘The Blair Witch Project’ low-budget,
student-style horror films cropped up all over, and with ‘The
Matrix’ the ‘Intelligent’ action film-genre was born.
So, following the rather dubious success of this years ‘Freddy
Vs JasonÂ’, it would appear we have a new trend on our hands;
the ‘Vs’ film.
A film-makers wet dream, the ‘Vs’ film gives studios the
opportunity to pit two iconic figures (For example Freddy and Jason
of ‘Nightmare on…’ and ‘Friday the 13th’
fame) against each other, thereby securing an instant hit with fan-boys
flocking by the dozen to see their favourite heroes (or villains)
face off against each other.
Battle of the baddies
Thankfully then the makers of ‘Alien Vs Predator’ (or AVP
as it likes to be known in America) actually makes a decent job of
it (especially when compared to its aforementioned and rather laughable
counterpart, ‘Freddy Vs Jason’).
Having been on the cards ever since the release of ‘Predator
2Â’ (look closely in the PredatorÂ’s trophy room and you can
spot the AlienÂ’s skull on
the wall) and having spawned several comic book adaptations and games,
the film has finally arrived.
And, remarkably the film does not disappoint; whereas ‘Freddy
Vs JasonÂ’ was just an easy was for the film-makers to make money
for the studio, regardless of opinions of fans of both seriesÂ’
of films, itÂ’s clear that director Paul W.S. Anderson (who stepped
down from directing both the New ‘Resident Evil’ film and
‘Mortal Kombat: Domination’ to film ‘AVP’) is
genuinely interested in fans of the seriesÂ’ opinions.
In fact the sheer attention to detail to both the ‘Alien’
and ‘Predator’ series’ is quite remarkable, and the
volume of references made to the original films are too numerous to
list here, suffice to say that the explanation of the ‘Bishop'
robots origins is one of the particular highlights in the references.
The cast are reasonable but forgettable (donÂ’t expect any breakout
stars to rise from this film), and even feature a couple of familiar
British faces.
Their characters on the other hand lean towards being a bit two dimensional
(in particular Raoul Bova’s character ‘Sebastian’ whose
sole purpose it to act as love interest and (after discovering he
can read alien Hieroglyphics) a narrator whose function appears to
be interpreting why these two creatures are fighting in the first
place.
But, letÂ’s face it; youÂ’re not going to see
‘AVP’ for the cast, are you?
But donÂ’t worry, the action sequences will not
fail to please, and when the two titular heroes (or villains, depending
on which way you view them) do finally meet, it is every bit as satisfying
as you would expect.
Great effects
The CGI too is superb; the AlienÂ’s snarling has never looked
more menacing, or the PredatorÂ’s weaponry so cool.
Despite being reference heavy and deepening the mythology of both
the Alien and Predator films, the script still suffers from being
a little light and
the film does come off as appearing to be just a blatant set-up for
a possible sequel.
However in spite of this ‘AVP’ is still a contender for
the latter half of the year’s big, blockbuster, ‘event movie’,
and well worth watching if
youÂ’ve ever been a fan of either Alien or Predator.
And as for who winsÂ… wellÂ… If I told you thereÂ’d be
no point in watching it, would there?
Marks
out of 10: 7.5.
Best
Bit (Spoiler Alert): As an Alien bursts through the chest of one
of the characters, it is caught by a predator who, after admiring
it for a few seconds, promptly snaps itÂ’s neck.
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