A Perfect Blend of Alien and Predator

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2006)

Some primary points to remember when watching a movie tied to a series of movies is that plot, time line, and characters must follow a specific path to rationalize the story as a whole. It is most difficult to create movies based on the vast epics of comic books and video games because readers and gamers have expectations that writers and directors usually cannot satisfy. To begin, movies are limited by time - most viewers will sit through an hour and a half or maybe 2 hours. Rarely can a director get away with over two hours, and only in exceptional instances can a movie be 3 hours or more. Hence, what AVP followed made it a prequel to answer the questions of the previous movie viewers and keep the story fresh. This perspective lent the story an environment of the present by the course of the previous movies, focusing on the back story of both aliens and predator. Anderson, O'Bannon, and Shusset did a fantastic job telling their story and the length of the movie is perfect to tell all about it.
These gentlemen were creative enough to establish rules that were re-reasoned and re-rationalized from the previous movies. It would not be sensible to make this work for all of the comics, books, video games and so forth ever based on AVP because it would be impossible to know all the rules and worlds that other authors created. Essentially, the stories of Alien and Predator have been "works in progress" for all areas. Anderson, O'Bannon and Shusset worked together on "their" original ideas, which makes it rather official in terms of what the story is meant to be for all monsters involved. When new subsequent writers some day take over, it will take a great feat of intellectual strength to rise to the challenge. Consider the hereditary story of Star Trek, where new series writers have delicately tip-toed around paradoxes eventually writing them out of existence and into a void where an explanation is presented in the creation of something entirely new in a completely different series or movie. In short, books and video games have to be ignored because their story lines are not suitable for consistency: the driving aspects of the film.
This is where AVP fits in. It is the creation of something to explain "some" of the story but not all. Well directed by Anderson, AVP viewers are presented with the "beginning" - the part where characters such as Woods and Weyland fit in - where aliens fit in and their unexpected origins - and what predators do and why they come to Earth in first place. This beginning is beautifully orchestrated with the unsuspecting humans destined by their own greed. The predators are more plentiful in this movie, which explains their 1 on 1 performance in previous movies. The aliens are solidified as the same nasty creatures they've always been, which is the focal point for loads of action leaving the aliens to do their dirty deeds.
Also, viewers should remember that stories and their rights are property that is purchased, collaborated, officiated, and storyboarded, re-worked, thrown out and redone from the beginning and over again before exposure ever hits the film. Many fans forget that the audiences who follow alien, predator, and AVP (not to mention the general public) are all different. Their knowledge and understanding of the characters must be reconciled by the film or the film will never make sense. This is much harder to do than just picking one of the comic book stories and going with it. Keep in mind, that stories which fare well in books or in games are not necessarily the stories that fare well in theaters. Essentially, actors tell the story, not scripts and milieu may not necessarily be created by the environment described in a video game. Screen plays must be written so that lighting, props, camera angle, special effects and locations can tell the story as well.
AVP is a perfect example of what blending story lines should do - it demonstrates commitment to the academy and to the work of the previous artists who produced both Alien and Predator with substantial energy. It is clear that this movie crew succeeded because everyone involved had the shear will and ability to make AVP the best movie possible. The "monster versus monster" storyline is tough to pull off for any production crew. Sure, we would all love to see King Kong vs. Godzilla which would be a lot easier to do than Star Wars vs. Star Trek, but that doesn't mean it should be done - nor does it mean that we can do it competently without considerable effort. A story really has to work or there is going to be trouble and a lot of expense down the road. AVP is the best monster vs. monster movie ever made - which is truly an understatement.
Some reviewers have suggested that this movie has tainted the entire vision of the AVP series' and all is lost. It's disappointing to think that anyone would suggest that we could not continue a story because a movie was made in one interpretation. I look forward to viewing the incarnations of every idea because it is fun! Some day there may be a new Brady Bunch series, a new and improved Lone Ranger, or a better Robocop. AVP is a great movie for anyone looking for an action and sci-fi flick and not because it follows story lines so well (which it does) but because it truly excels as a movie. Taking a strict interpretive view of what a story "has to be" is ridiculous not to mention stressful for viewers. I look forward to AVP-2 because let's face it - you can never get enough of that long scary tongue with teeth at the end