Great film! ....not

Rating: 5/10 (22 April 2005)

After successfully messing up film versions of both Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat, Paul W.S. Anderson has been hired to helm another project that should really make itself; Alien vs. Predator. The mind boggles, it really does. How this man continues to get work is anyone's guess - I don't doubt that his films make money, but surely the powers that be would be far better off hiring a director that knows what they're doing. Projects like this one and Anderson's video game movies were always going to make a profit anyway, so I cant understand why the studios don't hire someone good. Anyway, as the title suggests; AvP finally sees two of cinemas most menacing creatures face off! As a big fan of all the Alien and Predator films (with the exception of Alien 3, for obvious reasons), I was very much looking forward to this movie, even though my expectations were low, and alas; it didn't even meet my low expectations. I was expecting at the least to be entertained by a little bit of alien fighting; and although the movie has that and it's not boring; it also has lots of trite and dull moments and on the whole this film is one gigantic failure.
The plot isn't very original, but at least it gives the film the basis for an intriguing set-up. It preaches that the Predator's are coming to Earth on a hunting trip and, as they are the ultimate prey, they've re-animated a bunch of Aliens to fight with. The 'fun' doesn't end there, however, as a bunch of researchers are on the Predator's patch after discovering their hunting ground under the ice in Antarctica. This isn't a bad plot; it's not particularly intelligent, it's very simple and, as mentioned, it's unoriginal; but still. However, Anderson still manages to mess up even this plot with an awful 'revelation' part way through, a very trite and dull first half and an ending that is an absolutely huge cop-out, and doesn't do justice to the series' that spawned it. It's almost like Anderson got most of the movie completed, and then just decided to get the movie over with quickly. Maybe his dinner was ready or he just got offered another franchise to mess up, I don't know. Aside from all the stuff mentioned, though, the most annoying thing about the movie is the terrible characters and the even worse script that they had to work from. Quite why Lance Henriksen accepted this movie is anyone's guess, I know that he probably wanted his paycheck, but man, where's the self respect? Anyway, this movie isn't recommended.