An AvP Fanboy Thoroughly Enjoyed It

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2004)

To say that I had low expectations of this film would be an understatement. I expected butchery of all related materials - both the Alien and Predator film franchises, the Dark Horse comic series, and the various related video games. What I got was better than I ever expected; Anderson not only shows that he is a fan of the franchise, but faithfully adopts the material into a pleasurable experience for fans of the series.

WARNING: EVERYTHING IS SPOILED BELOW -

By "faithfully adopts", I mean that the movie is basically the first AvP comic series from Dark Horse. The time period and setting is changed, as are all the characters - but the basic structure and plot remains almost identical. At the same time, he expands upon some concepts and even weaves in a bit of historical conspiracy theories.
The plot of the movie should be familiar to anyone who has a passing familiarity with the AvP franchise - a group of Predators have come to a planet (in this case, Earth), in order to test a batch of (assumedly) juveniles. But us Humans muck things up - and the overconfident Predator juveniles get slaughtered along with the Humans.
Just like in the first comic, the surviving Predator teams up with a robust Human female, who shows her worth by killing an Alien. She is Blooded and Marked by the Predator, who gives her the Predator's own Sigil. Together, they manage to destroy the Alien habitat, though the Predator is mortally wounded in the conflict.
This is where it departs from the comic's plot - the Predator's clan shows up, taking the remaining Predator's body back onto their ship. She is given a reward, like Danny Glover's character in Predator 2 - though this reward is certainly much, much better than an ancient pistol.
The movie ends with a reference to a creation of artist Dave Dorman, something that was incorporated into the AvP2 video game by Monolith. Numerous similar references are included in the movie - from Bishop's "do the thing with the knife" scene in Aliens, to Predator's "You are one ugly mother-" line. One of the characters also bears a striking resemblance to a model from AvP2.
It's pretty clear why I really enjoyed this movie - but I'm not sure how well it will do at the box office. The AvP comics are not nearly as widespread as Spiderman or X-Men, or even The Hulk or Daredevil - maybe along the same lines as Hellboy. I hope it reaches its core audience, because fans of AvP should *NOT* miss this excellent movie.
8/10