Alien vs. Predator

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2006)

Ever since it's conception, the very thought of having two of the best franchises in sci-fi cinema come together to kick the crap out of each other was one of the best ideas to come out of Hollywood. A decade later, when the film was finally made, the results are slightly less than were expected.
The Alien Vs Predator franchise has been going for some time. The comic books were very well received (and still are) since their creation in 1989, and since then they have spawned two video-games. It was inevitable then that a film would one day be made. After being tossed around studios for a bit, responsibility for the film fell to Paul W.S Anderson, who had a background in video-game-to-film projects. And here was the first mistake: Anderson was responsible for both Mortal Kombat and the more recent Resident Evil's, both of which were a bit, well rubbish. It seems odd that studio bosses would put their faith in someone who made two bad video-game-to-film films. Still, they did, and the result is a fairly passable, yet wholly unsatisfying film.
The reason is this: Aliens and Predator are great films, the pinnacle of the sci-fi genre. That means, as this film combines the two, that it has to be rated against them both. If there had been no Aliens or Predator then the score for this film would possibly be a bit higher but as the first two films were so good, this seems very second rate in comparison.
Not that it's all bad. The moment we first see an Alien and Predator face off is great, the moment which has been a long time coming and that we've all been waiting for. It's a bit too hastily edited, and it's hard to see sometimes exactly what's going on  it's all too zoomed in  but the audience is too immersed in the scene that these are minor niggles. Also, the final fight between the last Predator and the Queen is an adrenaline filled, action packed showdown, which does end the film on a bit of a high. It is just that the rest of the film is let down by a lack of any real tension in the build up, a script that is too full of clichés, and (this may sound a bit odd) too full of humans. With the title Alien Vs Predator, you would have thought that it would be mostly about them with humans just kind of in the way a bit, but it is actually the Aliens and Predators which take the back seat. This is a real shame, especially as most of the under-developed characters are only there so that they can get killed off in gruesome ways. Sanaa Lathan is good enough as the lead, though unsurprisingly comparisons with Ellen Ripley from the Alien films will surface and quite simply, she's not as good.
The film is shot well and really looks the part, and the special effects are fine  the Aliens in particular have never looked so good  but the now obligatory action film slo-mo goes a little too far. Still, it's not a totally bad film; it's just that it can in no way compete with the original films. It has to be said though, and raises the score up a bit because of it, that the Predators are, and always have been, awesome!
Rated: 6/10
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