So-so (beware, spoilers)

Rating: 6/10 (21 October 2004)

I went into this film with magazine reviews racing round in my mind. Not that good, they said. For obsessive fans of the originals and teenagers only, they said. Personally, I ignore such reviews. They are often done by serious minded critics, and films like these are not for serious minded people. They are for people who want light entertainment. I stand by my theory, though AvP did test my faith. It's not a bad film, but not particularly good either. I was disappointed by it. The previous Alien films (yes, even resurrection) were, in my opinion, good films. Aliens is one of my favourites of all time. They are very well written, and all follow a simple formula. They have a small group of people who are thrown in an unescapable situation, and get picked off one by one. The same applies to predator. And this means the characters have to be strong. However, AvP deviates from this formula. The characters are irrelevant, given second place to the carnage. Often one-dimensional, we don't even know most of their names. A short film already, ten-fifteen minutes back story would have been useful. A previous history between Lex and Weyland would have been wonderful. Whilst we're on the subject, Weyland was a completely wasted character. The founder of one of the most powerful companies on earth, the prototype for the Bishop droid, and not a word on his history. Inexcuseable. And killing almost all of them off in a very short space of time is a waste. Far better to kill 3 or 4 off at one point and then to kill them one at a time. However, it's not all bad. The fight scenes are fantastic and seeing the alien and the predators fight still thrills me. But like the rest of the film, the fight scenes are far too short. The aliens fail to convey the same menace as they have done in previous films (despite the fact that this is the first alien film i've seen on the cinema screen). The characters are a lot prettier than in prior films though, Anderson has done a nice job of remodelling them. It's a pity that during kills, we have to flick back and forth, in order to get a small rating. Overall, not a bad film. The fight scenes make up for the lack of characters and the pyramid is a nice touch. But (and please take note of this for the sequel fox), we desperately need some better developed characters. We want to care when they die! We want to feel what they're going through! That's why we go to films. Giving a character a couple of kids isn't enough.
Lazy. 6/10