Much anticipated movie exceeds expectations (moderate spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (14 August 2004)

I come into every movie I watch with a contextual bias. For instance, I always expect action movies to have bad dialogue and plot, but great special effects. Comic book movies are probably down there with action movies as well, although some have recently done very well in breaking the stereotype with such comic book films as the X-Men and Spider-Man films. However, I wasn't expecting much from this movie simply because it was a comic book VERSUS movie, which really hasn't been done much, if at all. I also came in with a strong knowledge of the Predators, having own most of the Predator comics and both the movies. I don't care much for the Aliens, but I have seen all four movies. I also own most of the Alien vs Predator comic books and I own all of the Alien vs Predator computer games. So, as you can tell, I've been waiting for this movie for quite some time. So, on with the review... The plot I knew already from the trailers and looking online, but I enjoyed how they brought the Predators, Aliens, and Humans together.
In the comic books, the Predators seed a planet (Ryushi) with Aliens and hunt them that way and then the Humans just wind up getting involved via distress calls and whatnot. In the second game, it was a little more interesting having it take place on a planet (LV-1201) where the Aliens already exist and Predators regularly hunt the Aliens there and the Humans come later to exploit the Aliens however possible. The movie has the Predators involved in an ancient Human civilization on Earth (for a change) where they have a massive temple in which Predator warriors train with Aliens, this continues to the present day where a group of Humans get caught in the middle. The major difference of the movie's plot to the comics and games are that Colonial Marines are no longer representing the Humans. And I have to say that is a relief because I HATE the Colonial Marines, they're loud mouthed show offs that just got in the way of the point of the story - to see the Aliens and Predators duke it out. And by eliminating the Marines, the movie has the non-military Humans treated as easy prey for the Predators and gestation material for the Aliens which sets the battlefield for the stars of the movie.
The special effects were done very well, especially considering that CGI was used sparingly - merely a supplement to the massive amount of model and costume work used (or so "The Making of AVP" claims). There was unfortunately only one real fight shown between one predator and one alien. It was well done, but some of the camera work was too jumpy to really see the action and it was done with a predator that appeared too bulky, making running and standing up a bit laughable. The alien shots were done much better due in part to a simpler design compared to predators and the fact that most of the shots were probably done with models and CGI. The acting was good, especially for a comic book versus movie. There were little, if any, cheesy one-liners. One of the one-liners was even a tribute to an unfinished one-liner in Predator. As far as the look of the Predators, I liked all of the masks except for one which had some flashy features where the mouth is and that just made it ugly. A new Smart Disk was introduced and the double blade wrist gauntlet also seemed to be modified for Alien combat by having an extended length. The plasma caster, net gun, spear, and self-destruct console also graced the screen. I also don't think that the Predators died too quickly, like many believe. In fact, only one died too quickly and that was only because he was caught off guard while cloaked - so it was to be expected. The other death wasn't quick at all - it was after a long one-on-one fight scene which showed how tough the Alien was in the fight.
The lack of plasma caster use has been complained about which is ridiculous. If you've ever played the game you know that plasma casters vs aliens are unfairly tipped in the favor of the predators and that is just a dishonorable kill in the eyes of a predator. So, the sparing use of it in the movie was perfect and the one-time use of it was excellent because it was used in combat against several aliens at once in a situation that was quite dire. Alien fans would be a little unnerved with the relatively short gestation time for the chestbursters and the speedy creation of a mini alien hive - although it was done slightly within reason. The presence of the Alien Queen was very instrumental and led to an awesome battlescene on open terrain. The only other time an Alien Queen was battled was between Lt. Ripley in a loader in a cramped cargo bay.
The PG-13 rating has been argued by many people, but after seeing the movie there really weren't many scenes that could've been more graphic to make it rated R. And anything gorier would've made it resemble the first movie, Alien, which was not what this movie was going for. The running time of about 100 min is to be expected because Paul Anderson's films are always around this time it is standard for the genre.
Overall, I have to say it was an excellent film because it followed through very nicely with the comic books and games. And for one of the first comic book versus movies it destroyed the subversive stereotypes that exist in that genre. It'll probably never be hailed as a classic because of all the close-minded individuals out there, but for those that are die hard fans of Predators and Alien vs Predator, they'd probably enjoy this movie thoroughly. Rating: 9.5/10