Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Horror-Action RT: 101 minutes Unrated Version (violence, gore and language) Directors: Colin and Greg Strause Screenplay: Shane Salerno Music: Brian Tyler Cinematography: Daniel C. Pearl Release date: December 25, 2007 (US) Cast: Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylesworth, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis, Ariel Gade, Kristen Hager, Sam Trammell, Robert Joy, David Paetkau. Box Office: $41.8M (US)/$128.8M (World)
Rating: ** ½
The good news is Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is better than its predecessor. The bad news is it’s not better by much.
Let me start this review by revealing my main problem with this sequel to the 2004 match-up that brought together two of the hottest sci-fi franchises of the late 20th century. It’s literally too dark. I couldn’t even tell what was happening 80% of the time. Most of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem takes place in dark places at night, be it the woods or a sewer or the high school pool after hours. Then there’s the matter of the blackout that plunges the entire town into darkness. Because of this, viewers never get a good look at the Alien-Predator hybrid creature or “Predalien” that’s terrorizing a small Colorado town. It’s a misstep that mars an otherwise enjoyable alien invasion movie.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem opened on Christmas Day in ’07. It’s hardly the kind of movie you’d expect to open on December 25. It doesn’t exactly represent the idea of “Peace on Earth”. This gorehound took it as a twisted Christmas present. I enjoyed it. It may be artistically flawed, but the makers wisely restore it to both series’ original R-rated glory. It’s very violent and bloody. It’s a step in the right direction.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem opens right where the first one left off, on board the Predator spaceship as it heads back home carrying the body of the Predator who defeated the Alien Queen. A Predalien erupts from the chest and proceeds to kill everybody on board the craft causing it to crash in a forest outside of Gunnison, Colorado. It doesn’t take long for the hybrid and several facehuggers (also on the ship) to implant embryos into a father and son on a hunting trip as well as several homeless people living in the sewers. A distress signal from the wrecked ship summons a lone Predator to come to Earth to take down the invaders.
In true disaster movie fashion, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem introduces us to several disparate characters who will ultimately have to fight for their lives against an enemy not of this world. Ex-con Dallas (Pasquale, Rescue Me) comes home after serving time in prison. He reconnects with his best friend Eddie (Ortiz, Fast & Furious) who’s now the town sheriff. Dallas’ troublemaking younger brother Ricky (Lewis, The Runaways) has a crush on rich classmate Jesse (Hager, Wanted). This doesn’t sit well with her jealous boyfriend Dale (Paetkau, Final Destination 2). Kelly (Aylesworth, 24) returns home after serving in the military and has a difficult time reconnecting with her young daughter Molly (Gade, Dark Water) who’s very attached to her father Tim (Trammell, True Blood).
Eventually, the fight between the Aliens and the Predator spills into the streets and to the power plant where collateral damage from the battle causes a city-wide blackout. Naturally, everybody panics and lots of people die gory deaths either by Predator or Alien.
The characters in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem are just as one-dimensional as the first AVP movie, but they’re more interesting this time around. Like I said, it’s very similar to a 70s disaster movie and we all know the characters in those movies had very little in the way of depth. Basically, they’re all potential victims. The suspense comes from wondering who will still be alive when the closing credits roll.
The creature effects, once again by Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, are pretty good. They use CGI sparingly. Most of the FX are of the practical kind. Of course, this is based on what little I could make out in the darkness. There’s plenty of action and creature-on-creature fight scenes. In a way, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem makes good on the promise of the Alien 3 teaser which implied the action would take place on Earth (“We will discover on Earth, everyone can hear you scream.”)
As much as I like Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, it left me wondering what it would be like to have the Aliens and Predators fight each other in a major city like New York or Los Angeles. Granted, some of the people of L.A. are already acquainted with the latter alien creature, but wouldn’t it be awesome to see such a movie? Can you imagine an Alien Queen hiding in New York’s subway system? Perhaps that could be the story for a third AvP movie, yes? Hey, I’m all for it!
