Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Review

[tmeacham]

Review written by Travis Meacham.

The ultimate science fiction odd couple are back in "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem" and this time they've brought the result of their unholy union with them, the Predalien. Is "AvPR" the monster melee you've been waiting for?

http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/01/08/apvr_review/

 

[coverfire]

Bummer, I was hoping for at least a good movie. They really need to relook at the past aliens and predator movies and remember what made them so popular with the fans and then revisit an AVP movie. I want another Freaky Aliens movie like the first 2 heck even the third one was decent but by the fourth aliens movie they were just out to make money on the name. Aliens Vs Predator could be so much more than it has been if only the writers would put a bit more thought into what made the two franchises popular in the beginning.

 

[stemnin]

I haven't seen the movie yet (hasn't played here), but I do agree it should be done in the future, or atleast a next movie.. if there is ever one, thanks for killing aliens and preds hollywood.

The humans in AvP should be like the extras in Star Trek, you know, the blue shirt guys (or red or green I can't remember), expendable and you're like oh noes who cares for 1 second while the rest move on. That's what I hated most about AvP was too much time spent on character development in such a short movie, you go to know like the backgrounds of half a dozen alien fodder... woohoo..

 

[ocnewb]

Unfortunately, I have to agree. They really did a hack job on this film. I was really hoping for more Alien vs. Predator action. This Pralien, half Predator half Alien. Shares features of both species. It appeared to have the jaws and dreads like the Predator. It also had the body of the Predator with a torso, and Predator like arms and legs, with Alien hands? It also posses some godlike, never before seen ability to vomit up Alien eggs into the stomach of child bearing women. Where the hell did this come from? Is this how the Predator reproduces?

And what is up with the Predator response? The ship is filled with face huggers when it crashes, did the Predator fleet not know what was onboard? I’m guessing they did as in the end of the first movie there were what.. 15 standing around watching? So they respond by send one Predator to take on at least 10 Aliens? And he arrives there with no guns and ganks the one from the dead Predator. If I were him I woulda got me a squirt gun and filled it with that blue crap he was dumping on things and disintegrating them.

If the Aliens were a dinosaur they would b a raptor. Fast, agile, and lethal. They hunt and attack in packs, and are ambush killers. You see this once in the movie. The rest of the time it reminded me a lot like the Vampires in 30 Days of night, Aliens just running around eating the town.

And honestly, did anyone see that tard of a guy hooking up with that hot blonde?

 

[jeverson]

Ok... I admit that AvPR is no award winner. Yes the dialog is pretty bad. And yes, they keep getting the story and environment all wrong. But as far as an action film is concerned, it was pretty good. The first film followed the story structure of the books and graphic novels pretty well and in that regard was good. Wrong time frame, too short, not scary enough, and if they bring "Bishop" back one more time I'm gonna vomit. But it wasn't a bad action film. I completely agree with you in what I would like to see in an AvP movie...

1. Lots... and I mean lots of Aliens
2. More Predators... not one, but not 100 either... more like an Elite Squad of about 10 or so
3. Lots of fodder... we lovingly refer to them as Colonial Marines ... a few squads with lots of knives and sharp sticks
4. Sometime in the future... way in the future...
5. No recycled characters... or relatives... all brand new faces and backgrounds
6. Needs to have a similar feel to Alien and/or Aliens... Honestly, I loved the Predator films... but let's be honest... neither had the best dialog or acting either (Get to the Choppa!!)
7. Don't care what location they choose as long as it isn't Earth... the further away from "help" the better... Some kind of really big space station would be kinda cool... lots of places for Aliens to hide
8. I have no problems with a strong female heroine as that is a common element to all the stories (please no more Ripley)... Although I wouldn't mind a comeback of Newt... I know I said no recycled characters... but I would forgive that one (mostly)
9. I would like to see more interaction among the Predators... see more of the culture behind them like in the books

There you have it. One Kick A$$ AvP movie. FOX may send the check to...


Hehe I wish...

 

[meadowlands]

I think what would make a good alien movie would be what happened from the time the family team brought the guy with the alien on his face back to the facility in Aliens 2 till the Marines actually arrived. They must have put up some sort of fight if they barricaded the doors etc.

You know everyone is going to die, but you get to see how it all unfolds. You could also make it a double feature by playing aliens at the end, but with improved effects, maybe high def, and maybe add some of the scenes which never made it into the original. For example, you never see the scene with the sentries when they play Aliens on TV... Thoughts?

 

[gm0n3y]

I liked this movie. I came into the theatre expecting a terrible film with some awesome fight scenes thrown in. If anybody expected anything different (especially after the first AvP), they were nuts. I got what I expected and had a few laughs (mind you my buddy and I split a case of beer during the movie).

While I would really like to see a truly good AvP film (and some of the ideas tossed around here sound decent), it would require more funding and a more expensive director / cast. I don't think the studio is willing to put much into this franchise outside of the bare minimum to get the cheesy sci-fi / action fans out.

 

[exfileme]

Sounds like the writers were hurrying to get something completed before they went on strike.... kinda like pushing out that turd on the fly so you can get back to Halo 3 pronto.

 

[wrack]

Yeah saw it in cinema and came out with face. Very very disappointed.

 

[stemnin]

The first film followed the story structure of the books and graphic novels pretty well

I assume the books and graphic novels came way before the AvP and AvP2 games and not a tie in to the movie? Sorry, I only read Tom Clancy lol.. (don't play the games..)

When the first movie was in production and I didn't know what it was going to be about, I assumed it was going to be based on the games, I was sadly mistaken, although I did like the movie, but not as much as had been in sci-fi like the alien movies.

 

[randomizer]

I'm seeing the movie soon, the first wasn't very good. I never played the first AVP game, but the second was great (though the expansion pack left alot to be desired).

 

[airblazer]

first game was as scary as ****..remember for the marines first part you had no flashlamp..all dark and you just used your flares...by christ was that a scary part of the game especially when your scanner starting beeping when it detected approaching aliens...
AvP2 was brilliant...loved the gun sounds..didn't realise there was an expansion pack for it.

 

[randomizer]

It's called Primal Hunt. It's good except for the extra campaigns, which are really short.

 

[airblazer]

must keep an eye out for that..cheers randomizer

 

[jee_are]

Can someone explain how the "Predalien" creature actually works out?? I mean, when a face hugger lays in a human you get an Alien, not some half breed "Humalien". Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Froberg]

As the guy behind the newest incarnation of the Aliens Versus Predator Online Encyclopedia, I can't express the tears I've shed because of these latest installments in the series.
I've even ass-raped myself, because they are supposed to be canon. I can do nothing but put their weak-assed content into the encyclopedia.

I think there's a premise for a good movie being made with both aliens and predators. Hell, why not?

Just stop the constant "this could happen tomorrow" theme of these last two installments.

I'm going to disagree with a previous guy in this thread. Hold up Alien:Resurrection against AvP:Requiem.. and there's no contest.
It's like comparing.. um.. well.. a good movie and a **** movie.

But yeah, give us a proper AvP movie. In the future. In space. 2-2.5 hours long. Proper character development, insight into predator culture..

Hell, I'd love to see some of the "initiated" humans on the pred homeworld for example.

</end rant>

avpoe.org btw.

 

[bounty]

Well face hugger + Human = bipedal alien... maybe those are humaliens.

 

[ocnewb]

The aliens that came from a human share no physical resemblance to humans what so ever. They are fast, we are not(atleast not that fast), have an exoskeleton, a tongue with teeth, scales, and claws. Oh and the last time i checked i didnt have a spear like tail.

 

[crom]

It seems that Hollywood will greenlight any crap, slap a familiar title on it, and hope that people go to see it, and then buy the DVD to give as a gift for the holidays. "My son likes those Predators, he'll LOVE this movie!" At least that's the marketing mentality.

If they really want to move volumes of DVDs and get people to go and see the film it's not a hard formula, as Travis states in his article.

Predator makes a great action movie for a number of reasons. It's got Arnold. It's got a lot of guns, and lots of kicking ass. Sure there are some cheesy one liners and some one dimensional characters, but it fits for the genre. The film has a great dramatic build too, from a kick ass squad thinking it's a routine mission, to getting their asses handed to them one at a time by the Predator. The first 2 Alien movies are fantastic to. The first one is more of a horror movie than action, but it's still kick ass.

All of the elements for a good versus movie are there, just capitalize on them. A pyramid under the ice for thousands of years in Antarctica is a dumb premise. It should have been something like this.

In the future (just after Aliens), colonists from the Alien movies send a cryptic message back to earth. Earth sends in the marines, expecting the aliens. Turns out the colonists have been slaughtered by predators instead. Marines hunt predators. Turns out predators were trying to exterminate the Aliens. Big ass battle starts.

Sparse it up with typical "filler"

- Cool noble predator sacrifices himself to show his good will to the humans and kill some aliens

- Marines act all tough until they realize they're in over their head

- "GAME OVER MAN! GAME OVER!!"

 

[jeverson]

For those that don't understand why Alien's look the way they do... here you go...

Aliens borrow genetic markers from their hosts. So yes... "regular" Aliens are humanoid. They mostly walk on two legs and have two arms. If you will remember in Alien3 (I know many of you have tried to block that catastrophe from your memory) but the Alien in that came out of a dog. It resembled that dog in that is was smaller, had shorter limbs, and moved mostly on all fours like a dog.

I do think that the design behind the Pred-alien is a little off as the "dreads" on a Predator are actual dreads and not a genetic feature. So there is no real reason why the Pred-alien would have dreads. As for the egg laying, the Pre-alien in this movie is supposed to be a Pred-alien Queen (that's why it showed up in yellow on the Predator's scanner). The way it laid it's eggs were very similar to the way the face hugger does. So basically this Pred-alien has cut out the need for a face hugger and is essentially doing more of a live birth method. I don't think that it was necessary for the hosts to be pregnant women, but perhaps it allowed for them to reproduce faster and in more numbers.

The Aliens are a very adaptive species. I know I am geeking out big time here and probably sounding a lot like a Trekkie but I have loved the AvP stories since I read the first graphic novel back in 1992. I have read all the paperbacks, seen all the movies, played all the games, and have almost all the comics/graphic novels. I always liked the idea of the two baddest creatures going head to head, and that the ultimate hunter was breading the ultimate prey.

So please, before you guys go slamming the movies or making assumptions, please take some time to go and check out the source material and you will see that the movies aren't "that bad". As you can tell by my earlier post I wasn't completely happy with either AvP film, I felt that they were worth watching and I thought that last one was actually a lot of fun provided you are just looking for an action film.

 

[tmeacham]

Can someone explain how the "Predalien" creature actually works out?? I mean, when a face hugger lays in a human you get an Alien, not some half breed "Humalien". Can anyone shed some light on this?

EDIT - Looks like jeverson beat me to it.

I always thought the idea was that the alien takes on physical characteristics of the host in order to better adapt to a local environment. So the reason aliens have two arms, two legs, and stand upright is because the ones we've seen were from human hosts. In Alien 3 the alien uses a dog as a host and is more animalistic running around on all fours.

When you think about it walking upright with your heart and chest exposed is hardly an ideal evolutionary position for an aggressive creature who uses their arms and teeth to hunt - especially one with limited intelligence like an alien. If anything birthing from human hosts could make the aliens weaker.

With all that in mind taking on the dreadlocks from the Predator seems kind of like taking on hair from humans. I don't want to see an alien rocking a mullet anytime soon... or do I...

 

[randomizer]

As long as the aliens don't start protesting about greenhouse emissions and nuclear disasters in the next movie it will all be ok.

 

[d_fusion]

I have watched this show. I did not really enjoy the movie as I find the fighting scenes dark and difficult to see especially when they looked so alike.

 

[ocnewb]

Like i said before, the only resemblance the alien has from a human is that it has arms and legs. It is hardly ever on two legs, unless attacking, and even then its usualy lunging at its prey. The Pralien has the arm and leg skin tone and exact build of a predator, it even moved kinda slow like one too. And showed no signs of ever walking on all fours (like u would normally see a human alien). Its mouth and back half of its head was also the same as the Predator. As for why it showed up yellow, it wasnt beause it was a queen, u actually see the Predator switch its scanner to see it, the Pralien gave off a different heat signature, and was nearly invisable compared to the human alien signature. Anyone who has ever used Heat Sgnature goggle can back me up on this, they actually have 3 different settings depending on where they are looking. The Prailien had a much lower body temp than regular aliens. It wouldnt be a stretch to say Preds are cold blooded(or some variance of), where almost any climate has no affect, like in the fist AvP, in an ICE temple, they arent wearing jackets. In AVPR, in Colorado, cold (the people are dressed warm), thus the body temp of the Pralien would be much lower.

 

[Kerberos77]

Was anyone else disturbed by the whole hospital scene? Seriously...was that necessary? You might as well have had the Predalien terrorize a nunnery.

And does this town only have one road? Is it like Simcity where the road leads off to nowhere (SPOILER) making the helicopter the only avenue out of the city? The most logical decision made in the entire movie is when the pizza guy says "I'm going in the tank." Well if he had stayed in the tank instead of making the suicidal dash for the chopper he might have graduated past expendable crewman. And even if the town only had one road and that road was blocked by the military (which seemed too obsessed with setting up perimeters to to worry about the 10 foot tall man-eating aliens prancing about), how hard is it to hike?