Alien Vs. Predator (2004)

Now we dive into the gold of the 'Alien' franchise that is the masterpiece 'Alien vs. Predator'. The film was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson who brought us the wonderful 'Resident Evil' film adaptations but also managed to bring some decent films to the table with 'Event Horizon' and 'Mortal Kombat'. With all seriousness, I would say after re-watching 'AVP' for this review I am looking to put this one more on the 'Mortal Kombat' scale rather than 'Resident Evil'. It's fully aware of its silly premise, it's over the top setting, and its comic book roots and clearly isn't ashamed of it one bit.

The film can be commended for this attitude, as it doesn't try to be anything more than it really is much like 'Freddy vs. Jason' the previous year. 'Alien vs. Predator' just attempted to have some popcorn entertainment for the weekend then fade away. The main issue with that mentality is that these two franchises are much more sophisticated than the usual summer fluff. Both of the film series had slowly became mere parodies of their former selves, with 'Alien Resurrection' being one of the biggest examples of shame and while 'Predator 2' wasn't that bad, it wasn't the best they could do. Fans were hoping that this film could have revived the two dying franchises, bringing them back to their former glory which led to the heavy backlash once 'AvP' released back in 2004.

I myself can attest to this global angry mob as I used to be a part of it. Sure, as a thirteen year old kid I had an absolute blast when I first saw this film but with many films once you grow a little older you see the flaws within and for many years I would come to loathe this film and its sequel. However seeing it again recently, I really don't have that many issues with this one. On the positive side, the makeup and special effects in general are just as well done as the other films with Tom Woodruff and his team keeping up their high quality work on the series intact. The film's setting within an old Aztec temple is interesting, if not a little cliche. Still though, it's somewhere that we've not seen in these movies before and that's one of the biggest things I enjoy about the 'Alien' and 'Predator' series. Even in the worst films, we at least get to see unique locations each time (except 'Requiem' but let's not talk about it until we have to).

Really other than the film is mostly action fluff, 'Alien vs. Predator' is really cheap in both its cinematography and its overall production value. The acting is SyFy channel level at worst and C grade action pic at best, with the exception of Lance Henrickson whose a class act as always. The film also has little to no plot which leaves us with some great but few action sequences and 90 percent bland humans who needed a good facehug to shut them up permanently. The film can be summarized best as a product of its time and one that would be lost to the ages had it not been given the title 'Alien vs. Predator'. It's perfectly serviceable and it doesn't really offend anyone except maybe the most hardcore fan. However, the movie isn't one I recommend in the slightest.

AvP: Alien vs. Predator:

 (C-)