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You see like a boxing day sale, the idea of
it – and its promises – is a lot more exciting than the execution. You
might find a couple of specials, but mostly, it’s just a
headache-inducing nightmare that thankfully only lasts a couple of
hours.
As
average as the Strauss brother’s follow-up to the Paul W.S Anderson
film is, it’s much better than it’s predecessor. There’s a much more
interesting backdrop this time around; a far more interesting set of
characters (if a little thinly-written) and more of the hardcore
in-your-face disgusting’ antics you expect from both a Predator
or Alien
movie. Quite simply, the director’s seem to be bigger fans of both the
Ridley Scott-created franchise and John McTiernan-created franchise
than Anderson ever was.
In the new pic, a small Colorado town
find themselves caught in the middle of an ongoing war between the
space freaks. Naturally, there’s a take-charge big brother who has the
wits and the weapons to stand up to both parties. Having said that,
there are just as many who haven’t a clue how to escape a face-hugger
or pred-blade.
If AvP 2
fails for any reason it’s possibly because the original concept
– Alien Vs
Predator
- is so Vanilla. Lets admit it, a film series (it started as a comic)
that saw the monster from a Schwarzenegger movie taking on an extra
terrestrial who terrorized Sigourney Weaver over four movies is a
rather ridiculous idea. There’s only so much you can do there. And,
quite frankly, once you’ve seen one boxing match between these two ugly
mo fo’s, you’ve seen them all.
Shane Salerno’s script tries
hard to draw us into proceedings here, hoping to no doubt give us a
more exciting time than the first celebrity deathmatch, and for about
35 minutes there he succeeds in doing that. But then, somewhere around
the second or third reel change you stop caring about what’s going on
on screen and once again yearn for a solid solo Alien or Predator
sequel (so surprised they haven’t resurrected either franchise).
Is it
because of the thinly-written characters? Is it because the film’s
lacking a big star to keep us enthralled? Is it because the film’s
colour palette is way too dark? Or is it simply because the film’s been
edited so heavily (and apparently it has – whole characters, seen in
early cuts, are missing from the finished film) that it now more so
resembles an effects reel for its newbie directors, the Strause
brothers, than it does a film?
Probably a mixed platter
featuring all those selections. But more so, the fact that the
directors don’t restrain themselves or make the most of their
characters might be its greatest downfall. There’s an alien busting out
of someone’s gut or hugging someone’s mug every three minutes it seems.
The scene with the chest burster in Ridley Scott’s Alien worked so
well because it was just that one singular scene, and it was
surprising. This movie throws scenes like that away for free – and in
droves.
We’ve
seen both the Alien
and Predator
on screen several times now, so it’s
not like we’re going to be seeing anything significantly new, but like
someone that goes to the same circus year after year, it doesn’t mean
you can’t keep hoping to see a couple of new tricks. Pretty much the
same routine this year though, folks... still, it's bound to still put
a couple of smiles on dials.
EXTRAS
Extras include a bunch of
featurettes and an informative but hardly-enthralling commentary by the
Strause Bros and producer John Davis.
Conclusion:
Movie 50% Extras: 30%
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