So far, we have covered the Predator films - a ranking will be coming after I cover the Alien films. I consider all the films to be connected. So stay tuned as we will get to the Alien films down the road. But why not take a peek at the two films connecting Alien and Predator?
I am talking about 2004's AVP: Alien Vs. Predator and 2007's Aliens Vs. PREDATOR: Requiem.
Now, crossover films are something that have been featured in films before. The Universal Monsters did it with Frankenstein vs. Wolfman and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. New Line Cinema did it with the long awaited Freddy Vs. Jason to success. So, it made sense that 20th Century Fox would do so with Alien and Predator. Especially as this had been featured in comics and games for awhile by this point.
When I first heard about the film, I was excited. I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing either a Predator or Alien film in theater yet. So this would be my first time seeing them on the big screen. I remember the summer of 2004 very fondly as we had just switched our cable services and I had discovered TechTV, later becoming G4. That summer it seemed like every other commercial break was for Alien Vs. Predator. I could not help but be excited for it.
I had heard that Paul W. S. Anderson was directing the film. By this point, I was already a fan of the first Resident Evil film. So I wanted to see what he would do with the film. Then word had gotten out that Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff's ADI would be responsible for the Predator and Alien effects. Again, 16 year old me was excited.
I even had tracked down the novelization and read it. It's still super solid even with its differences from the film. 5 Predators instead of the 3 we received. Like the Spider-Man novelization, there were at least three readthroughs up to the release of the film.
On the opening day, my Dad and I went to see the film. It made absolute sense as we already watched the first two Predator films a lot while I was growing up. So it meant a lot getting to see it.
When I walked out the theater, I was pretty happy with it. Yeah, I understood that it was missing something. The rating was PG13 after all. So, the action in the film did feel like it lacked an impact when it came to the humans. However, there was Alien and Predator blood flying everywhere. And that made me pretty happy. The cast all delivered pretty solid performances. Each and every one of them was very believable. When I compare it to Freddy Vs. Jason, I feel like AVP was a better film.
For the most part, Paul W. S. Anderson did have a solid idea of the Alien films. On the Predator side of things, it felt like it could have used a little bit more work.
AVP is a film that I would consider a comfort film. It's fun to throw on and have for background noise. It delivers a simple story. The action is pretty solid, could have been better. But when the Queen is let loose, it's pretty damn cool. Grid was an interesting idea to give us an Alien that was antagonist. And if I am going to watch any version, I'll be throwing the Unrated on. The Unrated Cut feels safely at home between both franchises. It also definitely leans heavily on the Alien elements.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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