Movie review: Alien vs. Predator - Requiem
I really wanted this movie to rock. And while it was better than the first one (not hard), I didn't enjoy it that much. Not that it sucked per se, it may be that I have actually become jaded to both franchises and I pretty much knew what to expect. Aliens and Predators fight, people get caught in the middle and die.
While the movie wasn't the CGI-fest that it could have been and having physical "creatures" actually there made it seem a lot creepier, they somehow failed to find the balance from Alien and Aliens regarding what you could see... it was too dark. Yes, dark is scary and hides the fact that the monster is a latex prop or suit, but a little more visibility would have made a difference. Then again, maybe I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read a review with a similar criticism before seeing the movie.
Another thing that bothered me were some inconsistencies regarding the "mythos". Some things happened too fast for the sake of convenience. Some "rules" were changed. And what was up with that blue liquid?
The human characters exist mainly to provide casualties. I was stoked on the notion of this taking place in a populated area, raising the risk and tension, and I didn't want a lot of time wasted on character development, but I don't think I could have told you any of the characters' names by the time I reached my car. I will say that my survivor list was slightly off... one died that I expected to live and one lived that I expected to die. And the filmmakers try to make the list harder to make by showing that some of the conventional rules are out.
One surprise was that they passed on an obvious set-up for another sequel. Maybe its just as well.
2 of 5 cloaked xenomorph flying monkeys.
While the movie wasn't the CGI-fest that it could have been and having physical "creatures" actually there made it seem a lot creepier, they somehow failed to find the balance from Alien and Aliens regarding what you could see... it was too dark. Yes, dark is scary and hides the fact that the monster is a latex prop or suit, but a little more visibility would have made a difference. Then again, maybe I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read a review with a similar criticism before seeing the movie.
Another thing that bothered me were some inconsistencies regarding the "mythos". Some things happened too fast for the sake of convenience. Some "rules" were changed. And what was up with that blue liquid?
The human characters exist mainly to provide casualties. I was stoked on the notion of this taking place in a populated area, raising the risk and tension, and I didn't want a lot of time wasted on character development, but I don't think I could have told you any of the characters' names by the time I reached my car. I will say that my survivor list was slightly off... one died that I expected to live and one lived that I expected to die. And the filmmakers try to make the list harder to make by showing that some of the conventional rules are out.
One surprise was that they passed on an obvious set-up for another sequel. Maybe its just as well.
2 of 5 cloaked xenomorph flying monkeys.
Labels: movies
posted by Oz at 4:57 PM
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