Plot
Following directly from the first AVP movie, sees both Predators, and PredAliens crash land in a small town in Colorado.
Having wiped out the Predator Scar (not before he sends a distress signal through to Wolf – a ‘cleaner’) – the PredAlien begins to go on a killing spree through town.
Now its up to the towns people, Wolf, and the national guard to stop the Alien infestation.
Direction/Cinematography
Directed by The Brothers Strause, who have seemingly gone onto separate ventures since this film, and mostly still work in visual effects etc.
Cast/Characters
Featuring ‘mostly’ tertiary type cast with some television credits such as Reiko Aylesworth (from 24), Steven Pasquale (from Rescue me), John Ortiz (who has done dozens of tv and film roles), Sam Trammell (from True Blood), Robert Joy (from CSI NY), David Paetkau (from Flashpoint), and the late Johnny Lewis (from Sons of Anarchy).
Breakdown
Fairly by the numbers “monster” movie that really has no place saying its an Alien film – as it lacks anything that made the original film series what it is. It does have one thing going for it, and that is the gore and violence is probably the most graphic in the franchises to date!
I feel that this all comes down to putting Alien/Predator in a rural town setting. It feels like an extended episode of the X Files rather than either Alien or Predator movie. Even Predator 2, which had the monster in the big city did far better than this.
Speaking of that movie, the only real “knowledge” of past events is the very final part of the film where the army Col gives the Predator weapon to Ms Yutani – setting up the Weyland Yutani corp for the “future” (as this takes place “before” Alien)
The kills start early (with a poor dad and son) whose poor mum spends the entire film searching for, only to die without answers.
The Predator dubbed Wolf by the fan-base (as he’s a cleaner… geddit?) is one of the better Predators in the franchise because he goes through the many Xenomorphs and PredAliens.
The action between the otherworldly beings is solid enough, but it is too dark (as in colour saturation) to really determine what is happening on screen.
The real downers of the movie are that there is so much time spent on these beings that don’t talk that the bulk of their screen-time is them just grunting etc.
There are also no real likable characters (who you actually can’t wait to die), and there is too much either melodrama (in the poor wife’s frantic search for her husband), tension between teens with sexual tension that is out of place for this type of movie, and groan inducing moments with ‘overacting’ and poor performances, due to a poor screenplay.
When characters do interact, it feels unnatural and how no person actually talks to another…
The inclusion of the national guard in the third act going up against the aliens is mostly left off screen, and ends with a pretty dark (as in nature of what happens) ending where they exterminate the entire town (taking out some of the better characters at the end). I wish we saw more of them, as a bulk of the action is off screen, rather focusing on the mains.
Overall
While the action and gore is improved on from the previous film, the lack of any real characters to ‘root’ for – as well as poor performances, poor screenplay make this hard to watch. Also the dark makes it an even harder movie to literally watch…
The idea of “extermination” of the problem is something that will be explored in another ‘war’ movie I have coming up in a later review, which I didn’t hate.
I don’t overly recommend this one, and won’t watch again.
2/5
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Ryan's Movie Reviews 