Film Bites

Beginning in the moments following the end of Aliens vs. Predator, Aliens vs Predator:Requiem once again pits the hive-minded aliens against the ultimate-warrior predators with humans caught in the middle. The predator mothership, recently launched from Antarctica is overrun by the newly born predalien(Woodruff Jr.) and crashed in the forests of Colorado. A distress signal sent from the doomed ship alerts the predator home world and a lone predator(Whyte) is dispatched to clean up the mess.

Very quickly, the situation on Earth turns gruesome when a father and son, out on a hunting trip, get overtaken by the recently released alien facehuggers. Quickly, more humans, including homeless people and expecting mothers, are impregnated with alien spawn. Meanwhile, several side-stories involving two brothers(Pasquale, Lewis), two lovers(Lewis, Hager), a young family(Aylesworth, Gade) and a troubled sheriff(Ortiz), surface to attempt to make a plausible context for the film. All culminating, the film ends with epic battles between aliens and predators with humans grasping for explanations.

As a die-hard fan of the alien and predator franchises, I bring a critical eye to this film. Anyone who appreciates film knows that Alien and Aliens are two silver-screen legends. Pioneer films in the thriller and action genres, those films set the bar extremely high for all those that follow in their footsteps. Other films have failed miserably (Alien III) others have maintained respect for the series (Alien Resurrection). The Predator films were also highly regarded, although not as high quality as the alien films.

The first Alien vs. Predator stories arose in comic book form from Dark Horse comics. There were even several Alien vs. Predator vs. Terminator books which drew the stories out even farther. Every time though, humans were caught in the middle of these mortal enemies fighting to the death. Never has there been an Ellen Ripley to battle against both predators and aliens. The latest AvP films have always had a female protagonist (Sanaa Lathan and Reiko Aylesworth), but neither has had the commanding presence (or persistence) that Sigourney Weaver had.

As for Requiem, it excels as an action film; it follows in Aliens footsteps more than Alien. It quickly jumps to showing blood and gore, which it presents in spades. One of the highlights of the film is the new predator technology; highly concentrated acid, laser grids and advanced targeting systems. We even catch another glimpse of the predator home world which maintained a very Paul W.S. Anderson inspired styling. Aliens are present en mass as usual, with the predalien leading them as a pseudo-patriarch. Something I did not see coming was the predaliens ability to impregnate expecting human mothers orally. A quick make-out session with the predalien leads to her human child being replaced by 3 or 4 Aliens. Disturbing to say the least; could be a touch on the ‘downright-wrong’ side.

Sadly, humans are under-represented as a fighting force in the film. In the Aliens vs. Predator video games, humans act as the third player of the intergalactic war. In the film, we’re lumps of meat used to breed aliens and worship predators. This storyline is pulled from the first AvP movie, flaws and all. All past films (alien and predator)have placed humans as the dominant species with aliens and predators acting as a nemesis to a human warrior. In the latest film, humans are lambs for the slaughter against these foes; a National Guard team is obliterated by a few aliens. Talk about pathetic. Maybe only Marines are capable of fighting the aliens, who knows?

The only homage paid to any of the previous alien films comes at the end of Requiem. A military official presents the remnants of the predator’s shoulder cannon to Ms. Yutani(Yip); the co-founder of the legendary Weyland-Yutani Corporation (a.k.a. The Company). On the whole, I’ll say Requiem was a good action movie, but a bad step in the alien or predator series. I’ll continue to wait for the next Scott or Cameron to revive the franchise to it’s once great glory.