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Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet... Paul W.S. Anderson? Now "The Brothers Strause" - that's what they bill themselves as, otherwise known as Colin and Greg Strause - can be added to the list of the directors of Alien films, as they have brought us the second AVP film, this time called Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, to give it its full title. "Why 'Requiem'?" you might understandably ask. "Because it sounds cool," is probably the reasoning. Indeed that seems to be the justification for most things in AVP:R. Logic and franchise continuity is thrown out of the window in favour of some gritty R-rated action. Or, at least, that's how it's being sold; like Paul W.S. Anderson's predecessor, this has a UK certificate of 15, so there's not that much of a difference. The increased gore was basically the primary selling point of this sequel, but it isn't capitalised upon.
And yet, it is fun, in an utterly brainless kind of way. The Strause brothers seem to have come to the conclusion that the Alien and Predator series have lost whatever pretence of respectability they once possessed (Alien mostly), so their attitude is that they'll just churn out a string of murky and uninspiring inter-species face-offs. The film is so far removed from where both series started - Alien was intense and cerebral, and Predator was a surprisingly intelligent Schwarzenegger vehicle - that it should not even be placed within the same universe. AVP:R falls into every B-movie trapping there is, whereas Ridley Scott's original did its utmost to avoid such cliché. A major flaw here, but one of many, is that the human characters are utterly bland and almost universally unlikeable, with attempts at character development bordering on laughable. Needless to say, soap opera teen relationship troubles should never appear in an Alien or Predator film. Most of the characters are so annoying or paper-thin that you even feel like cheering when they get picked off (in a mostly predictable order, with a couple of satisfying exceptions).
Most irritatingly of all, this is a film whose premise had a certain degree of potential. An alien-infested predator ship crash landing near a backwater US town is not inherently a terrible idea. If the army was brought in sooner and the focus on teen angst eliminated, this could have been a decently entertaining piece of xenomorphic carnage. As it is, it's not without some successful moments - there are a couple of visual red herrings and at least one decent line - and does entertain on a basic level, but fresh ideas are thin on the ground. The rare new element that is introduced is used unimaginatively, such as the predator/alien hybrid, which is just an alien with dreadlocks and mandibles. Composer Brian Tyler does well, channelling Jerry Goldsmith's Alien score (along with James Horner's Aliens) and Alan Silvestri's Predator to stirring and nostalgic effect, but the memories the music evokes just serve as a reminder as to how far the series has fallen. The technical crew (creatures, visual effects, sound design) deserve applause, but the film just suffers from a fundamental lack of inspiration and creativity.
The summary
Separated from previous franchise entries, AVP:R is passable, brainless fun. But compared to the earlier films, it's not even up to the standard of the first AVP, completely devoid of tension or memorable moments.
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