Aliens vs Predator Requiem

Aliens vs Predator - Requiem

Directed by: Colin Strause and Greg Strause

Starring: Steven Pasquale

Genre: Science Fiction

Run Time: 86 min.

Release Date: December 2007

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

There’s bad cinema, and there’s really bad cinema. And then there’s AvP Requiem. I do sympathize with the cast and crew, however, having a budget of only $40 million. With today’s high-tech blue screens, CGI and special effects computers, $40 million ain’t much. But it should still be possible to make a fair film from that meager amount.

Regardless of budgetary constraints (PITCH BLACK cost only $23 million to make), one would hope for at least some cool camera shots, great action sequences, and good gadgets. Not so. The filming is dark. Too dark. In fact, it was so dark I couldn’t tell who was doing what to whom. “Are they having sex? Or is that blood spurting from someone’s eye?”

Next problem: main character. Who was it?! I have no idea. If someone out there in FilmLand knows, please advise. At first I thought it might be Dallas Howard (Steven Pasquale), a down-on-his-luck excon trying to find his way after his release from jail. But no, we quickly move away from him and on to ...a mother named Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth, MR. BROOKS) who’s just returned from military service and is trying to reconnect with her young daughter Molly (Ariel Gade, DARK WATER). But no, we then move on to Dallas’ brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis, a pizza delivery boy whose crush on a local hottie has him in hotter water with some local bullies. But no, then we move on (fleetingly) to Colonel Stevens (Robert Joy) who somehow, someway, knows that there’s a serious threat to national security in this small town and is prepared to do whatever is necessary to eliminate it. Perhaps the main character was the Predator/Alien hybrid? Or the Predator that comes from Predatoria (my made up name for their homeworld) to kick some serious hybrid booty? Or maybe ...I don’t know!

When you have two such major weaknesses in a film (poor lighting and no main character to follow), you’ve pretty much set yourself up for disaster. Fans of the graphic novels might have fun sitting through it, but for regular ol’ scifi buffs, this one’s a no-go.

(P.S. There’s the possibility of a sequel thanks to the impregnating of a pregnant woman with ...OH WHO CARES! Grrr!)