Alien vs. Predator

The Alien is degraded to a drooling hopscotch, leaving the remnants of its sophistication in the original tetralogy - and mainly because of that, Anderson loses again with me this time. While the unsympathetic main characters acquaint themselves with the chilling environment and themselves, it's more boredom than a major annoyance. But when the alien newborn hatches a few minutes after meeting the facehugger, the queen agilely runs around and the predator senselessly respects the insignificant human, I wearily bury my head in my hands and leave. Shameful. (28/12/2004)

Alien vs. Predator is surprisingly well-filmed with nice special effects, dynamic editing and brisk action. And though the first fight between the Predator and the Alien was unwatchable, it still filled me with the rapture of my teenage years. What drags the film down to the level of average, however, is the UNBELIEVABLY stupid screenplay. The fact that Paul W.S. Anderson only steals wouldn’t matter so much, but the way that he sticks the stolen bits together with even more careless glue is a sight to see. With a better screenplay and longer runtime, this could have been excellent entertainment. P.S.: I was a bit bothered by the overall “humiliation” of the Alien race. Personally, I have more respect for it than I do for the plodding Predators. (08/11/2004)

The 1970s and 1980s saw two famous monsters – the Alien and the Predator – and it was only a matter of time before they would meet together on the big screen. Alien and Aliens and the first Predator are classics of their genre, but the same cannot be said for their first crossover. While Alien vs. Predator offers superior visual effects (considering the time it was made), it falls noticeably short on the story level and in building the oppressive atmosphere that was so impressive in the first two Alien installments in particular. It terms of screenwriting, this is a weaker film, which is why it prefers to rely on action scenes and the presence of scares, which it mostly succeeds in doing. Personally, I didn't mind the fact that the Aliens were portrayed as the villains, because while they are no worse than the Predators, they are still more sneaky, and therefore more suited to that position. If you turn off your brain for an hour and a half, Alien vs. Predator isn't all that bad a movie. P.S. A small ("insignificant") plus for the open ending! (03/08/2020)

For a horror movie it lacks even the slightest hint of atmosphere and, for an adaptation of an action game (or a comic book), it’s lacks action. Perhaps only the makeup deserves praise. A boring and uninteresting B-movie that you can see hundreds of on the shelves of video rental stores. Anderson was able to dishonor two legends in one film, so hopefully some skillful predator will find him and exact personal satisfaction for defamation. (10/02/2007)

To embrace Anderson's latest film is, figuratively speaking, not to put your hand in the popcorn, but to go straight into it with your whole body. Even then, AvP is hard to accept. That said, technically there is not much to complain about, the effects are fine, the animatronic models of the aliens are really good, and the film has a brisk pace. But a rather fundamental problem is the absence of two important ingredients in a movie, there’s hardly any atmosphere and suspense. And the script? Everything follows tried and tested templates, without any surprises, and a plot that is transparent and predictable. Anderson's basic idea of the story makes sense, but it's rather dumbed down. Besides, what must McTiernan have thought when he saw that his formerly uncompromising hunter had become a damsel in distress? Please don't do that. The 2 stars are too much, taking into account the fact that I don't like crossovers, and their cold financial cynicism. Now I'm just waiting for someone to come up with a Red Riding Hood vs. Batman movie. That would be awesome! (08/01/2005)