Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

The script is great for this type of film, even though it lacks original ideas and the characters are not depicted in detail, but it’s action packed and without any boring moments. What the directors made from it, however, is sadly a different story. The hard to follow, badly edited action scenes, which make up about 80% of the movie, look like a direct-to-DVD C-movie with Michael Paré. Especially the shootouts with the army will make you shake your head in disbelief. That’s too bad, because the decent production values and cult status of Aliens and Predator put together could have amounted to a spectacular B-movie. (02/01/2008)

It's as if you were walking around a fair's House of Horror with exclusive exhibits, but you couldn't see anything because there’s a blackout. In the night scenes (which make up two-thirds of the film), the Straus brothers deliver confusingly edited action sequences drowned in darkness, in which many times you have no idea who is killing whom, who is shooting at whom, and whether this creature is a predator or an alien boss. The brothers prove with their script that they can squeeze some water out of a rock, but they shouldn’t have got behind the camera. (20/04/2008)

I had the same problem as with the first one: it became boring after a few minutes. That’s surprising because there’s something going on almost all the time – the aliens killing someone or fighting with the predator – but it’s executed in such a sterile and dull way that it almost makes you sad when you imagine how it could have been if… If the action scenes weren’t confusing, if the characters uttered sensible dialogues, if the extraterrestrial monsters were shown in full at least for a bit, or if it focused more on the atmosphere – in other words, if someone else had directed. The final impression is a little bit better than with the first one, but still weak. AvP 3 this time in space and without Straus, please. (31/01/2008)

What bothers me most about this crossover series is the fact that the creators have sucked the soul out of two icons of horror sci-fi, leaving us with only a marketing product. It’s dressed up and packaged to attract the masses and neutered enough to hurt anyone drawn to the series with any sort of sympathy. The Brothers Strause understood the task perfectly, but in looking at the individual parts, they didn't understand a single one. And so they ride a wave of references (mostly to Cameron), which they intersperse with fashionable zigzags between the boundaries of correctness (dead children and pregnant women, an interesting kill list). The result is an unwanted B-movie dominated by... the Predator. His sovereign hunting instincts entertain about as much as the Aliens have been relegated to the role of expendable insects. I’d say that kids would be entertained, but my 13-year-old brother told me that it would be better to adapt the game than to create this... shit (I added). (08/08/2009)

Another lobotomy of the alien race, accompanied this time by perfectly bad performances of the Earth's population. The creative brotherly duo deserves respect for not restarting anything and honestly picking up where Anderson left off, but apart from the impressive Predalien, they don't please with anything at all. The grateful gaming and comic series remains cursed in terms of film. (20/01/2013)

I didn't expect anything extraordinary from this, yet the result negatively surprised me. Even in the context of the genre, it's a desperately clichéd spectacle that resigns to nothing more than a run-of-the-mill shooter that steals from the sci-fi genre. It is definitely not a horror or sci-fi, just a cheap action movie. I don't know the budget they had, but the majority of the film is drowned in darkness, and such poor lighting is quite rare - only a total blackout at the production site could excuse this. The editing is chaotic, at times the viewer has no idea who is shooting at whom, who is screaming, and whose blood is splattering everywhere. I haven't seen the first film, and after watching this, I have no desire to. I get the feeling that after this discrediting of the subject matter, no one will ever make Alien 5... Overall impression: 10%. (20/01/2009)

My mom summed it up with a pretty accurate statement: “They messed up the whole thing with those people." And I agree with her (it reminded me of those two episodes of General Hospital I saw), and I just want to add that they messed up a lot more things. To start off I would add a little more light. Just remember the first or the second Predator, which played out during the day for the most part. Well it is what it is. The main Predator is a nice guy as always and the aliens are revoltingly revolting as usual. The problem is in the Strause brothers’ directing, because they didn’t manage to create the right atmosphere. The plus is, that they fulfill some fans’ fantasies. The Predator planet and children used as incubators are probably the most interesting ones. And for that its three stars. (08/02/2008)

The beginning is so fast that you can't even properly take a look, turn off the lights, and grab popcorn, and we already have alien embryos attacking the faces of poor people. This sequel strictly follows its predecessors in terms of classic trademarks and other specifics – from the sounds of fights to typical gimmicks on both sides. As a bonus, we get to see from time to time the planet of Predators (amazing) and some new cool gadget and weapons we didn’t see in the previous movies. All of this in sharper camera shots because we're no longer in the 80s, technology is advancing. Unfortunately, the plot is nonexistent and the characters, with a few exceptions, behave like morons. There are classic clichés (group division, heroic acts), but fortunately, the people don't play the main role here. The monster fights are nothing special, lacking clarity in action and a proper drive, but the emphasis on the physical abilities of each monster is intriguing (breaking through walls, destroying everything around them). As a detailed showcase of legends, it's very entertaining and technically quite decent. As a tribute to classics, it is acceptable because many scenes are basically replicas in a modern attire, but as a pure slasher, it's rather weak. Therefore, better focus on the hunter and the slimeball, and then you’ll feel better. (19/07/2008)

The start-up of this B-movie is great. Beginning on a predator ship, a crash, alien "face-huggers" rampaging through the forests, a predator planet, a predator who goes to Earth to find out what happened. Seriously, the film is not flawed up to this point. But then it starts to run out of breath, the atmosphere ceases to build up in any way, and most importantly - night comes and the power goes out in the city. The darkness annoyed me to no end. Everything that took place in it was unclear - especially the predator-alien fights, which were also confusingly edited. What follows is boredom interspersed with occasional eating, shooting, skinning someone (it's spectacularly filmed, yes), which culminates in a fairly decent scene at a hospital. Towards the end, the film picks up again, but to be honest, I wasn't in the mood for it after an hour and a bit. So I give both stars to the great beginning and the decent ending... (21/02/2010)

The potential is there, both space monsters are still an irresistible attraction for viewers, but the resulting dud is something that even those for whom the names Alien and Predator never meant much do not deserve. The level of B-ness was truly unbearable, whether it was the routine and impotent direction or the utterly insane and chaotic editing, where probably even the crew couldn't find their way around. Thank God that Rodriguez fixed everything with his Predators. (03/02/2013)

The open ending of the first Alien vs. Predator called for a sequel, which we got a few years later, unfortunately with a qualitatively lower value. The sequel completely ignores the story, doesn't try to build a universe around the two dreaded monsters, and simply focuses on the action, which, while abundant, feels cheap and cluttered. The oppressive atmosphere is gone, and this time everyone gets murdered on sight, the motto must have been "The more holes in the head, the better!". The characters are flat, incredibly stupid and in fact it could be said they are just for number; the protagonists are mainly the two monsters (and the hybrid), but in this case they lack most of their "cult charm". As far as that ignored story goes, the film slaps several storylines (family, relationships, and misuse of technology) together, but they're only held together by force of will. As a mindless one-view action film, this movie can be survived, but that's really a shame because the material was solid. (04/08/2020)