Let me begin this review by explaining to those who may not know, that there are a series of very well written AVP books. The central figure is a woman named Machiko Noguchi, who works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation. The series starts off on a colony world, and long story short, much like the original AVP movie, Machiko is blooded as a Predator warrior. But where the first AVP movie made an uninspiring choice, in the AVP books, Machiko joins the predators on their hunts across the galaxy, which makes for a gripping story with her internal conflicts between her loyalty to the predators, her hatred of the aliens, and her heritage as a human. They're really well done, and I highly recommend them:
1. Prey (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 1)
2. Hunter's Planet (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 2)
3. War (Aliens Vs. Predator, Book 3)
So, given this context, I found the first AVP movie to be by far the most closely aligned with this vision of AVP, although disappointing that it stopped short of carrying through with the theme described in the novels. Not surprisingly, I found the second AVP movie (requiem), to not only be an unfaithful extension of that theme and a complete deviation from previously understood Alien canon, but also an utter mess of a movie in general.
I would rank the Alien movies as follows:
1. Aliens (*****)
2. Alien (*****)
3. AVP 1 (***)
4. Alien 3 (**)
5. Alien Resurrection (**)
6. AVP Requiem (*)
To provide additional insight about my view of this movie, I own all previously released Alien movies, but have no intention of wasting my money on this one. Furthermore, after I'd finished viewing this movie at the theatre, I was actually incensed as I told myself that I'd just lost 101 minutes of my life that I could never get back.
Do yourself a favor - spend some quality time with a friend or family member, go out to a nice restaurant, or read a good book (such as those I've listed above), but DO NOT waste some of your precious time on this Earth watching this stinker. |
AVP - Alien vs. Predator / Alien vs. Predator - Requiem (Unrated Two-Pack) dvd movie.