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AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Director: Colin Strause, Greg Strause

Time Out rating

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94 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Fans of the ‘Alien vs Predator’ sub-franchise will be relieved to learn that Colin and Greg Strause’s ‘AVPR’ is only nominally a sequel to Paul WS Anderson’s (un)original ‘AVP – Alien vs Predator’. Although it picks up where ‘AVP’ left off, this is not a toned-down futuristic action movie, but a gory sci-fi/horror film featuring new incarnations of the extra-terrestrial monsters. Sadly, this semi-sequel is even more spasmodic, boring and incoherent.

After a hybrid Predator-cum-Alien runs amok on a Predator spaceship, it crash-lands near a small American town. As the cross-fertilised ‘Predalien’ slimes its way through the sewers, a battle-scarred Predator is sent to clean up the mess. Caught in the cross-fire between the alien antagonists are the disposable, wooden townsfolk – played by second-string actors from TV shows such as ‘24’, ‘Rescue Me’ and ‘ER’ – whose sole function is to run around like headless chickens until they are gruesomely dispatched. The sheriff is ineffectual, so hopes rest with ex-con Dallas (Steve Pasquale), his semi-delinquent brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis), and an aggressively maternal Iraq War veteran, Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth) – a poor substitute for Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.

Scriptwriter Shane Salerno’s dialogue is unspeakable, the visceral horror all too familiar, and the ideas distinctly second-hand. Cinematographer Daniel Pearl, who shot the original ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ and the recent re-make, occasionally generates scares by hiding the creatures in dark shadows. But the visual effects-trained Strause brothers know that it’s all about the last waltz. So the mayhem inevitably culminates in a dance of death featuring the mutant, dreadlocked Predalien and a leaner, smarter Predator.

Author: Nigel Floyd 2008-01-15 15:54:50

Time Out London Issue 1952 - January 14th 2008

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User reviews of this film

ash said...

Posted on Jan 31 2008 01:23 Oh come on people, lets face it, if you've gone to see AVP2 then you must have at least a partial interest in blood & gore, This is not intended to be a grammy winning screenplay.
Its about pure unbridled destruction.
This is an entertaining film purely for the brilliant stuff the predator has =D
300 was exactly the same type of film as this (Just an excuse to kill lots of stuff)
And im not complaining, i thought it was great.

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jimmy hill said...

Posted on Jan 30 2008 19:35 wake up people. someone is trying hard to keep fans of alien saga happy, I myself loved the film when i was younger i dreamed of aliens in my back garden. good no brainer for alien fans. and the action was enough to keep me happy. thanks for making the movie made my day

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amirah said...

Posted on Jan 30 2008 19:00 lame dont watch this film even if your life depended on it. we only ended up watching it coz it was da only one left showing but now wish we'd gone back home.

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Josh said...

Posted on Jan 29 2008 23:17 ok good points?
- it's a LOT better than the first avp thank god...
- the visual effects are outstanding in most scenes.
- they've tried to insert some of the features of the quite incredible originals. eg predator sound effects
- unlike in the first avp, the human characters actually have time to develop, theyre not all annhialated in the first hour of the bloody film.
- the blonde girl in it is FIT (but you can't help feelin a bit of satisfaction wen she gets impaled by a predator's disc)
ok.... bad points? (where do ya start?)
- it's... well... QUITE SHIT REALLY
- the acting... it's appalling! The actors are crap, like they've just been plucked at random from 'deal or no deal' for god sake.
- wastes 2 hours or so of your life, and £6.00 of ya hard earned cash!
- pretty much goes against the legacy the old alien and pred films created.
- makes you wanna kill yourself if you're a fan of the legendary originals.
- the ending leaves it wide open for yet another avp film (oh please no... when will it end?)
- Predalien? what a gay name!
- Script is like it's been written by a guy who spends every day of his life sat in a chair eating toast and playing halo. it's shocking.

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Daniel said...

Posted on Jan 29 2008 22:08 I enjoyed it but was dissappointed in the briefness of the alien-predator fights. I was dissappointed it wasn't set in the future and that they drafted in completely unknown actors/actresses who have about as much acting talent as a toaster. Some nice effects but the story was predictable and not apocalyptic enough, why can't the aliens win!!!!!!

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richard said...

Posted on Jan 29 2008 15:41 What a dire ending!! Ok, so the script was lame as a dodgy donkey and the acting reminiscent of 'Babe' i.e pure ham! Absolutely gutted and feel ripped off at £6.20, could've got a few beers with the money. that would've been better..probably..

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RobParry said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 23:46 What have they done?!!?...I loved the Alien and Predator films!!!.. I got all excited at AVP1 until I learnt it was set in a pyramid under Antarctica (of course?!), but at least in that film you could see what was going on!... And the fight scenes were half decent and styled..
With AVPR they've just ruined it completely... which is a shame as I was really looking forward to it after seeing the bloodied trailers.. Its like a cross between Dawsons Creek and the X files with a few aliens and a Predator thrown in.... Its in darkness for half the film, flashes from cut scene to cut scene like an MTV video and makes no sense whatsoever?!?!.... But the bit that really dissapointed me was the ending. You'd expect some grand finale between the Predalien and Predator...... What you get is just pathetic..... simply pathetic..... and then the very end which is meant to leave it open for AVP3, (Please no!...), is just laughable........... Dig out the DVD's of Predator1 and Aliens and then argue amongst yourelves which is the better film... thats the only way you'll have an entertaining 'Alien vs Predator' film experience.................

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Saamia said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 19:31 This die hard fan of all the good and (so far) the not so good Alien and Predator movies says "oh dear" ... there have been bad episodes but this one sad to say is dire and a major disappointment on all levels.
In some of its not so great predecessors, the special effects have somewhat made up for the flat story line .. but this one is a major major let down.

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Laurren :D said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 13:01 welll.... after watt ppl toldd me about dis film i thoughtt u wuddd goo watch itt it was grimmm mostlyyy all dahh wayy though iff urr a girlyy girl it anit forrrr yoooh loool
i was disapointed in dahh actula story lineeee it was lameeeeeee ... buttt in someee partsss there is goodd bitsss :P

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glenn fyfe said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 11:43 After reading many reviews i decdied to go and see it for myself. I have always been very interested in fictional stories and the unkown( as my room of figurines shows). I will admit that some parts are a little graphic, so anyone out there with a weak stomach should be very careful before watching this. I believe strongly in Alien life and wonder if there were any clubs or websites which I have not yet been on or attended.

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kenny said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 09:51 the worst film i have possibly seen in my life. they should have called it alien vs human because there were hardly any alien vs predator fight scenes and its a good job i got in the cinema for free because i would want my money back

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daniel said...

Posted on Jan 28 2008 09:51 i did'nt like the film 1 bit the film is long and boring you wait the hole film jst 2 c alien fight predertor and it only lasts about 2or 3 minutes if they bring and next one it best be better anybody who wants 2 c it dnt waste u money cuz its rubbush

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JPRE said...

Posted on Jan 27 2008 23:54 Awful, awful awful. Don't watch this film at all costs! They even gave the alien/predator a crap name, predalien. For goodness sake the alienator would have been so much cooler. Save your money and get an enama instead. Please.

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jay said...

Posted on Jan 27 2008 23:05 boring, waste of time. The 1st one is much better

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Dom said...

Posted on Jan 27 2008 21:51 Having watched this film is like getting changed back into ones clothes after a swim in the local swimming baths, and finding out that instead of ones own socks, one has put on each foot the bad smelling socks of a dozen other people. I am a great fan of the Alien movie series but this movie is entirely boring, the characters are banal, there's no intelligence to the movie that would satisfy fans of the the Alien movie. I think it might satisfy some people brought up on computer games. The Predalien creature although well sculpted by Steve Wang, I didn't like the head design or how the structure was built to accommodate a man of typical size like most of the Gillis and Woodruff alien suits, and the film was so dark and none of the intricate details on the suit could be seen. I really didn't like having to sit through this movie. The film on the cinema does not appear to be a shortened version of the directors vision so I suppose we'll have to wait to see the DVD edition to see if there is anything more to the film, but I'm not going back into the cinema to watch that piece of crud again. However, with the failure to create credible alien suits comparable to the original alien creature in Alien, the Predator suit was very good and they had a performer of very much above normal height to play this character. The script writer ought to be fired and the film production team ought to be given better pre-production time, especially to get the aliens right. I know that the directors would have loved to have re-biomechanised all the alien warriors but didn't have the time or budget to do this so they focused on getting the Predalien designed as well as possible, which does actually show on the final Predalien suit when shown in the light, although the basic design isn't of my choice, and so on, etc...etc...etc.. etc..

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