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Bookmark this pageAVPR: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Director: Colin Strause, Greg Strause
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
Time Out London Issue 1952 - January 14th 2008
User reviews of this film
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- sean kelly said...
- Posted on Jan 27 2008 16:20 i'd love to get my hands on the dounut who wrote the time out review i'm sure he was still watching avp1!!(avp1 was shocking bye the way) i'm a huge fan of the alien and predator films and this one was top draw, very different than the others but in a good way. really entertaining. dont think people who arn't into the previous films will like it alot though. hope this helps
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- merk don said...
- Posted on Jan 27 2008 15:44 shut up u GEEKS ITS A GOOD FILM U LOT NEED TO TAKE UR GLASSES OFF N WATCH ITITS BETTER THAN STAR TREK!!
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- tippin said...
- Posted on Jan 27 2008 12:46 Nowt else on at the cinema so gunna give it a go anyway, it can't be that bad surely, here's hopeing
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- Eloise said...
- Posted on Jan 26 2008 15:36 Surprised I managed to stay awake. Hard to watch because in places it is so dark you can't make out which monster is which.
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- JRB OX said...
- Posted on Jan 26 2008 10:52 I should be going to see this film today at the cinema with my mates, however after reading all the reviews and comments on it, now I'm not so sure...
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- Vertigo said...
- Posted on Jan 26 2008 09:01 Amnesiac is a fool. He tells us fans not to write a review and then gives an opinion on it. I saw it last night and it was utter rubbish. Just an escuse for a load of unnessesary gore. Too dark. Rubbish acting. Made to budget. A real let down. It could have been awesome. Whoever made this has no immagination.
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- Legend said...
- Posted on Jan 25 2008 17:43 I would have had more fun watching paint dry. terrible, just... dissapointing and.., terrible.
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- Catherine said...
- Posted on Jan 25 2008 14:08 Not as bad as everyone moans it is. Not as good as I had hoped either. Not as gory as everyone said it was either. Alien:Ressurection was MUCH gorier. And I do agree with the official review here - it is AWFULLY lit. Couldn't see a bloody thing! And I like to SEE my Aliens, I love them for what they look like for the most part. Besides, in lighting like that often it's hard to tell imeediately whether it is the Predator or the Predalien you see. Several blatant inconsistencies. But the ending took me by surprise I have to say. Probably because of how the authoroties USUALLY mean to deal with Aliens in other Alien films. Four out of ten.
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- Martyn said...
- Posted on Jan 25 2008 13:06 Well, after getting my hopes up for this film due to the excellent trailers. I was very disappointed. It was just a load of crap. The idea of 'Alien VS Preditor' could generate so many fantastic scripts for movies but they always seem to come out with a load of crap. Maybe it was just never meant to be. The best thing about this film is the excitment as you go to the cinema to watch it.
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- cain said...
- Posted on Jan 24 2008 13:48 mark i understand that in the films one does have human features in which alien belives sigorni weaver is its mum however if watch in the new one how they are produced u will wonder y they arnt? in the film they havent worked out alot of problems.
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- Mark Isam said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2008 21:14 Cain the aliens in the alien anlins and alien resurection films do have human characteristics look at their body structure and compare to a human body structure ie yheu are bothh bipedal with the arms being slightly shorter than the legs but in alien 3 the arms and legs are about the same length as it was birthed from a dog (in the original cinema release but a cow in the directors cut) the reason for not putting human facial features on the alien is that it woud make them less fearsome as for the AVP films i have yet to see requiem but have seen the first and in semi agreement for a better idea for an AVP movie a believe they should have based them on the follow up novels that have been written as these are not set on earth and in the future as according to the alien films nothing was discovered of the aliens until somewhere between 2010 and 2020
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- Cain said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2008 20:16 Hang on a minute how come wen an egg is in predetor it become half predetor and half alien yet wen it goes in a human its just alien no human at all .... answer that oh and its a messed up film rubbish as said by bradley very well put
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- bradley said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2008 18:47 I loved alien versus predetor but i must say the new one was the biggest pile off rubbish ever it looked amature made the start was rushed the ending was awfull and rushed probs the worst film i have seen in a long time and ilove all the aliens and predetors ...... sorry guys but it was a major let down just stupid ideas throughout the film ... i give it 1 star but it deserves 0 :)
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- ELLiiEE_Ox said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2008 18:09 I seen the Alien Vs Predator the other day n ii cant wait to watch this one even thoo im too young but ill see it sumhow :P Lol x
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- jenny said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2008 15:27 not seen it yet but i bet it will b gr8
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Cast & crew
Director: Colin Strause, Greg Strause
Cast: Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylesworth, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis, Kristen Hager, Ariel Gade, Sam Trammell full cast
Duration: 86 mins
US Release: Dec 25 2007
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