Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Alien vs Predator Redux

Just out of curiosity, I checked metacritic's opinion of Alien vs Predator. I was surprised that it got a 26%, but the naysayers made some darn good points. I thought this one nailed the vague discomfort I felt well. And this one pointed out some of the continuity errors I noticed, but thought I was wrong about. I do think it's a bit underrated, though. Was still cool to see the Aliens and the Predators again.

One question I had from the beginning...if there's an Alien nest on Antarctica in 2004, why did the Predators go to South America and Manhattan to hunt in the early nineties? And if the pyramid was buried in Antarctica for thousands of years, how did somebody get to it in 1904 (as they implied)?And since when is Cambodia one of the great civilizations like Egypt and Aztec, anyway? And what was the point of outfitting the heroine with an alien head and tail (very cool), when she pretty much threw it away a few minutes later after stabbing the queen in the neck? And if the temple was built for people willing to sacrifice themselves, then why did they design it to trap people? And why did they leave those laser guns locked up in there? So many questions, so few answers.

3 comments:

Maurice Mitchell said...

My personal feel of the movie is that it was better than the worst of the two franchises and worst than the best of the two franchises.
A few things did bug me at the time. The length of time took to make an alien and the look of the Predators. All of them looked like steroid junkies with garbage stuck to their outfits.
The other thing that bugged me was the wierd sexual tension between the girl and the living Predator. I kept thinking, "I wonder how they're going to work around his lack of lips for the kiss?"
And am I the only one that noticed that the only thing that was immune to the acid blood was the spear? Why didn't they make their uniforms, or at least their knives acid-proof?
In the end, it achieved what it set out to do.

Nigel G Mitchell said...

Made some darn good points about the acid spear. As for the sexual tension, I have to say I didn't get that. I agree it was about mid-range between the best and worst of both franchises.

I agree that the Predators were overdesigned. And here's something I meant to say...I didn't like the new look of the Predator's face. Not as reptillian and repellent as the originals.

Maurice Mitchell said...

I didn't notice that about the faces. I'll have to watch it again...as if I needed a reason ;)