Reznet

A Beast of a Movie

By Troy Doney

"Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem" gets a dubious honor from me. It is one of the most ridiculous acronyms I've seen since LotR: RotK. Congratulations, AVPR, you continue the proud tradition of mistaking gross illiteracy for hip factor.

"AVPR" is the major film debut of special effects wunderkinds the Brothers Strause. It's a sequel to the unrelenting awful that was "Aliens Versus Predator" (AVP). It's caused me to question just how to review such movies.

It's a sequel, so do I judge it on its own value, or on the quality of its progenitor? I ultimately decided that it couldn't possibly be as bad as the previous movie, and get on with the review.

The Brothers Strause direct "AVP: R" with the same energy they bring to their music videos. Shots are lively, short and visually powerful. That said, a major flaw exists within "AVP: R." I imagine that the money spent on the special effects (not just computer generated, but the goo and monster parts as well) was massive. It must've been some incredibly large, nosebleed inducing dropping of dollars. It was wasted. I'm not saying that the effects were bad. No, far from it. From what I saw, the effects were indeed impressive, realistic and convincing. That's the phrase in emphasis ..."from what I saw."

In the apex scene of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," a woman was stabbed to death in a shower. The amazing thing about this scene is that we see no real gore beyond a bloody knife and Type B going down the drain. The Strause Brothers must have taken Hitchcock's minimal style to heart, albeit, in the most backward way possible. The movie's titular enraged extraterrestrials are seen in almost perpetual darkness, to the point where you can't really tell who is who. Everything is a series of large, scary-sounding dark outlines crashing at one another endlessly, briefly illuminated by random explosions of varying colors. I imagine the intended effect was creepiness, but what was actually implied was that they weren't sure if they were making a feature film or a radio drama.

Aside from the entire movie being shot with all the lights off, the directing was good.

The plot is simple: Hostile Extraterrestrial Species No. 1 crash-lands in Colorado and quickly start finding culinary uses for the locals. Angry alien from Hostile Extraterrestrial Species No. 2 goes to creatively negotiate with Hostile Extraterrestrial Species No. 1. Everyone in Colorado becomes innocent bystanders.

Sure, there's some plot going on with the actual homo sapiens of the movie, like getting out of jail, teen love, coming back from military service and other staple storylines. But nobody is coming to "AVP: R" for character driven monologues and sharp dialogue. The vast majority of the audience is coming to "AVP: R" for things that go boom and for angry beasties.

Which "AVP: R" delivers generously. The amount of beasties, explosions and swears are bountiful enough for even the most jaded Fangoria reader. While they do deliver in terms of Guignol, they nonetheless hamstring themselves by putting almost every single scene of ultra-violence in perpetual twilight. A good example of this is a series of the surrealistically designed Aliens stalking a group of homeless persons. The Aliens are completely silhouetted for this scene, leaving the actors to react with fear to these angry sounding outlines.

"AVP: R" is notable for one particular thing, in spite of these small flaws. It follows through. The body count is large, unapologetic and utterly appropriate. The violence is unforgiving, at times creative and on one or two occasions almost shocking. The usual clichés of the horror genre are largely discarded. From the love interest to the protagonist, survival is not ensured.

"Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem" isn't going to convince the Academy that it deserves Best Picture, but it isn't going for that. This beast knows what it is, and it delivers suitably, albeit, in the dark. For what it is, it is good. If you want a splatter fest, this is your movie.

I give "Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem" a firm two-and-a-half frybreads out of reznet's highest rating of four.

Troy Doney, Fort Belknap Assiniboine, attended the University of Montana in Missoula and is a graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Last summer, Doney interned as a copy editor at the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times.