5.9
When scientists discover something near Antarctica that appears to be a buried Pyramid, they send a research team out to investigate. Little do they know that they are about to step into a hunting ground where Aliens are grown as sport for the Predator race.
Sanaa Lathan
Alexa Woods
Lance Henriksen
Charles Bishop Weyland
Ian Whyte
Scar
Raoul Bova
Sebastian de Rosa
Ewen Bremner
Graeme Miller
Colin Salmon
Maxwell Stafford
Tommy Flanagan
Mark Verheiden
Joseph Rye
Joe Connors
Agathe de La Boulaye
Adele Rousseau
Carsten Nørgaard
Rusten Quinn
Sam Troughton
Thomas Parks
Petr Jákl
Stone
Pavel Bezděk
Bass
Kieran Bew
Klaus
Carsten Voigt
Mikkel
Jan Filipenský
Boris
Adrian Bouchet
Sven
Andy Lucas
Juan Ramirez
Liz May Brice
Supervisor
Glenn Conroy
Technician
Eoin McCarthy
Karl
Karima McAdams
Sacrificial Maiden
Tom Woodruff Jr.
Grid
Joseph Balderrama
High Priest (uncredited)
Alec Gillis
Technician (uncredited)
Alex Lorre
Spaceship Crew (uncredited)
Jack Pierce
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Director, Screenstory, Writer
Paul W. S. Anderson
Characters
Jim Thomas
Characters
John Thomas
Characters, Screenstory
Dan O'Bannon
Characters, Screenstory
Ronald Shusett
Story Editor
Marc Marcum
March 8, 2016
5
Monstrous - but not a total monstrosity.
Antartica, and an expedition is about to uncover a battleground for Aliens and Predators.
Whoever wins, we lose! So ran the tag line for Paul W. S. Anderson's prequel (?) to two fanatically worshipped franchises. Little was Anderson to know that it was the majority of cinema goers who would feel that they had "lost" their cash on coming out after watching this miss-matched effort. Though in truth nobody could seriously have expected a film to rival the best of both serials (Alien, Aliens & Predator), it's still right that us fans should expect the formula to be respectfully adhered too. We want character build up, we expect a group dynamic to function, and we definitely want the baddies to stay just that, as baddies.
It's not a total loss, though, even as Anderson all too quickly hurtles towards his "humans caught in a cube like puzzle box" blood bath, there is just enough back story and anticipation to tickle the tongue. In fact, when it all goes pear shaped and Xenomorphs, Pred-Rastas and humans are all lined up for slotting, it's damn near exciting stuff. While the pyramid/cube/maze design is pretty awesome. However, then the plus points are vanquished as the film quickly becomes kiddie friendly as gloop gives way to strawberry jelly, featuring a turn of events with our "heroine" that's so clumsy I'd be surprised if Anderson sleeps at night.
Still, it's obvious that Anderson loves both franchises and he in no way would have wanted to make a stinker. But he has made a very average movie, one that's got two things in its favour. One being that is the neat middle section, the other that it's not half as bad as the messy hack job that was AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem in 2007. 5/10