all credit's go to Ja, i just did the translation. Sorry for some errors if they appear
Here we go
3 years after Andersons 'masterpiece' release, Fox decided to give a chance to Brothers Strause to direct the sequel. Action begins in the same place, where AVP has ended. The Predalien is chestbursting from the body of Scar, hides onboard and waits for an opourtunity. Most of the scenes is from the Predators point of view (probably some clan leader), who decided to visit our planet.
It's been about 19 years, since i first saw ALIENS on the big screen. That unforgetable experience had enormous influence on me. I don't want to point every positive aspect of that movie, but all of you know for sure, that there isn't much motion pictures that are even comparable with it. 'Predator' for example was a proof for me, that Hollywood actually can create amazing and terryfying worlds, and the way it has been done was overhelming.
There were several attempts of adapting and resurrecting the inheritance of the 80's. AVP idea itself, born in Norwoods comic book, was more than inspiring. Clash of both species on the Planet Ryushi, where future world with colonists (alien domain), stylized on earth Texas (ranches and other more of a Predators domain) proved, that connecting this worlds is possible and works fine. All you need is right people with good ideas.
Dark Horse sustained that trend for a long time, but when Fox decided to try earn money on sucking dry successful licences, everything turned out not the way it should be. Let's begin with basics, which is:
The Script
AVPR, as well as it's 'great' predecessor, have issues with two assumptions on which the whole construction of the world portrayed in this movie is based on. The Setting is earth, in present times. It's very difficult to fit alien in this enviroment. And it's even harder, when the plot is mainly the massacre of small town population. Aliens taken out from their dark gothic enviroment became... just another monsters, which we already have tons of. With Predator the situation isn't better. Lack of amazonian or urban jungle takes away his hunter dignity.
Jim Davis, the producer of 'Predator' and AVP, decided to favorize his pupil in terms of setting, and forced Shane Salerno to write the scripts telling us story about the clash of the species... on Earth. The result is kinda sad I'm afraid. The small town doesn't fit as an arena for ultimate battle between two extra-terrestial beings at all. It isn't comparable with Ryushi even in one bit. Colourful small houses, pizza house, swimming pool. The set pieces planning looks to be accidental, and putting there alien and hunter shows lack of concept. To hide plain compromitation, separate acts of the script were primitively modified. We won't see alien during the day. In the first act they are placed in the sewers. Just when it's getting dark, aliens will get to the surface to take control over Gunnison. Here we have one of the major issues about this movie. Once again the creators weren't able to handle one very important thing - planning the action in an interesting way, instead we have chaos. As i wrote earlier, small US town setting isn't helping. The purpose of Predator actions just increase that impression and we are never able to get his motivation fully. Is it an alien hunt, predalien hunt, cleaning? We will never know for sure. When the major plot turn appears along with gory fighting, everything that was build in the first act should grow, but...
Till this time we are seeing the gallery of characters written in few minutes during the coffee break on a knee at it's best. Forget about any depth in them. "Rednecks" are jsut meat to be butchered. Only the chosen ones will be able to survive. Salerno/Strause made an assumption similiar to creators of Alien and Aliens. No one stands up from the crowd - we don't know, who's gonna survive. The problem is that in previous movies somebody actually cared about creating interesting characters and behaviours, which made the confrontations with aliens harder/easier/more interesting. It's what we're missing in AVPR.
Characters are two dimensional and we don't care about them for even a second. Rip-offs are there as well - tough mother (driving APC) and small girl (seeing monsters, which shouldn't exist). When we get to group being formed, we can safely assume their fate in terms of characters they are based on. And we aren't suprised at all.
Summing up, this is script on an Anderson level. Amateur, revised several times after first draft from original author.
The directing
It's Brothers Strause big screen debut. From making commercials they are thrown into full lentgh motion picture, about which most of us had high hopes of. They got a very poor script and had to turn out to be genius, like Cameron for example, to create a visual interpretation of Salernos crap.
Me, in opposition to the major audience, don't have any issues with Finchers Alien3. it's errors are only Gilers fault, which was sending next pages of the script via fax during the production. However the visual style of Alien3 makes it the most beautiful installment of the saga. How AVPR looks?
It Looks average. The Bros didn't work out any (at least recognizable) style. most of the movie action takes place during the night. Dark and poor weather conditions (including heavy rain) aren't building tension as they should be. Add to that very poorly presented aliens. And not only that, they were also poorly designed and built. Their overlook, prepared by 'the specialists' from ADI, aren't even mediocre. Their appearing on the screen is poor too - covered in dark and bad lightning (not climatic, as it should be). The Predator turns to be better, but it might be because of the hunting during the day and the darkness in his case could work as his camouflage. But it's hard to tell if that thing had any influence, because generally the visuals of this movie were on a level of a common popcorn flick.
Screwed up vision translates to low quality confrontations between predator and aliens (including predalien). Acid-blooded guys are hissing, appearing from nowhere (literally), and the predator is butchering them, the oversized bugs (vht: take a note, that it actually comes from Cameron ALIENS fan!). This again has nothing to do with building the tension. From the very beginning we know, that the final battle will be between the Predator and the Predalien. Till then we have a forced portrait of how tough and ruthless they are. Here's one of the biggest gripes of predator presence - don't get me wrong, hunter in AVPR is designed and presented much more better than that gang of goofies in AVP. The problem is that Brothers Strause clearly forced "going back to the roots" route, no matter the cost. The Predator is cruel, and we should be thankful, but if only there would be consequence to that. Wolf kills only one person and gets him skinned. All the following victims are getting killed by accident, or the violence is toned down, and again accidental. CGI blood definetely isn't helping. To be honest, the movie loses very much because of that. Gore looks like very incompetently mixed in - digital blood differs from the real one. Brothers Strause use current generation experience - lots of blood from a computer game. It isn't giving good impression. But they go further and count on the SHOCK effect. Scenes, like chestbursting little boy, raping a pregnant woman etc., are a clear message to the audience - "We are not Anderson!". Of course you're not guys, but it isn't the reason to do these things without thinking them over. Gore shots don't have such value, as they had in Alien for example (Kane and his 'son'). There the whole scene fit very fell and actually had influence on how we see the alien, the creature born from blood, demanding more and more of it. With Strause problem is that gore shots are medium disgusting, and even in few places looks like they were scared by them themselves. And we can't forget about small town residents. As for a movie about total doom bringed by extra-terrestial beings, it is sparing the whole destruction image a lot. We're still following only few people, just like they were the only one living in Gunnison. There's lack of bigger shots with aliens butchering people on the streets for example.
Generally
...AVPR's compromitation, as well as it was with the Anderson movie, begins in the second act. Maybe i don't know that, but i thought that National Guard don't resemble regular army forces. Why did platoons arrive to Gunnison, that looks like they've been taken out straight from Kabul one moment ago?
Stupidity in terms of respecting Alien and Predator canon is another issue. Hunter starts new profession and gets rid of the bodies, both alien and human, and the viewer don't have any idea why. He grabs his shoulder cannon, and thanks to that from distinguish hunter he is becoming bad cowboy with a gun. His confrontations with aliens look awkward. Punches, kicks and wrestling. Alien isn't better. While Adnerson screwed up the time of reproduction cycle, bros are trying to make us belive, that whole hive structure can be build in the matter of few hours.
The Workshop
Unfortunatley the unexperienced brothers did mistakes in filming action sequences too. Attempts to get to the chopper on the roof are nothing more, than shooting in the dark. Habit taken from the work on commercials and video clips brings chopped editing. Especially in terms of alien versus predator fights.
At the end
.. i'll tell you, that movie grand finale was dissapointing the most. Complete absence of inteligent end of subplots. Lack of justice hurt the monsters the most. Alien and predator became the main characters of the movie and their end is... VERY DISSAPOINTING.
As the whole movie.
