Just out of curiosity, how does this look like it's "going back to the roots"? This is the phrase we've heard used the most to describe this film, from everyone from the Bros. Strause, (repeatedly & extensively), to Tom Rothman, (head of Fox), to various cast & crew on the film, ETC. HOWEVER, nothing in the movie even look remotely like the original films;l in fact, I think it's safe to say AVP-R is going further from "the roots," than ever before:
-Characters. Original films, "Alien/Aliens/Predator/Predator 2," all had ADULT characters with unique professions/character arcs, involving motivations, and were played by, with the exception of Predator, talented actors. AVP-R has a bunch of Colorado hicks in a hick town who, instead of piloting deep-space ore refineries, deliver pizza
-Story. The original films all has original, classic stories of suspense and horror. Even the first AVP had a better plot than this. AVP-R seems to have no coherent narrative, and amounts to a bunch of unrelated incidents of people running around being attacked by aliens/predators in their hick town.
-Locations. All of the previous Alien/Predator films had visually stimulating and detailed, well-conceived locations. Nostromo, Hadley's Hope, Fury 161, the Auriga, South American jungle, war-torn 1997 LA, Antarctica..now an unbelievably bland Colorado town, (which, like most productions shot in Canada, is bland as only a Canada-based production can be), and is poorly designed, shot and edited, from everything we've seen so far, (which is more than enough).
-Themes. The Alien films all were more than met the eye, (especially the first two), and dealt with themes of sexuality, corporate maleficence, family, the nature of man, ETC. Even the first two Predator's had government conspiracy angles, making our "protectors," just as dangerous to the heroes as the Predator itself. AVP-R is obviously absent of all this more complex layering and metaphor in exchange for BAS-ASS chaotic gore and teenagers waggling their boobies at each other, (and possibly, the aliens)
Subtlety- The original films all had a fair amount of physiological horror and Lovecraftian unease. Alien and Aliens weren't gory at all; they established how destructive the creatures were, then let your mind fill in the blanks. AVP-R, well..does not. I'm very impressed with the CGI gore, though. Oh wait, no I'm not.
-The cast and crew of the first Alien films were top-notch people who loved the craft and art of film, and who had genuinely interesting things to say in their work. Predator 1/2 also had the benefit of Stan Winston, Alan Silvestri, great cinematography, ETC. AVP-R has a bunch of 3rd and 4th rate actors who've been in a couple of 2nd-tier TV shows, a guy from the OC, the screenwriter of "Shaft," the composer of "Fast and the Furious 3," and two-first time directors who aspire to be the guy that did "300." Oy.
-The creatures themselves. The Original Alien/predator films obviously defined how aliens and predators looked and behaved. AVP-R gives us the worst/cheapest-looking aliens ever, a Predator that's anorexic and doesn't even begin to have the character and charisma that Kevin Peter Hall endowed it with, and a PredAlien that looks like something from a d-level parody of "Alien." The creatures looked better 30 years ago.
Overall, I don't see how AVP-R is closer to the roots. When they Strausi say this, I think they mean that after ONE, (count it, ONE), PG-13 film, they're going back to being rated-R, (which in this day and age, seems to mean excessive gore and swearing instead of a plot or actual horror). And to be perfectly honest, after watching those
Reelz.com interviews with the Strausi, I don't think they know what made Alien or Predator appealing in the first place.
Is this just me...?
