Two things I liked from the AVP Reuqiem

[OpenMaw]

Shane Salerno didn't give a flying shit when he wrote the script for AVP2.

His characters were so ass. I'm sad to say the Brothers Strause only really improved on what he wrote.

The film would have benefitted from only having a few aliens, instead of hundreds and then(implied) thousands.

The premise for Wolf is solid. A predator on a mission to track down and kill the escaped aliens, and try to keep things quiet? Great! So you take that, and you make the battle become more and more desperate as the movie goes on. Wolf starts out geared to the nines. Takes some injuries, ends up with damaged equipment. Has to make do with dwindling resources, and the town becomes more and more aware of something bad going on. The aliens learn from their fallen brethern not to fall for the same traps and tricks. Maybe have the OWLF guys show up in the third act to try and capture Wolf...

Requiem didn't need to be a shit show, even with the limits put on the production by setting it in small town America and directly continuing from AVP.

[SM]

Tim and Kelly were more interesting in the script.  But we're starting from a low base and some of Molly's dialogue is beyond dire.

[yautjapet]

I'll confess that while I love AvP:R solely because of Wolf, I can never remember any of the humans' names! I actively forget their faces in between viewings.

[SM]

They are rather... erm... oh what is it... oh, yes, forgettable.

[OpenMaw]

What do ya mean? I loved that, uh...

Well, there was that, er...

I think the clock gave an excellent performance.

[Huggs]

What do ya mean? I loved that, uh...

Well, there was that, er...

I think the clock gave an excellent performance.

Clock Schmock. Did you see those truck keys? My God. I haven't seen keys fall like that since terminator 2. It was majestic, yet gritty.

[ChanceVance]

Not to make a jarring and abrupt tone shift but watching the film knowing how Mr Pizza boy's life came to an end certainly puts a taint on every scene he's in. I skip all the human dialogue scenes anyway but still. 

Back to other things. Movies like this, nobody cares about the human characters but they'd never be greenlit unless they had them. You'd get a movie that's an hour shorter, with more time and money devoted to following the creatures you paid to (barely) see but you wouldn't get a Hollywood budget without people in it. 

This movie's concept could have worked well purely following Wolf with humans just being incidental encounters he makes along the way. That or they could have just actually wrote characters to care about or hire more charismatic actors. King Willie has one scene in P2 and he's more memorable than half the rest of the series characters.   

[The Cruentus]

Not many people would want to watch a movie just with monsters fighting and nothing else. Even Godzilla movies have human characters in them, and if done right, it adds to the stakes.

[SM]

And if it's the Emmerich one, you can't wait for Godzilla to step on all of them.

[The Cruentus]

 

Or eat them.

[SM]

Eating's too good for them.

[KikReask]

Looking back the idea of Aliens invading a populated area is something we've wanted to see since Alien 3, and there was potential here for a small town to become an apocalyptic hellhole. But because of budget reasons I don't think we got the invasion we should have. Yeah lots of people died but too many evacuated in time. Plus it felt like a generic zombie invasion plot.

I did like quite a bit of the action, when you've got the brightness adjusted on your TV. The Alien jumping through the window was hilarious and brilliant, and who else wasn't cheering at the Predator killing the blonde? Of course I thought Wolf was fun to watch throughout just murdering Xenos, and the Predator planet was the best bit to see just for the return to the aesthetic of Predator 2 for me. And you've got some good designs again in the Predator's trophy gallery. Plus I did like the concept of the Predalien.

That was it for me in terms of positives, although I'll be controversial just for the hell of it. I kind of like the concept of the bellyburster. Yes, its disgusting, but after Covenant's bloodburster you remember these are sexual demons from the pits of hell, so I thought it was a good little concept that did make me want to throw up, but you can blame that on me being very nihilistic.

[OpenMaw]

Back to other things. Movies like this, nobody cares about the human characters but they'd never be greenlit unless they had them. You'd get a movie that's an hour shorter, with more time and money devoted to following the creatures you paid to (barely) see but you wouldn't get a Hollywood budget without people in it. 

That's because people approach "these" kind of movies with that attitude. Just write a good movie. Write good characters. How do you think we got the good characters in Alien, Aliens, Predator, Terminator, the original Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and all the other classics of science fiction horror and fantasy. You just write a good script with solid characters.

[SM]

Yeah lots of people died but too many evacuated in time.

I think only four evacuated in time.

For all the shooting in Gilliam Circle at the end - all we see them shooting at is trees.  They could've had a last stand scene there, then the PredAlien (may its name be forever cursed) screeches for help against the Predator and the Aliens withdraw and we think the townspeople might actually survive.  Then they get nuked.

[Huggs]

For all the shooting in Gilliam Circle at the end - all we see them shooting at is trees. ]

There was one alien shown during that fight, I believe.

But hey, what ya gonna do?

It's amazing how a movie like King Arthur L.O.T.S.  can be given the ridiculous budget it was, yet a film featuring 2 of the most famous monsters in cinematic history, who's early (and I stress early) franchise films are held in such universally high regard, has to get by on 40mil.