Quote from: Xenomrph on Nov 20, 2013, 01:01:41 PM
Quote from: SM on Nov 20, 2013, 07:05:12 AM
You mean how Cameron rehashed a shit tonne of beats from Alien?
I don't remember ever picking up on those things from AvP. At least not enough to care.
I don't mind rehashing - as long as it doesn't look like rehashing.
This. There's a difference between an homage for homage's sake (like, say, the opening titles to AvPR where they toss in the motion tracker sound effects just cuz), an homage that's thematically appropriate, and an homage that's not necessarily an homage because that implies intent on the creator's part.
Homages are great. Repeating character names (such as Dallas in AvPR) doesn't cut it. Using thematic elements such as setting or musical cues are great. Trying to redo the original movie but with all new characters while simultaneously kicking the predecessor's antagonist's balls (aka Predators) is just insulting.
Too many throwbacks don't help the film progress or add anything. Too little similarity to the original hurts the franchise overall. We need a balance. The AvP movies, Predators, A:R, I like them. They're fun movies. But when you analyze them, compare and contrast them, and take a step back to see how they fit into the overall story arc, you start to realize (IMO) they subtract more than they add to the franchises.
From a critical stand point, what did AvP movies add the franchise? Again, IMO:
-New Predator weapons and armor -Predalien (and a new Alien breeding technique)
What did they subtract? How did they hurt the franchise?
-Alien lifecycle time/fearsomeness (they're portrayed more as canon fodder comparable to most of the human characters)
-It's ok now to kill children and pregnant women via Chestbursting (...not ok) -There shall be no memorable characters/dialogue (save for maybe "The government doesn't lie to people") -Alien acid will conveniently not burn away the environment should the producer/director not want it to
The list can go on and be as long as you want or as short. Bottom line is 95% of us acknowledge or agree that Alien, Aliens, Predator and to a lesser extent, Predator 2 and Alien 3 as the core films from which all future franchise editions must spawn from. As long as this reboot honors the original films without being carbon copies of them, everyone should be happy.