Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

It might not come as a shock to any of the Kool-Aid Gang that I went to see this movie. I have long been a fan of both alien species and the suspense they have brought to the big screen in the past. The original Predator movie was a great flick for any teen-age guy or any other simple minded male for that matter. Aliens (the second Alien movie) was probably even better entertainment. It is the only movie that could be considered suspense/horror that I even like, and interestingly I like it a whole lot.

One of the main draws to both species is their mystique. I will never forget in Predator 2 seeing the alien skull in the trophy room and getting all excited about it. The weaponry of the Predator is also fascinating to me as well. I am not afraid to admit that when the first Aliens vs. Predator movie came out, I went to see it. It might have been an empty theater (and for good reason), but I was still their hoping to see if the writers and directors revealed any more of the mystique. They didn't, and their formula for having the predator befriend the heroine was lame.

This however is not a review of that movie, it is a review of Requiem. I walked into this theater with very low expectations. Heck the movie isn't even 90 minutes long, so how much cool stuff could there be. Surprisingly there was enough to satisfy me. Revealed in the invisitext are some things that I found interesting, and even some things that I found confusing but cool all the same. The Predator species transfer of previously seen visual images through liquid was the one that I thought was cool but I am still not sure that is what was happening. There were also some wicked laser nets that the predator set up to flush the aliens toward him (or her for that matter - who knows what sex they are - based on one glimpse of their planet they are probably asexual). One thing that dawned on me in this movie that hasn't in any of the others concerns the mask of the Predator. While it is not overtly revealed in this movie, I did wonder if their mask design helps to keep impregnation of an alien from getting into their throats. There were other things that I found cool, but one that I am not too fond of is how the alien seems to take on the form of its host. This adaptation in the latter Alien movies was one that I always thought was stupid, and I still do for that matter. This movie, however, was able to at least make it less stupid.

The best way for me to describe this movie is to say that it is good entertainment. It was predominantly formulaic. It has a very "Gremlins" type feel to it which made it feel even more right for the Christmas time. Gremlins, at the age that I saw it, was a fun movie. Watching this made me feel like a teen-age boy again. Afterwards, I wanted to go to Firecracker George's house, sit on the couch, and waste the rest of the night away. Where this installment of the Aliens vs Predator movies comes out on top is its ability to use the formulaic plot to reveal more of the creatures' mystique. Also, the first AVP made some connections to the original Aliens movies but the connection that AVP:R made was much more of an "oooh that is kind of cool" thought than I felt like the first one did. My biggest complaint about this movie was the camera proximity to the aliens. We all know what the aliens look like so trying to create some suspense by having the camera inches from the head or mouth just doesn't work. As a matter of fact, it just pissed me off. I think I would have enjoyed some wider angles that allow me to see more of what is going on. Overall, I would recommend this movie to the Kool-Aid gang, but I would say leave your wives at home. My rating hits the very cheesy mark, but it should also be known that this bag of Cheetos is one of those that is mostly just cheesy but every so often you pull one out of the bag that is very cheesy.