Review of AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) by Stuart K — 05 Aug 2013

Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, who had just come off the success of Resident Evil (2002). This project had been in development for over a decade, but a suitable approach could never be decided upon, until Anderson signed up, and he had an approach that everyone liked.

It's a cheesy film, but it manages to be fun here and there. Rich industrialist Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) sends an expedition out to Antarctica to investigate recent heat signatures.

The team includes guide Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan), archaeologist Sebastian De Rosa (Raoul Bova) and photographer Graeme Miller (Ewen Bremner). But they soon find they're not alone, there's Alien eggs everywhere, with a Queen in a cryogenic state.

Plus, they're being watched from space by a Predator ship, and one Predator comes to the site, but it's not the humans it's after it's the Alien Queen, who has just awoken. The humans find themselves slap bang in the middle of a battle between the two alien races.

It's a very silly film, not all of it is perfect, but there are some good set pieces to admire, like the vast alien pyramid beneath the ice. Even if it is very derivative, Anderson clearly had fun making this mash up.

It could have started a whole new franchise, and it did with a sequel in 2007, which ruined everything.