Time: 100 Minutes
Cast:
Sanaa Lathan as Alexa “Lex” Woods
Raoul Bova as Professor Sebastian De Rosa
Lance Henriksen as Charles Bishop Weyland
Ewen Bremner as Dr. Graeme Miller
Colin Salmon as Maxwell Stafford
Tommy Flanagan as Mark Verheide
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

I remember watching Alien vs. Predator quite roughly a decade ago. In fact, I probably watched it before checking out any of the main Alien and Predator movies. AvP does have something of a mixed to negative reception, but even after a rewatch, I still enjoyed it a lot.  

Alien vs Predator is unfortunately held back by a rather bland story. When the movie isn’t focussing on Aliens or Predators, it does feel a little dull. This is especially the case of the first half of the movie, as it mostly focuses on uninteresting humans, not helped by the relatively slow pace. Once they arrive at the main setting of the movie and the aliens and predators appear in the plot though, that’s where it picks up. Considering that it’s a movie called Alien vs Predator and about these iconic cinematic aliens fighting, it fittingly doesn’t take its too seriously. It is a silly story, from its concept to its Mayan pyramid setting, and I found much of it to be entertaining. It works to flesh out some of the mythology of the predator. However, with the short runtime, the lore and worldbuilding is unfortunately underdeveloped. With this movie, the timeline of the Alien and Predator movies are a little weird, but I’m not exactly looking to see how AvP connects to them anyway. It also ends with a cliffhanger ending which had a good and intriguing hook for the sequel.

The human cast is generally full of uninteresting and flat characters despite a cast which includes Ewan Bremmer, Colin Salmon and Lance Henriksen. It certainly doesn’t help that most of the large cast of characters are only there to serve as canon fodder. Still, there’s a few decent performances, and Sanaa Lathan works well in the lead role.

Paul W.S. Anderson directs this, and I liked most of his work here. The creature and production designs are pretty good, and the cinematography is nice. I liked the use of practical effects, most of the CGI works but it is noticeable for the most part. The action is well directed, with the fights between aliens and predators being the highlights. However, the cutting of the action does let it down. One thing I will note is that I feel like it could’ve been R rated. Considering that Anderson made Resident Evil and Event Horizon previously, it’s easy to imagine him making a more violent and brutal version of the film. Also, both franchises are R rated, so the choice to appeal to a wider audience by giving the crossover a PG-13 rating doesn’t make sense. 

Alien vs. Predator is held back by some weak characters and writing, as well as the PG-13 rating. However, it is still enjoyable (even in its silliness), and has some entertaining action and good effects. If you are a fan of either franchise, I think it’s worth checking out.