Beyond Awful : The Death Of A Cinematic Icon

I was appalled after watching ”the brothers Strause’s” Aliens Vs. Predator : Requiem last weekend. As a big fan of Ridley Scott’s original 1979 phallic imagery-filled sci-fi horror, I couldn’t understand how a movie like Requiem could ever have been thought of as a good idea to make. After James Cameron’s Aliens, which was essentially Full Metal Jacket in space without the satire, it was expected that each subsequent sequel would be brawn over brains. Sure, Aliens is an exhilarating and very enjoyable film, but the intellectual intensity of Alien is missing. David Fincher’s Alien3, which in my opinion is a very underrated but flawed flick, at least took the Alien Saga away from the fanboyish but fun elements of Aliens and remained similar in tone to the original. Not content with that, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet took the fourth film, Alien Resurrection, back to the balls-to-the-wall action of Aliens. So, 4 films in, we have a tie at brains 2, brawn 2 and it’s been a thrilling match.


And then we get to Alien Vs. Predator, an ill-fated idea to merge two horror icons together in one film adaption of a comic book. The ideas are good (ancient civilisations for one) but the lack of characterisation, excitement and genuine horror, missing since Alien3 is woeful. And thus came Requiem, a horrible, horrible mess of a film. It’s so far removed from it’s inpspiration it’s hard to imagine just quite what the filmakers were thinking of, other than money of course. No plot. No characters. No acting. No anything. Not to mention, Requiem is so dark, that if you were to watch it with the sound muted, it would be like watching a blank screen. Where are the excellent cast members like John Hurt, Ian Holm or Yaphet Kotto of the original? Where are the characters we can emotionally connect with like Newt, Hicks or even Bishop from Aliens? Where is the dark gothic tone and thrilling climax of Alien3 ?. Hell, I’d even settle for the muddled satirical elements of Resurrection. The Alien series has become an instant cash-in. No matter the quality, it’s assured that any film tagged with the Alien or Predator name will make a hell of a lot of money. Still, there’s hope on the horizon; Ridley Scott’s prequel is in the works, but to counter that, so is AVP 3. Bet whatever happens, at least we won’t go from ‘chestbursters’ to ‘headbursters’ like in Italian rip-off Alien 2 : On Earth. It’s time for the Aliens’ true resurrection.