‘Alien vs. Predator’ Movie Review (2004)

Who will win? Do you really care? No matter how you answer those questions, it won’t matter by the time this match-up is over.

Alien vs. Predator has no doubt accumulated quite the following. As I sit down to write this review the voting over at the AVP official site for which villain will win has accumulated over 5.5 million votes showing the Predator with a slight lead of just over 200,000 votes. But is all the hype worth it, and is AVP worth your money?

The answer to that question depends on you, and your infatuation with these two franchises. I will admit that the first two Alien movies are classic, and I don’t even mind watching the third and fourth ones on occasion, plus the first Predator film was absolutely amazing, I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, Alien vs. Predator can’t even hold a candle to its predecessors as it turns out to be one comical event after another leading up to one of the most ridiculous final acts you will see in a sci-fi thriller.

The story of AVP tracks a group of scientists who have traveled to Antarctica to investigate a mysterious underground pyramid. Little do they know the pyramid was once the hunting grounds for a battle between Aliens and Predators that still goes on to this day. Fortunately for all involved the humans show up just at the right time for the fun to begin.

If you are curious about the PG-13 rating and whether or not it hurts the movie, it doesn’t really. You still get a mini chest-burst, a little face-hugging fun, some Alien brain and more goo and globs of guts than a person should ever see.

Alien vs. Predator could have been a surprise success, especially if they had chosen to explore the events that lead up to the creation of the pyramid rather than use cheesy flashbacks and hieroglyphic readings to bring us up to speed.

In order to enjoy this film you are going to have to check your brain at the door, buy into every anecdote the film offers and absolutely ignore the final 15-20 minutes of the film. While some of the action was fun to watch the final product is just too sloppy and pieced together to even be called a well spent hour and 40 minutes.

GRADE: C-
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