Review #114: AVP 2: Requiem (2007)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Colin & Greg Strause (Directors)

Steven Pasquale (Dallas Howard): Rescue Me T.V. series

Reiko Aylesworth (Kelly O'Brien): 24 T.V. series

John Ortiz (Sheriff Eddie Morales): Ransom (1996), Amistad (1987), Miami Vice (2006)

Johnny Lewis (Ricky Howard): One Missed Call

Kristen Hager (Jesse): Wanted (2008) (Pictured right)

Robert Joy (Col. Stevens): Amityville 3D (1983), Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Fallen (1998), The Hills Have Eyes, Land of the Dead

David Paetkau (Dale): Disturbing Behavior (1998), Final Destination 2 (2003), I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)

Gina Holden (Carrie): Final Destination 3 (2006), The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006),
Flash Gordon & Blood Ties T.V. series

Rekha Sharma (Nurse Helen): Battlestar Galactica T.V. series

Trailer:


AVP Review Link

Plot:

The film picks up immediately after the first film with the new "Pred-Alien" bursting out of the chest of the fallen Predator. The Pred-Alien wrecks havoc on the Predator spaceship killing Predators and causing a crash landing of the ship down to Earth.

The ship crashes in the woods just outside the nearby small Colorado town of Gunnison. During the crash a distress signal is sent back to the Predator home world. The Predator race dispatches a single Predator, named "Cleaner" (what the producers call him), to clean up the mess and destroy all evidence of the wreck.

Meanwhile, the Pred-Alien and a couple facehuggers (which were conveniently transported on the ship) have survived the crash and encounters a hunter and his son, impregnating both of them; thus starting the cycle all over again. Aliens soon run a muck over the unsuspecting town of Gunnison.

The Predator "Cleaner" arrives shortly afterwards and starts cleaning up the mess, but his work becomes over matched by the rapidly spreading Alien infestation. While the Cleaner is secretly working his magic, a group of locals, led by the sheriff, band together and fight for their survival while looking for a way to escape. The sheriff has contacted the National Guard to help out, and the military decides the only way to contain the outbreak is to nuke the city.

The first AVP everyone complained about there being too much "character development" and not enough hard core Alien vs. Predator action. Also it was PG-13. Now we get a second chance in life, enter AVP 2 or AVPR (whatever), and people still b*tch! Now it's "there's not enough character development and it's too gory". WTF people?! Read the movie's title: Aliens vs. Predator 2! This isn't going to be Grammy winning material folks. Besides...it got Reiko Aylesworth (pictured left) on the screen shooting up some Aliens.

Hey, I was perfectly fine with it. I thought it was better than the first one. What we have here is a bunch of Aliens taking over a little Colorado town while being hunted by a professional Predator "cleaner". I'm cool with it. I don't need any character development B.S. I know that everyone's pretty much is going to die. Otherwise the original Alien movies wouldn't exist. Who needs character development when the characters are cattle to a slaughtering buzz saw?

If I did have a complaint about the movie, then it would be that it's lighting was pretty bad. It was a little too dark to see everything that was going on. On top of it, you throw in the typical Hollywood "it's gotta rain for 90% of the movie" B.S. and it makes the lighting's even worse.

My favorite sequences of the movie were the ones that took place down in the sewer system. I thought that they brought back a little suspense back to the two (three) movie franchises. The sewer sequences were pretty eerie and had a good cold vibe to them. Well done!

Another element that I liked was the Pred-Alien idea. Sure...it may have been introduced at the end of the last movie, but they stuck with the idea and developed an awesome looking grown up model with a kick-*ss unique ability. Unfortunately we couldn't get a real good look at it due to the poor lighting. Also I couldn't tell who was who during the final battle, but that's typical of all CGI battles of similar looking entities.

Overall, despite a popular strong dislike of this movie by hardcore fans, I enjoyed this flick. It was a great shoot 'em up flick. I always wondered what it would be like if Aliens invaded the Earth, and now I got to see it. I think this movie delivered better than the first one, but that's my opinion. A lot more Aliens and alot more deaths and chaos. I would have preferred to see Gina Holden (Pictured left) in a little bit larger role...or less dressed like Kristen Hager's swimming pool outfit.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on December 25, 2007 and made $41.7 million at the Box Office ($13.6 million opening weekend)

-The directors, Colin and Greg, founded the SFX company Hydraulx (SFX films include: Terminator 3, Venom, The Day After Tomorrow, 300 and many more)

-Scheduling conflicts prevented Bill Paxton from appearing in this movie; if he would have appeared, he would have been in all three franchises Predator (Predator 2), Alien (Aliens), and...would have been AVP

-Apparently a skull from an E.T. head appears on the Predator ship in the beginning of the film (maybe the 2:46-2:50 mark? - poor lighting)