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AVP
- ALIEN VS PREDATOR
6/10
USA
(US-Cz-Can-Ger-UK) 2004 : Paul W.S. ANDERSON : 101 mins
 Most
British critics have shown a viciousness towards Alien vs Predator
which exceeds anything displayed by either set of beasties in the
film itself. One star out of five has been the order of the day, with
cheap gags about how champ of AvP will perhaps next meet the victor
from Freddie vs Jason, the eventual survivor to then take on the
dreaded winner from 1970s bout Kramer vs Kramer.
But AvP
turns out to be a perfectly serviceable Saturday-night-at-the-pictures
entertainment - certainly a cut or two above Paul W S Anderson's other
current multiplex-filler Resident
Evil : Apocalypse, which he wrote and produced but did not direct.
There's no way, of course, that his work is ever going to be mistaken
for that of prodigious US auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, although
the British Anderson had to insert 'W S' into his name precisely to avoid
any possible confusion. Trouble is, people now mix him up with Wes
Anderson of Royal Tenenbaums fame, yet another youthful prodigy
whose movies invariably attract the kind of glowing reviews of which poor
W.S. can only dream.
But PWSA operates
in a completely different market from his namesakes, making an 'Anderson
trilogy' collaboration movie wildly unlikely (but intriguing to ponder
all the same). He does know what he's doing, however, and his background
in sci-fi and video-game-inspired material makes him a much better fit
for the project than the relatively fancy-dan pair of David Fincher or
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who both came a cropper when handed the previous two
installments in the Alien series, 1992's Alien3 and 1997's
Alien Resurrection.
AvP
at least manages to hold together and makes a daft sort of sense on its
own terms, including the much-derided 'backstory' which amusingly ventures
into Von Daniken Chariots of the Gods territory by way of Nigel
Kneale's Quatermass and the Pit. The present-day stuff (and it
is quite literally present day, being set in the same month as its UK
release) isn't quite so inventive, however, with a gaggle of cannon-fodder
scientists visiting a pyramid beneath the Antarctic permafrost and being
picked off one by one when they stumble into a long-running squabble between
the exo-nasties.
Visual references
to previous Alien and Predator movies are nimbly scattered throughout,
but characterisation is predictably skimpy. Sanaa Lathan (as intrepid
guide Alexa) does makes a fair stab at filling Sigourney Weaver's daunting
Ripley boots, however, while Hollywood's leading ceramicist
Lance Henriksen has some fun playing yet another variation on his
Bishop character from previous Alien instalments and Colin Salmon's
commanding presence (in a nothing role) should ensure he stays on the
shortlist for the post-Brosnan Bond. But the real star of the show is
off-camera: David Johnson, whose chiaroscuro cinematography is sufficiently
impressive to make him AvP's MVP.
24th October,
2004
[seen 21st October]
by Neil
Young
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