Over the weekend I bought the unrated, two-disc set of Alien vs. Predator. This is one of those movies that film geeks seem to think is obligatory to hate. For the life of me I cannot figure out why so many people shit on this movie. Seriously. I really, really enjoy this movie. If you're expecting some pseudo-intellectual explanation as to why I like it, you are going to be very disappointed. I like Aliens and I like Predators. I especially like seeing them do things we have never seen them do before because of the limits of the technology in the earlier movies. The Alien queen just rocks in AVP! We get to see her move in ways that couldn't be shown in 1986. Another cool part to seeing the queen fight in this one is fucking Newt was not involved. I have always hated little kids in science fiction movies! I love the scene of the past when the natives worshiped the Predators as gods. That shot of thousands to Aliens running up the pyramid after the three Predators was cool as shit. I thought the idea of having the young Predator come to respect the female lead and team up with her was cool too. It shows the honor and nobility of the Predator species. There aren't that many changes to this extended cut of the movie. I just wanted to be one, small voice out there that stands up for this movie and its director. I think it has some really cool concepts, really cool fight scenes, and you actually come to care about the main Predator.
I also think Paul W.S. Anderson is a much better director than people give him credit. This movie looks really neat. I watched the pre-production documentary and was very impressed with him. He has been into the concept since the first AVP comics Dark Horse published. He storyboarded almost his entire script when he pitched his idea for the movie and the images were very impressive. The cool part is most of them actually ended up on the screen. This guy is a fan and a true genre filmmaker. That is a rare thing these days. Most guys who make genre pictures long to make "serious drama" or have to undercut high concept stuff with the "we don't take this seriously" mentality. Anderson gave us a movie about Aliens and Predators that used tons of the mythology from both and is really a geek's dream come true. But it seems the gods decreed from on high that we are supposed to hate this movie. Well I don't. So forget all that crap you have heard online and watch this movie with some fresh eyes. It kicks ass.
No comments:
Post a Comment