AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Monstrous - but not a total monstrosity. Antartica, and an expedition is about to uncover a battleground for Aliens and Predators. Whoever wins, we lose! So ran the tag line for Paul W. S. Anderson's prequel (?) to two fanatically worshipped franchises. Little was Anderson to know that it was the majority of cinema goers who would feel that they had "lost" their cash on coming out after watching this miss-matched effort. Though in truth nobody could seriously have expected a film to rival the best of both serials (Alien, Aliens & Predator), it's still right that us fans should expect the formula to be respectfully adhered too. We want character build up, we expect a group dynamic to function, and we definitely want the baddies to stay just that, as baddies. It's not a total loss, though, even as Anderson all too quickly hurtles towards his "humans caught in a cube like puzzle box" blood bath, there is just enough back story and anticipation to tickle the tongue. In fact, when it all goes pear shaped and Xenomorphs, Pred-Rastas and humans are all lined up for slotting, it's damn near exciting stuff. While the pyramid/cube/maze design is pretty awesome. However, then the plus points are vanquished as the film quickly becomes kiddie friendly as gloop gives way to strawberry jelly, featuring a turn of events with our "heroine" that's so clumsy I'd be surprised if Anderson sleeps at night. Still, it's obvious that Anderson loves both franchises and he in no way would have wanted to make a stinker. But he has made a very average movie, one that's got two things in its favour. One being that is the neat middle section, the other that it's not half as bad as the messy hack job that was AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem in 2007. 5/10