alienvspred

As with most action movies, especially ones leaning heavily on special effects, there is an awkward
exposition that is rushed and over-dramatic in order to get through it. I’ve never quite understood
the need for writers to give us character background for all the extra characters. Audiences
nowadays are smart enough to know that most of them are going to die, so we don’t get attached
no matter how many pictures of children or talk about doing well in the world. But not to worry…
about an hour into the movie, everyone is dead except for out reluctant hero, so there is not
cheesy dialog to grit through.

The predator ship is sweet as is the predator costume. It just looks mean, like any part of the outfit
could kill me. Anyway, they do a really cool effect showing how the predators can become invisible
and stay true to the whole concept of only attacking if you have a weapon.

The aliens, however, don’t quite stay to the classic rules we all know and love. The biggest
example of this is with those damn face sucker things. It’s been established that they stick to your
face and put one of those things in your chest and after a while you wake up and a little while later
it comes bursting out of your chest. But this process took days before. In this movie, it takes
minutes.

There are some pretty cool weapons, like a net that squeezes you to death and a shield made out
of an alien head. And they do this neat stop-time thing when those damn face sucker things jump.

Anyway, there’s an Irish guy that we actually get to know and like who very dramatically says that
we don’t have the luxury of quitting because they have children and that they’re going to survive if
he has to carry the other guy on his back… then promptly dies. Then we find out he hasn’t died
and are all hopeful again, only to watch him die again.

Surprisingly, the main character played by Sanaa Lathan does a pretty good job. (Not that I
doubted her acting, it’s just that most action scripts are cheesy.) She stays consistently believable
and even has a touching scene where she has to shoot one of her comrades.

They leave it with an opening for another sequel, as all good action/horror movies should. Would I
see the next one, you ask? Yeah. I like the "Alien" and "Predator" movies. There are some series
that you have to keep watching. I’m not proud of it, but it’s true.