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Alien Vs. Predator

2004, Movie, PG-13, 90 mins

Alien Vs. Predator: Review

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Two lethal alien species, three ancient civilizations and references to genre touchstones from CUBE (1998) to The X-Files can't keep the fourth sequel to ALIEN (1979)/second sequel to PREDATOR (1987) from being a reductive spook show in which a bunch of puny humans get chased around by scary monsters. A satellite owned by the Weyland Corporation relays astonishing information back to company headquarters: There's an undiscovered pyramid buried 2000 feet beneath the Antarctic ice, an ur-pyramid of incalculable age that combines Aztec, Egyptian and Cambodian characteristics. Sensing an opportunity to ensure his place in history, ailing billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) quickly assembles a team of experts to examine the structure. The group includes Weyland himself, drilling professionals, a chemical engineer (Ewan Bremner), an archeologist (Raoul Bova), assorted menacing Weyland flunkies and Alexa "Lex" Woods (Sanaa Lathan), who specializes in leading scientific teams over ice-covered terrain. Their first surprise is waiting at base camp, an abandoned whaling station whose inhabitants all vanished mysteriously in 1904: Someone has already drilled a shaft directly to the pyramid without leaving behind a trace of equipment or personnel. Puzzled but eager to get on with the historical sleuthing, Lex takes a team below ground and into the astonishing structure, where they discover friezes and statues depicting strange monsters, a sacrificial chamber filled with skeletons whose ribs appear to have been mysteriously shattered from the inside, and a sarcophagus containing some mysterious objects. Surprise number two is that the pyramid is actually a giant maze that reconfigures itself at regular intervals, and surprise number third is that they aren't alone. Given the title, it's not exactly a spoiler to reveal that the place is crawling with both aliens and big-game hunting Predators. Writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson clearly knows the worlds of the previous ALIEN and PREDATOR films well and weaves them together with a web of suggestive details. And though some of his ideas echo those explored in the popular "Alien vs. Predator" comic book series and novels, the elaborate "Chariots of the Predators" alternate history of human evolution is all his. Unfortunately, it weighs down the movie with more epic backstory than any intergalactic smackdown really needs. And once the running and screaming starts, the proceedings degenerate into a surprisingly ALIEN 3-like morass of claustrophobic sprints through dark corridors, punctuated by boogie beasts springing out of the shadows. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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