ROTTEN TOMATOES: "Alien vs. Predator 2" is a "Horror Movie"

"Alien vs. Predator 2" is a "Horror Movie"

by Scott Weinberg | May 30, 2007

It's been a while since we've done anything on "Alien vs. Predator 2," so let's talk about that one for a few minutes.

If you're a big fan of the "Alien" and/or "Predator" series (and who isn't?) then you were probably pretty psyched, and then probably pretty disappointed by "Alien vs. Predator." But with a sequel on the horizon, our hopes are simply this: a better flick. (Nastier, too.)

AlienExperience.com had a rather solid interview with "AVP2" art director Andrew Li, and buried within the large article were a few choice tidbits:

Quote:
"AXP: As the setting is unique to both the Alien and Predator franchises, what kind of influences did you draw from the previous installments?
AL: For the Predator, we got a glimpse of their starship at the ending of the last AVP when we see one of their own lying dead on a Predator altar bed. We take cues from that design and ramp it up for our version of the altar bed and the Predator spacecraft. We developed our own version of the Predator alphabet which is similar to the characters that have already been established.

AXP: This is the first film featuring the Alien creatures to be shot predominately on-location; was it a challenge to create new and convincing environments?
AL: What's unique about this Alien movie is that we finally see the Aliens invading somewhere that most people would be familiar with - small town U.S.A. In a sense, this puts the movie in the classic horror genre where some evil being is killing innocent people in places that were once considered safe. So by this measure, it was not difficult to create new and convincing settings. The Alien is an incredibly resilient character."

"Classic horror genre?" Cool. Late in the piece Mr. Li plainly states: "It's a horror movie." Hopefully that means an R rating, right?

Source: AlienExperience.com

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(1-20 of 30 posts) | Reply

Thundaar writes:
on May 30 2007 03:38 AM

I know the gore-hounds are hoping for pounds and pounds of flesh exacted, but as for me, as long as they get the story right...

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Vikingus writes:
on May 30 2007 05:46 AM

"Aliens invading somewhere that most people would be familiar with - small town U.S.A." - Thank you very much, I'll wait for the DVD.

(Reply to this)

lpbreeze writes:
on May 30 2007 07:36 AM

As for me I will watch Transformers. The cartoon. Or heck that rolling ball movie. Gremlins or critters. AVP sucked. I really hope they got different people making the sequel. Errrrrrrr jerks are ruining the Aliens/Predator series. I have two European friends who have never seen the earlier movies but they saw some of that lame AVP on FX so now they have a low opinion of them.

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Mr. Kong writes:
on May 30 2007 08:57 AM

Bring on the gore. I know I'm a minority, but I liked AVP; it was just to safe. I'm starting to get really excited for this one.

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bat-fink writes:
on May 30 2007 09:34 AM

[b]Small town USA??? Havnt they learnt anything????[/b]
I was really looking forward to this film, as a better remake of AvP 1. It said all the right things, better director with a better vision, more gore...

Then what the fuck? Theyre bringing the whole thing back to earth AGAIN and setting it in hicksville USA ?

One MAIN problem with the first one was that it was set on earth! With pyramids etc... And problem 2 is that Lance Henrickson was still alive what appears to be about 200 years before we see the REAL bishop killed at the end of Alien 3.

What are they playing at? Im all for more gore, but that doesnt mean i want a cheesy horror film, with aliens stalking around dark corners in a village. This is not supposed to be Hills have Eyes!

(Reply to this)

reyes writes:
on May 30 2007 11:20 AM

[b]duh[/b]
you're all idiots.

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SpikesInMySkull writes:
on May 30 2007 11:53 AM

In reply to this comment (#867260)
I agree to a large extent with your main problem, because one the main conflicts of the Alien franchise is the fear of what would happen if the Xenomorphs reached Earth, which AVP trivialised by saying: They've been here all along and the result is insignificant.

Your second point however is wrong: We did not in fact see the real Bishop die at the end of Alien 3. We saw an android pretending to be the real Bishop die at the end of Alien 3, many fans (and Ripley) assumed this, but it is in fact proven in credits where Lance Hendrickson is credited as playing "Bishop II"

Note entry number 78 in Lance Hendrickson's IMDB bio:

[url]http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000448/[/url]

Oh... also, your "...aliens stalking around dark corners" comment is a little off the mark as well... Alien(1979) was nothing but an Alien stalking around dark corners, and it's still one of the best horror/sci fi movies ever made...

Also, The Hill have Eyes(2006) was NOT The Hills Have Eyes(1977). The original was considerably more horrific. It's funny how recent attempts to recreate 70's era grindhouse horror in a serious fashion has yielded far less scary movies.

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Holly Jolly writes:
on May 30 2007 01:08 PM

For crying out loud just set the story in Area 51.

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TitusCosminus writes:
on May 30 2007 01:09 PM

[b]Why?[/b]
What have the Aliens done wrong?
For all serious Alien fans, they do not belong in wide open spaces. They thrive in darkness not Smalltown U.S.A. Some dumbass exec. thinks that Aliens are zombies or something.Sad. I guarantee this will be at best another Slither.

(Reply to this)

SnakesOnAZombie writes:
on May 30 2007 01:16 PM

at least if it sucks, the r rating will keep it fun to watch

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kfarschman writes:
on May 30 2007 02:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#867266)
God help me if it isn't an R THIS time.

I'm not sure if this means it's necessarily going to be on Earth. In the AVP comic, Predators let loose Xenos on a outlying "country" planet (they raise cattle there) and the predators start attacking the xenos, then the outlying colonists then they move in on the single main colony on the planet where that Japanese lady (well she had a japanese name atleast, Noguchi) teams up with one of them to take out the queen that has nested in one of the colonies large cattle transporters and gains the predators respect and he marks her and she then later is accepted by other predators on another hunt (this was the only thing used in the first movie that resembled the comics).

Maybe that's the rural environment they mean but don't want to give too much away?

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talan7 writes:
on May 30 2007 02:54 PM

[b]stupid[/b]
The original Aliens vs Predator comic book by Dark Horse had a great story. These are sci fi films first, then horror. It should take place out in space somewhere like some moon with space marines in the middle of the war. Aliens did it best.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on May 30 2007 04:37 PM

I hated AVP as much as all of you, but I have to say, at least they're trying with the sequel. Whether or not it yields a good movie is questionable, perhaps even improbable. I choose to keep my hopes up and hope that this will be a lot better of a movie. The fact that it's already been Rated R is good news; what were they doing combining two murderous Sci-Fi creatures into one movie and then only making it PG-13? Idiocy.

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Elixor writes:
on May 30 2007 04:53 PM

I'll give this a chance, but the Smalltown USA better be futuristic. It's garbage when they use present time earth settings for Sci-Fi.

The first movie was sooooo bad. I don't think that this movie could be as bad if it tried. Hopefully they won't have Predators with "Player 1" and "Player 2" floating above their heads and getting killed by a single alien. Just terrible.

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CannibalPenguins writes:
on May 30 2007 05:14 PM

The movie will bomb.

Any AvP movie without BOTH Sigourney & Arnold deserves to bomb.

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Wallcloud writes:
on May 30 2007 06:45 PM

[b]what a DAMN STUPID idea for a movie to begin with[/b]

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Starseeder writes:
on May 30 2007 06:46 PM

Alien 3 : Ripley should've have landed on earth with that little girl (Cassie ?) and Hicks... and an alien in her suitcase.

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yodas gooch writes:
on May 30 2007 08:07 PM

small town USA...hahahahahaha...this sounds so lame

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MC. writes:
on May 30 2007 11:46 PM

Small town usa? I hope they take out the drunks at the local bar.

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