christopher de la Torre

“In space no one can hear you scream.” That was the tag line of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic that blew up the box office nearly as fast as it did Sigourney Weaver’s career. Scott created a successful film franchise (carried on by James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet) that made us look differently at the potential horrors of space, corporations, and the military.

Now, almost thirty years later, the only true horror is the collective imagination of directors “the brothers Strause” and writer Shane Salerno, or rather, the lack of it. It was difficult for many Alien fans to get to the theater for the first vs. Predator film, perhaps afraid they might boo and hiss at the inevitable outcome. Still, it was a weak shred of enjoyable. Alien vs. Predator – Requiem, the second film in this latest franchise (happily separated from the Quadrilogy), clearly demonstrates how brain dead Hollywood has become to the science fiction/horror genre.

Scott’s 1979 terrain was rough, both technically and ideologically. Special effects were far more expensive in that day; the unprecedented Geiger-inspired alien design was infused into set environments to create a world none of us had ever seen. And even though the fiercest critic might pass off the action as a Wes Craven-esque methodological blood feast, the characterization and plot couldn’t be touched. There is no doubt about it: Alien recreated an entire genre of film. Scott also tackled a heated social issue head on by placing Sigourney Weaver’s character, Ripley, at the center of the action, ultimately making her the heroine and soul survivor.

Despite cheap special effects and a scratch-and-dent script, the brothers Strause still can’t bring to life the one element they’ve seemingly reproduced; they miserably attempt to rehash Ripley with Reiko Aylesworth (24’s Michelle Dessler), and in the process we find out how big Sigourney Weaver’s shoes actually are.

I could tell you about how several scenes shamelessly “borrow” elements from previous films, including an underground water sequence, a tank chase that makes us long for Aliens, and Aylesworth’s dripping wet frock that can only make us think “cheap shot,” but I won’t go into details. Maybe that’s because there are really no significant details to go into. It’s easy: saucer crashes; aliens get loose; killing; killing; government conspiracy; killing; wet frock; bullets; explosion; fake helicopter crash; cheesy cliffhanger. Any film that has a working subtitle of “Survival of the Fittest” is destined to become the most rotten of tomatoes.

Read my original Edge review of Alien vs. Predator – Requiem.