As a huge fan of Alien, my feelings about Alien Vs Predator were very mixed. On the one hand, the idea of pitting H.R Giger's Alien against Stan Winston's Predator, in an extended fight, spoke strongly to my inner-geek. But, while I enjoyed it in a disposable way, it was clearly a cynical cash-in and sullied the memory of the Alien franchise in particular (although you could argue the process began with Alien3...)
Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem is now on the horizon (Jan '08 in the UK), and it looks to be more of the same, if you've seen the trailer. Which is fine. I wish we could have a serious Alien 5 to complete the saga instead of these "versus" movies, but... both Alien and the Predator are such iconic monster designs, I can happily watch them tear each other apart with brainless glee. These films are the modern-day equivalent of 1962s King Kong Vs Godzilla -- and I treat them as such...
The above photo shows the "Predalien" creature -- the result of a Predator/Alien hybrid, that provided the climactic shock-ending of AVP. It makes no marketing sense to officially reveal your movie's "super-villain" in the press, but I don't think the makers care. A bit of mystery may have been taken away from AVP2, but I doubt the target audience will stay away because of that...
Still... Predator-style mandibles and dreadlocks on a Alien? Are hairstyles determined by DNA?
