The Predator films went quiet after the second film, and Alien films were stalled by Resurrection seven years earlier. In that time, there had been a series of successful Alien and Predator comics by publisher Dark Horse Comics. In 1990, Dark Horse brought the franchises together, which was one of those crossovers that you never knew you wanted until you were given it. The Alien vs. Predator comics were very popular and fueled desires of a crossover movie from the fans of the franchises. There were attempts to bring this to life, but it seems nobody could settle on a story idea.
After the first Resident Evil was somewhat successful in it’s box office, Director Paul WS Anderson was brought in to guide the film to fruition. Rather than adapt the comics, they came up with an entirely new story (though they did adopt a few ideas from the comics). Set in 2004, a Weyland (eventually becoming Weyland Yutani, the company from the Alien films) satellite discovers a unique structure buried below arctic ice. The company assembles a team of historians, geologists, survivalists and so on to investigate (and lay claim to the discovery). Lance Henrickson returns to the Alien franchise as Charles Bishop Weyland…the human on which his character from Aliens was based.
They discover a pyramid that seems to be a combination of structures from around the globe. The film suggests this pyramid was part of the cradle of civilization and people worshiped the Predators as gods. Ridley Scott borrowed this notion for Prometheus (but it was language and cave art). The humans are unaware of the arrival of the Predators, and inadvertently activate the dormant temple. An alien queen is revived and starts pumping out eggs. A bunch of nameless characters are attacked and birth aliens while the Predators discover they are not alone. There is the standard misunderstanding where the people are hunted by both Predator and Alien, but eventually the last human and Predator team up.
The visual effects (especially the practical effects) are quite good, though Anderson relies to heavily on the “Transition Through Hologram” set up, which he used in Resident Evil. Considering how large the cast is, very few characters are well defined, resulting in the majority of characters simply being monster fodder.
This is the first film set in the present for the Alien films. The Predator films were always in the present, so the idea that people are running into Predators is not much of an issue. For the Aliens, the idea that they are already on earth seems pretty problematic. The film tries to resolve this and as a one off film, this would probably be sufficient…but then they made a second film…
After the second film, the Predator series went dormant. The alien hunters only saw the screen in the “team up” Alien vs Predator films. It was not until about 2009 Predator was announced as getting it’s own new film. It was spearheaded by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, Sin City) and was referred to often as a reboot. The problem with the tendency to treat every film as a remake or reboot is that it is not always clear what a particular entry is. These days, people tend to refer to a new film in a franchise as a reboot, even when it is in continuity. Admittedly, it is a little unclear here. Nothing discounts the previous two films, but they are not really acknowledge in reference (# 2 made reference to the first film).
Directed by Stephen Hopkins (Lost In Space, Nightmare on Elm Street 5 and Race), Predator 2 is an attempt at being very different. Instead of a jungle, we are in “the Concrete Jungle”. Instead of a heavily muscled soldier, we have have a team of police. The film tries to be different by being very opposite. There are vicious gang wars that are tearing up the street. Captain Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) and his team are the cops on the front line. They start to find dead and mutilated gang members. Soon the cops find themselves as much targets as the gang members.
Predator is from Arnold Schwarzennegar’s action movie heyday. Directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard, Die Hard With a Vengeance and the Hunt for Red October) it is a capable action film. It is a simple plot, a mercenary group hired by the government goes into the jungles of South America on a rescue mission. Instead, they find themselves up against an unseen and unearthly killer.
There has been a lot of hype declaring that Wonder Woman is the best of the DC movies so far. But that is not fair to the film. Wonder Woman only had to be mediocre to rise to the top. Wonder Woman is a much stronger film than that. While Batman and Superman have had multiple appearances on movie screens, this is Wonder Woman’s first film in her 25 year history. This in spite of the fact that she is an iconic character, she is part of DC’s “Holy Trinity” along with Batman and Superman.
In spite of a lukewarm reception to the third film, the studio wanted to take another try at the Alien Franchise. Although they managed to pump this one out in just three years, it is a bigger mess than the last one.
About seven years after Alien, hotshot director James Cameron brought the franchise roaring back to life. Rather than make a generic sequel, Cameron made a bold choice. The first film was a haunted house movie, Cameron opted to make a war movie.
Guardians of the Galaxy was a bit of a risk for Marvel Studios. It was really their first film that had little name recognition. It also was their first film not closely tied to the Avengers. And yet, under the guidance of James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy succeeded with a healthy dose of humor and action. Towards the end of the film, Yondu mentions knowing who Starlord’s father is. In this sequel, we meet dear old dad.
Right on the heels of the failed American-Zilla Toho answered back with…well, the most Traditional Godzilla they could imagine. No computer generated lizard here (though, there are plenty of digital effects). Just a good old man in a suit. Unlike Godzilla 84, this is much lighter fare.
Instead of just re-editing existing films, American studios got the rights to produce an actual American Godzilla feature. And so, being an American feature, they thought they should rebuild Godzilla from the ground up. So we get a totally new look for Godzilla. But in the end, we get something that kind of looks like Godzilla, but not really.
Tripping Through Gateways 