Watching Movies Again: Aliens, Predators and a Serial Killer...

I was in no fit state to get any reading done, over the weekend, but luckily, I was in just the right mood to sit in my comfy chair and watch some TV. Well, a lot of TV actually ;o) Me and my eldest have a little movie night on Friday so I thought I'd take the opportunity to watch 'Alien vs. Predator' and 'Alien vs. Predator Requiem' and see if either would work for next Friday. It won't surprise you to learn that we'll be watching one but not the other... And I'd never seen a 'Saw' movie, until I saw that 'Jigsaw' was on Netflix and I thought 'why not...'

Let me tell you about them ;o)

'Alien vs. Predator' (2004)

A pyramid lies between the Antarctic ice. But what has it called, and what is hatching within it...? An archaeological team are caught between two warring alien species, one of which must not be allowed to escape the pyramid...

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who enjoys 'Alien vs, Predator'; I still love this movie and I'm hoping that my daughter does too when I show it to her. Yep, the 15 rating means that it loses a fair bit of what makes 'Alien' and 'Predator' movies so cool. Having said that though, the claustrophobic innards of a pyramid that keeps changing... I think that makes up for an awful lot. There are a lot more places for both Xenomorphs and Predators to hide and that makes things just the right kind of creepy (especially with the Facehuggers...) and lends more high stakes to the flight to escape. But that's not why you're watching the movie, is it? You're here for the Xenomorph/Predator action and it's, well... There's a fine line between fan service and servicing the plot, 'Alien vs. Predator' is more about servicing the plot in the hope that will satisfy the fans and... I'll be honest, I wish there had been more 'aliens throwing down'. It's not a bad movie though, just not the movie that everyone hoped it would be back in the day.

'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' (2007)

Following the events of 'Alien vs. Predator', a small Colorado town becomes a battle ground as a Predator must clean up the mess that the original hunting party accidentally left behind.

Urgh... Every time I watch this, I really want to enjoy it but somehow never quite manage. Why did I watch it? Well, I'd watched the first one so I felt I needed to finish the story off. Yep, I know...

Where do I start? The human characters aren't engaging at all and the bits of the film that you really need to be good are shot too dark to be in any way memorable. Seriously, I'm pretty sure that one guy died and I didn't even notice until fifteen minutes later when I realised that the party was one person short... And the final fight scene just fell flat for me. It is a shame as I liked the idea of the 'Predalien' which is a definite upgrade on the 'Hybrid' in 'Alien: Resurrection'. You just don't see enough of it for it to really work. 

I won't be watching this with my daughter, I might just pretend that this film doesn't exist as far as she's concerned ;o)


'Jigsaw' (2017)

Bodies are turning up around the city, each having met a uniquely gruesome demise. As the investigation proceeds, evidence points to one suspect: John Kramer, the man known as Jigsaw, who has been dead for over 10 years...

I've watched a number of 'Saw Kills' videos but I'd never actually seen one of the movies, until the other day. 'Jigsaw' wasn't bad actually, not good enough for me to watch the others but good enough to hold my attention for an hour and a bit. A little heavy on the signposting but there was another twist that I enjoyed. And the deaths were all fun to watch, especially when you realise what led each person to be entered in the game to start off with.

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