by Jeffrey K. Lyles

About 10 minutes after it finally dawned on me that neither Sigourney Weaver or her expert alien basher character Ellen Ripley wouldn't be appearing in "Aliens vs. Predator," I was able to sit back and appreciate the all-out mayhem of the latest dream match film.
The prospect of pairing the aliens and predators against each other is hardly a new idea as both comic books and video games have had the two science-fiction horrors square off numerous times in the 1990s.
Much like last year’s previous clash of horror film stars, "Freddy vs. Jason," the humans are thrown into the film for the sole purpose of being fodder for both leads and thus don’t require much character development.
This model, such as it is, is surprisingly effective since the audience presumably is paying to see the aliens battle the predator and not to listen to random character B talk about his kids back home and how much he misses them.
In this outing, set in the present day, which precedes Ripley’s first encounter with the aliens many years from now, the humans are a group of experts in their field ranging from archeology to weather and topography recruited by a wealthy businessman (Lance Henriksen "Aliens") to discover the source of a massive energy spike. Unfortunately, none of the humans prove an expert in killing off weird aliens with acid for blood. This of course, would prove a very useful trait but hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?
While Ripley isn’t around just yet, the group is led by someone right out of her mold in Alexa Woods, played by the ever capable Sanaa Lathan ("Out of Time"), who plays an expert climber/survivalist. Good thing she’s recruited for the mission, huh?
Henriksen ("Aliens, "Alien3") serves as the link to the original "Alien" mythos and his character, while just as hastily developed as the others is a welcome connection to the old series. It’s too bad that none of the "Predator" stars couldn’t have made a cameo as it would have been great to see Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura or Danny Glover throw down with the Predators one more time. No doubt the original "Predator" star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would have been more than willing to shoot a cameo if not for that pesky matter of serving as the governor of California but I have to ask where is his priorities?
Alexa leads the team to a mysterious palace but far too late do they realize that they’ve been lured to the site so they can be used as breeders for the aliens, who in turn, will engage in a life or death struggle with the predators. The title is a tad misleading as it’s several predators, not just one, involved in the action.
The trick with films though is making sure that both of the headliners receive equal opportunity to show off just how deadly they are against the feeble humans so that when they finally square off, the anticipation for the clash is sufficiently created in the first half of the film so that the film’s second half featuring the battle is worth the price of admission. And unlike most boxing heavyweight pay-per-view fights, this contest actually lasts more than a few rounds and neither of the fighters are stiffs.
Under the watchful eye of director/screenwriter Paul Anderson ("Resident Evil"), both the predators and aliens are given their just due. While it will probably be lost in all of the excitement over the fights, Anderson does an excellent job of capturing the feel of both franchises. Just like in the "Alien" films, the aliens just appear out of nowhere with snakelike quickness whereas in filming the predators, Anderson is more deliberate, allowing the audience to feel like they’re part of the hunt.
Whereas "Freddy vs. Jason" had the luxury of having Freddy being able to taunt his victims before killing them, neither the aliens or predators are all that big on speaking, so the dialogue is completely left up to the fodder…er, humans. While there’s no great line like Bill Paxton’s Hudson’s frantic "game over man, game over," the dialogue is serviceable and dumbed down for the crowd who just wants to see the aliens and predator duke it out. But when it finally comes time for the big battle, no one should be disappointed thanks to some stellar CGI work.
There’s some movies that you know going in what to expect and "Aliens vs. Predator" is every bit as brainless and mindless fun as you would think based on the previews, but it’s great summer movie fun and an excellent choice for sci-fi fans looking for the next installment of their favorite series.