review: ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM (Blu-ray)

Fox  //  Buy from Amazon.com In this follow-up to the worldwide hit ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, the iconic monsters from two of the scariest film franchises ever, wage war in an American Midwestern town - with the residents caught in the middle. While I've never been a huge fan of either the "Alien" or "Predator" franchises, I've enjoyed every film in each series, and own them all. I even enjoyed (as a guilty pleasure) the first "AVP" film - it's by no means a good film, but it's a very entertaining one, and I've watched it probably 3 or 4 times since it came out. As such, I figured I could count on at least as much entertainment value for its sequel, if not more, as how could they possibly regress to make a worse film the second time out? Color me corrected: AVP2 is a disaster... Despite amazing visuals, fantastic special effects, and a rip-roaring sound mix, this film is BORING. I can't believe I'm using that word to describe an Alien vs. Predator film, but I literally fell asleep during this film - I was so disinterested in it than I never even finished it. Oh, how I wanted to like it - I love good action flicks, I love bad action flicks, but I loathe boring action flicks... and unbelievably, this is most definitely the latter. Shame. Video The high-def 2.40:1 widescreen transfer is spectacular - with deep blacks, razor-sharp detail and a gorgeous color palette, this one looks fantastic. Too bad it's a such a piece of crap film. Audio The DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix is boombastic, with a powerful, rip-roarin' soundtrack that still doesn't come close to making up for this piece of crap film. Extras audio commentary w/ directors & producer audio commentary w/ creature effects designers "Preparing for War - Development & Production" featurette "FIght to the Finish - Post Production" featurette "The Nightmare Returns - Creating the Aliens" featurette "Crossbreed - Creating the Predalien" featurette "Building the Predator Homeworld" featurette Weyland-Yutani Archives (Java-based glossary of information on Aliens & Predators) added footage marker (if you're watching the unrated version) photo galleries trailers digital copy (for PC or iPods) Closing Thoughts Great looking, great sounding piece of crap film + AMAZING collection of extras = fantastic offering... for a turd of a film