Alien Vs. Predator

Alien Vs. Predator. Enough said, right? Noooot really. On the one year anniversary of the release of last summer's cross franchise blitz, Freddy Vs. Jason, Twentieth Century Fox offers AVP, a long awaited duel between two classic sci-fi icons. And get this"¦ it was actually pretty good.

Hear me out"¦

Okay, first"¦ a little bit about the plot. That's right, there's a plot!

A team of explorers, comprised of archaeologists, adventurers and other stock mission-movie characters (think Armageddon) are plucked from their lives and hired by a one Charles Weyland, billionaire industrialist to investigate a heat burst in Antarctica detected by one of their satellites. Heading the team is Alexa Woods, a sensible adventurer and environmentalist.

The heat burst turns out to be coming from a temple 2000 feet under the surface of the earth. Upon arrival of the site to be investigated, the team finds a tunnel, which wasn't detected the day before, has been dug for them, leading them directly to their target. Hmmm"¦ Suspect? Maybe, but they've got guns, so they're going to be okay, right?

Upon arrival, chaos eventually ensues. It is revealed that a Queen Alien has been held captive by the Predators, who fight her offspring in a rite of passage that takes place once a century. The humans were lured to that spot by the heat burst, and are there, essentially, to act as hosts for the aliens to reside in before bursting from their chests and wreaking havoc.

Sanaa Lathan, who was recently hailed for her B'way performance in Raisin in the Sun, proves herself competent as the female lead, and sole survivor of the carnage. Seems Sanaa has lucked out with this particular role. Personally, I'd choose the Predator over P. Diddy as a co-star any day of the week. At first, I thought that casting Lance Henriksen in a role other than Bishop (his role in Aliens) was a mistake on the part of the filmmakers. However, there is a moment in the movie that is going to raise some serious questions on the sci-fi message boards.

As for the real stars of this movie, the Aliens and Predators take their time in revealing themselves, but when they do, they're all in full form. The Predators, who appeared to be about 5'7" in past movies, seems 7 feet tall, and their presence in the film alongside the actors is menacing. Those Aliens are still frightening as ever, and still perpetually dripping with K-Y Jelly. The queen is especially frightening, and when unleashed from her post as an egg machine, she stands at tall as a house (eep!).

AVP is light on gore and foul language and heavy on the fights. Character development has apparently gone right out the window, but in this case, it only adds to the strength of the

movie. Let's face it, in flicks like these, characters are developed only so that audiences wind up eagerly anticipating seeing them get cut the f*ck up and thereby silenced. Another strength of the movie is that said villains aren't capable of speech, so again, we're not subjected to bad joke after bad joke (take note, Mr. Kruger) and are actually left a little scared. The first hatching sequence in which the pod aliens leap out onto their victims and the flashback to the original hunting ritual are visually stunning and will definitely leave the audience happy. Some might think the movie is too short, but better to leave the audience wanting more, that way, when the sequel pops up, which it will, we won't be subjected to a rehash. My verdict"¦ eh, why the hell not? Were you planning on checking out that lame ass movie about the stoners trying to find a White Castle? I didn't think so.

Movie Grade: B-

The discovery of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica sends a team of scientists and adventurers to the frozen continent. There, they make an even more terrifying discovery: two alien races engaged in the ultimate battle. No matter who wins, we lose.