Fede Álvarez Is Right About The Best Part Of The Worst Alien Movie With 12% On Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

Summary

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem may have some top-notch kills, but it's still considered the worst Alien movie.
The lack of plot development, poor lighting, and muddled battles make this sequel a disappointing watch.
Director Fede Alvarez sees promise in the upcoming stand-alone sequel Alien: Romulus, hinting at better things to come.

At a panel at San Diego Comic Con 2024 where Screen Rant was in attendance, the director of Alien: Romulus, Fede Alvarez, provided at least some defense for what is widely regarded as the worst movie in the Alien franchise. The sequel to the first grisly showdown between the Xenomorphs and the Yautja, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem has gained a reputation as one of the worst horror movies of all time. While there are plenty of reasons to criticize it, it does have one thing going for it.

The Alien and Predator franchises are two of the most storied sci-fi series in movie history, and while both have seen their share of poor sequels, the concept of the two extraterrestrial species battling it out made Alien vs. Predator seemed promising. That movie was a bomb, and was panned by critics and audiences alike. Its sequel, however, somehow found a new low for either franchise as far as critical acclaim, or lack thereof, is concerned. The upcoming stand-alone sequel Alien: Romulus already looks far better than any recent sequel in the franchise.

Director Fede Álvarez and star Archie Renaux talk about Alien: Romulus' practical sets and effects, and teasing the "many deaths" to come.

Aliens vs. Predator Requiem's Kills Are The Best Part Of The Movie

The gore and violence is dialed up

After Ridley Scott asked Fede Alvarez to rank the Alien movies, the director of Alien: Romulus noted that the worst movie was Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. However, Alvarez did note that the sequel did have some top-notch kills throughout:

I think the not-as-good one would be Requiem. There’s some really good kills in that movie, by the way... Let’s say that.

While that's certainly not the most glowing endorsem*nt of the movie overall, Alvarez did bring up a good point. While Alien vs. Predator: Requiem had little else going for it, some of the various on-screen deaths for humans and extraterrestrials alike had far more imagination than other movies in the two franchises. While the weapons of both the Predator and the Xenomorph (in its multiple forms) are well-known, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem featured new ways for the two species to brutally end lives.

While certain kills, like Jesse being cut in half by the Predator Wolf's shuriken, were imaginative, many of the kills were variations on kills already seen in earlier moves in the two franchises. For example, the Predalien who terrorizes the movie's characters proves to be able to implant multiple offspring into a person at once, leading to a triple-Xenomorph belly-burst as opposed to the traditional chest-burst kill. Similarly, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem's elevated levels of gore made the Yautja's plasmacaster seem far more diabolical, as it showed (in gruesome and bloody detail) multiple characters having their heads blown off.

Aliens vs. Predator Requiem Is Still The Worst Alien Movie

It's poorly made and poorly written

Fede Álvarez Is Right About The Best Part Of The Worst Alien Movie With 12% On Rotten Tomatoes (2)

The kills in Alien vs. Predator: Requiem might be imaginative, as Fede Alvarez alluded to at San Diego Comic Con 2024, but that doesn't come close to making up for the many, many other flaws in the sequel. Perhaps the most common complaint is the movie's gross negligence when it came to lighting, which led to 90% of the most entertaining scenes being too dark and muddied to see clearly. It's difficult to appreciate the two iconic characters slugging it out when the battle is hidden in shadows and discoloration.

A third Alien vs. Predator movie was discussed during the production of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, but predictably any plans were put on hold indefinitely following the movie's release.

There is also absolutely nothing going on as far as true plot development, or expanding the lore of either franchise. It's a hastily-slapped together plot that begins with a ship crash-landing in a small town, and ends with the town being (literally) nuked into oblivion, with some poorly-lit battles and kills in between. There is also a stunning lack of human character development. While the sequels for both franchises have suffered from a lack of strong human characters, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem sets the (low) bar. Alien: Romulus already looks more promising in that regard after only a couple trailers.

Fede Álvarez Is Right About The Best Part Of The Worst Alien Movie With 12% On Rotten Tomatoes (3)

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

0.5

Fantasy