PAUL W.S. ANDERSON

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5.  USA/Germany/Czech Republic/United Kingdom, 2004.  Twentieth Century Fox, Davis Entertainment, Brandywine Productions, Lonlink Productions, Stillking Films, Kut Productions, Studio Babelsberg, Inside Track Films.  Screen story by Paul W.S. Anderson, Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, screenplay by Paul W.S. Anderson, based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Jim Thomas, John Thomas.  Cinematography by David Johnson.  Produced by Gordon Carroll, John Davis, David Giler, Walter Hill.  Music by Harald Kloser.  Production Design by Richard Bridgland.  Costume Design by Magali Guidasci.  Film Editing by Alexander Berner.  

Silly action film attempts to bridge the gap between two franchises but is really just an obvious excuse to make money. An expedition team is taken to Antarctica to investigate the appearance of a building structure that has been found deep beneath the ground. What they unearth is a breeding ground of the nasty alien creatures that used to piss Sigourney Weaver off so much. Trouble is, they’re the enemy of the alien race that used to piss off Arnold Schwarzenegger, and our human survivors are trapped inside an ancient maze while the two super creatures battle it out. The visual effects are pristine, but the story starts out cliched and goes into a downward spiral very quickly. A shame, because both the creatures are still so superbly designed and even downright frightening at points. The backstory is interesting (the film takes place before the Alien movies so you get a lot of insight into what would happen later), but the playing out of it is cheap and unimaginative. Cast members Raoul Bova, Sanaa Lathan and others just look lost in the mess.