Toxic hybrid

The hybridization of the uber-marketable, widely beloved and multimillion-dollar film franchises of “Alien” and “Predator” has produced lackluster, albeit entertaining, results. The end products have been two movies that fall far short of the achievements of their predecessors – two pillars of modern science-fiction cinema.
This film addresses the attempted combination of franchises with a symbolic Predator-Alien hybrid. Interspecies hybridization, while a staple of the “Alien” franchise, doesn’t really work in this movie and feels more like a forced symbolic gesture undoubtedly suggested by someone in Fox’s marketing department.
In the movie, an Alien-infested spaceship crash lands into the Rocky Mountains. The surviving Aliens scatter into the surrounding forest. Ever the vigilant hunter, a Predator quickly follows, tracking his acid-blooded prey and collecting a few human trophies along the way. But let’s not forget the obligatory human element: The aliens are spending their time stalking slack-jawed mountain folk. The human characters (ex-con Dallas Howard, the stereotypical local sheriff; Kelly O’Brien, a female soldier recently returned from Iraq; and a slew of cannon-fodder teenagers) attempt to muster some semblance of a resistance.
Due to the ineptitude and relative disinterest I felt toward the human characters, not to mention the horrible acting, I found myself cheering against humanity, vainly pleading with the directors to quickly kill them off.
The most gripping scenes are those that reference the title of the flick: when the Predator fights off the Aliens. Unfortunately, the fight sequences aren’t dramatic and don’t hold you on the edge of your seat because half the time you can’t see what the hell is happening. The lighting is often too dark and the cuts far too rapid to piece together what exactly is going on (think Michael Bay’s style on cocaine).
Thus, much like the first “Alien vs. Predator,” the movie’s largest problem is lack of both suspense and likable characters.
The unrated edition of the DVD includes writer and director commentary tracks, multiple image galleries on the creature and set design, a digital copy download feature, and the “AVP: Requiem” trailer. The second disc is teeming with supplemental information in the form of five informative behind the scenes features. Those of us who thrive on discussing the thematic elements and symbolism of intergalactic hunters and a parasitoid extraterrestrial species have plenty of fuel to add to the fire of discourse.