IN ALIENS VS. PREDATOR – 2, the iconic creatures from two of the scariest film franchises in movie history wage their most brutal battle ever -- in our own backyard.
The science fiction-action-thriller captures the magic of the “Alien vs. Predator” comics, novels and videogames that established the “AVP” brand – while paying homage to the hallmarks of the film series that preceded it: Ridley Scott’s seminal work of science fiction and horror, “Alien”; James Cameron’s masterpiece of intense action, “Aliens”; and John McTiernan’s thriller about an extra-terrestrial warrior wreaking havoc in the jungle, “Predator.” At the same time AVP2, introduces an intriguing element new to the franchise, by having the Aliens and Predator wage war in a small American town.
Bringing these elements together are directors The Brothers Strause, Colin and Greg, whose visual effects house, Hydraulx, is renowned for its computer-generated wizardry on films such as “300,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and “Fantastic Four.”
It’s no accident that the Strause brothers are making their feature film helming debut on a story featuring Aliens and Predators – they’re unabashed fans of both film series. “Colin and Greg live Aliens and Predators,” says John Davis, who produced this film, as well as the original “Predator” and 2005’s “Alien vs. Predator.” “They’ve seen the movies countless times, know the [AVP] comics and played the [AVP] videogames. They really understand these characters.” Adds AVP2 screenwriter Shane Salerno: “The Strause brothers live, eat and breathe these films. The specificity they’ve given AVP2 is remarkable. They’re passionate about this material.”
The brothers’ passion extends to the film’s central notion of placing warring creatures in the middle of a small American town. To them, this idea heightened the stakes – and the scares. “What’s more frightening – a menace happening millions of miles away, or a threat in your own backyard,” says Greg Strause. “Obviously, we thought it was time to bring the Predator and Aliens into the thick of things here. It gets very primal; you’ve never seen anything like it on film. No one is safe in this movie!”
“The creatures are literally on our streets,” adds John Davis: “The idea to set the story in ‘Anywhere, U.S.A.’ – in a nice, recognizable town that is suddenly thrust into the middle of an epic battle and mounting carnage they can’t begin to fathom.”
The town under siege is Gunnison, a real-life locale situated in the mountains of central
AVP2 exists in a familiar landscape – a town’s dark sewers, its rain-soaked streets, the concrete jungle of its electrical plant, and a hospital maternity ward – that become battlefields beyond the townspeople’s worst nightmares.
“While writing the script, I was constantly thinking about how regular people respond to the most extreme situations,”
“We wanted to explore the lengths to which people would go to protect their families,” elaborates Colin Strause. “Who would they fight for… and die for?”
AVP2 is a 20th Century Fox release, distributed by Warner Bros. Now showing in Philippine theaters.
