Aliens VS Predator – Requiem is the second film in the over hyped and under performing crossover series, which brings nothing new to the table while tarnishing the franchises’ original films.

The movie begins with a spaceship crash landing on Earth. Surviving the crash is an Alien/Predator hybrid which begins to terrorize the residents of a small town whilst planting its seed in numerous hosts. In pursuit of the creature is a Predator.

First, let’s address the films highlights, particularly the more technical aspects of the film; Daniel Pearl provides more than adequate photography; the sound effects are crisp; and the visual and make-up effects are impressive (which should not be a surprise since directors The Brothers Strause handled visual effects on films such as 300 and X – Men: The Last Stand).

Yet what it gains in visual and sound effects it loses with its lack of substance. It looks good but has no soul. Relying on special effects and cheap scares can only take a film so far. Without a solid story and sufficient characters (not caricatures) to work with, the film will – and does – fail.

The best moments occur when the movie lives up to its title and its two monsters smack down. Yet these scenes are constantly interrupted by human drama not worth watching, and features abnormally good looking clean cut white people, (bar John Ortiz’s Sheriff, and the one black guy who unsurprisingly dies early in the proceedings), where even the thugs look like GQ cover boys.

Only its brief glimpses in outer space stimulate the imagination, which begs the question: should another (God forbid) AVP movie be a strictly galactic affair void of human interference? At least that way the viewer will be spared the un-sufferable dialogue and annoying subplots. No such luck here.