All films have an intention, be that an artistic vision, making money, or anything in-between. There’s usually a driving force. I can only assume that Requiem’s intention was to make it’s predecessor – the entirely OK AvP – look amazing. It’s not a so good it’s bad. It’s just bad.
Requiem’s one good idea, a Predator clean up crew, is completely wasted. Unfortunately the story doesn’t commit to the idea, especially Wolf himself, who seems constantly distracted by his hunting instinct. A shame when he’s named after Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction!
He can cloak, but doesn’t keep to himself. He has a magical blue gloop which can dissolve biological traces. Yet doesn’t use it as a weapon against the Xenomorph, despite having a seemingly endless supply. He sanitises, only to skin and display a human. Apart from playing Predator trope bingo, there’s no reason for Wolf to be written as such a tool.
It’s one thing to botch a cool idea. But it’s something else to focus on a teenage romance in a film with Aliens and Predators. Absolutely bonkers. The film already gives us multiple ways to get lots of Aliens so it’s extraneous at best and willingly stupid at worst.
I’d love to dig into the overall aesthetic of Requiem but I can’t. It’s soooooo dark. The horse has long since bolted when it comes to any mystery surrounding these creatures, so there’s no need to hide so much of it with no light and quick cuts. Come on, we’ve seen Aliens teaming up and we’ve seen more than one Predator hunt and look after itself. Though having watched a YouTube video on how every film since the original has managed to screw up the Predator face, perhaps they were hiding it!
Then there’s the Predalien, which is…fine? I cannot however get on board with the gross acts which befall a child and a pregnant woman. Kill all the soldiers and teenagers you like. But that’s too far for me.
Requiem is not a good film and you should ignore because it’s bad and should feel bad about itself so you shouldn’t watch it. That sentence is hard to read. The film is hard to watch.
And then there’s the biggest riddle of all. Why call it Requiem? It doesn’t make sense! Like this film.
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