AND NOW AvP2???
I thought there might actually be hope, but all this delay has got me vexed! Fox don't give an F! They know Fools are still going to pay to watch their crap! There's no teaser and you're being fed stories "o it got delayed, o it's getting more money, o they filming new scenes, o Fox exec's liked it.." F off! The bottom line is, I could make the best AvP ever! Fox you need to give me that budget and I would bring in more money than Anderson ever could and these 2 new chumps...and believe me I respect them for doing it better, because it will be better no doubt, I've studied their work, but it ain't no way gonna topple stuff like Transformers!
Gone.
I don't think that's a fair thing to say. I think anyone could say online that they can do better than a director- heck, I've held the notion in a few horrors of cinema. But it's much harder than most people give credence to. You would have to work with ADI in such a way to get them to backtrack on a design they were feverous about, try and undo Anderson's portrayl of the Predators, work with a crew of dozens upon dozens to get a single shot in your film with the right lighting to really bring out both characters, direct a script that will have inherent flaws from the getgo at this stage due to the studio falling in love with concepts that you may not want in your film, and then have to live with the fact that (as much as the film is your own) Fox has the final say as to what happens. Now do you think you can do a better job?
So this won't be the next Transformers...so what? As much as I love that film, you take away the CGI and you take away a large part of the reason to go see it. Characterizations were solid in my opinion, but without Optimus and his Autobot buddies it's another teen movie. I've always liked these franchises because they use practical elements to unabashfully create what the audience wants to see regardless or because of the action element. I would really prefer if Fox sold the franchises to a studio really willing to put effort and not roadblocks into the creative process, but there's little I or anyone else can do about that. But bashing the Strauses for a film we haven't seen yet just isn't right. They may be Anderson x2 or Ridley Scott divided into two people. At this point, we really don't know if they can work their way past the concept and make a great film out of what looks to be a mediocre script. Even if you come to hate it, give them a chance beforehand.
Anyone who honestly believes that AVP has less characterization than Alien 3, despite the fact that AVP literally spends 45 minutes only setting up the characters, isn't really worth acknowledging. These are the people who blindly hate Anderson because the Internet told them to, and don't bother to actually weigh the evidence on-screen or think for themselves. I love how you choose to pick out a few select characters who were clearly minor though, and then complain that they don't have enough development. Yeah, might as well complain that Crowe and Wierzbowski weren't developed enough in Aliens. Heh.
I don't think that it was an issue in either films about how long the time was spent on characterizations. It's that the flaw of both films is that they fail to make the audience care by the time they get to the creature kills who is being massacred. It reminds me of the first Friday the 13th in how little I could care about who these people dying are. An example of good character molding would be Hudson. At first he starts off as the cocky marine archetype whose attitude is like:
"Aw, hell yeah! Aliens? What are those, giant black bugs? Hah! Who needs to worry about those when you have a phalanx and a nuclear bomb right here at the ready?! Bring it on!"
And then, before we're midway into the film...
"Uhh...how about we call it even and get the hell out of here? I'm sure the Aliens won't mind! We can draw up an escape plan and go back for reinforcements or something...let's just get the hell out of here!
Mommy, I'm scared!" *curls into the fetal position*
By the end of the movie, you do feel a little for the character when you know he's bit the dust. He was a coward, but at least he had personality. I'm not saying every film has to have memorable characterization in every character- heck, Aliens had Crowe and Wierzbowski bringing it down in terms of blank-slate cannon fodder. But in Alien 3, I really could only name a few people I so much as remembered- Ripley, Clemens, Dillon, Golic, maybe Morse...the rest is as it's said in the Quadrilogy commentary: the flaw is that it's essentially many bald British inmates that become a kill for the Runner. Golic and Morse are the hardest to remember because the original theatrical cut only draws a few emotional distinctions. That's not quite the same with the original Alien.
I do agree that AVP gets a lot of bad rep, moreso because it reflects badly on two franchises rather than one. But some of it is deserved. Just to follow the theme with Alien 3, I'll try to name a few of the human characters without referencing the Wiki or something: Lex, Weyland, Verheiden (sp?)...that's about it. Everyone else is a colorless mercenary or follows in the lead of the archaeologist- a character that isn't written well and doesn't have a significant scene (I only remembered that last guy because they yell his name out so many times). While some of the hate is undeserved, in comparison to even Alien 3 I really didn't care if any of the humans lived to see another day. At least I can't say Predator or its sequel let me down on that end.
People should wait to see the film before slating it, otherwise you just make yourself seem like an assclown.
Yup, that sounds about right.