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Aliens vs. Avatars (2011)
Low budget Friday the 13th meets Predator
This is a terrible movie. Almost everything about it is bad, from the pace over the plot to the acting - not to mention the "special effects" (which has to be put in quotation marks). But it is a b-movie, and anyone who expects otherwise is bound to be sorely disappointed. However, anyone who knows their b-movies and appreciate naive, low-budget cinema would probably agree that "Aliens vs. Predators" has all the qualities of a b-movies that's so bad it's good.
The plot is pretty simple to begin with, but becomes increasingly absurd as it progresses. We follow a group of college students on a camping trip in the woods. The group of characters includes the typical stereotypes including the geek, the nerdy Asian girl, the jog, the tomboy, and the spoiled and snobby girl. Unbeknown to the college students, an alien life form called the Scythe prowls the very same forest. And it's out to destroy mankind. Having to start somewhere, it has set its sights on the college students, whom it offs one by one. Meanwhile, a benevolent alien called Ava (Cassie Fliegel), who looks like a third rate Navi, is on a mission to hunt down the Scythe. While her corporal form is in orbit above Earth in a spaceship, she controls a human-looking avatar (also Cassie Fliegel) on Earth. The surviving college students join forces with Ava and, using a mecha-style battle robot called Robotar, they must destroy the Scythe before it destroys Earth.
The Scythe is able to transform into anything whose DNA it has been in contact with, plus it has the ability to become invisible. This obviously amounts to elements lifted from both "The Body-Snatchers" and "The Predator". The Scythe is really just a guy in a rubber suit and looks more cheesy than scary. With the Scythe chasing college students around in the forest and killing them in ways that include various amounts of gore, the movie appears to also be heavily inspired by the "Friday the 13th"-franchise. Indeed, with elements lifted from a variety of sources, including the title's reference to "Avatar" and "Aliens", the movie is an example of parasitic cinema; it's an exploitation movie, really. Such parasitism is not uncommon in b-movies, and it was particularly common in horror and sci-fi b-movies of the '60s, '70s, and '80s. The Robotar is also just a guy in a suit and reminds me of "The Power Rangers", if anything.
"Aliens vs. Avatars" was obviously made on a low budget and combines cheesy practical effects with horrendous CGI. The acting is generally wooden and substandard in many ways. Some of the characters have potential, but they are generally butchered by the Scythe before they are developed enough for the viewer to actually sympathize with them. Thus, when they are killed, it really has no effect on the viewer. The plot combines the linear nature of the straight-up slasher movie with elements from sci-fi and Japanese battle-suit action, which does result in a completely absurd and ridiculous storyline full of inconsistencies and flaws. The film even resorts to the cheap trick of making use of topless scenes as if to appeal to the most hopeless male viewers.
In other words, "Aliens vs. Avatars" has everything a b-movie should have. This means that it is unintentionally hilarious at several levels. While its truly distasteful elements are its misogynist and slightly racist tendencies (and perhaps its parasitic nature, which I am sure has lured some people into thinking that it was actually crossover between the "Aliens"- and "Avatar"-franchises), it is generally an enjoyable movie to watch because it pretty much fails at everything. What it does capture, and this is what makes it enjoyable, is the spirit of the slasher movies of the '70s and '80s, and fans of that genre will probably enjoy the film for that reason. Overall, this is a bad - very bad - movie which fails in pretty much every aspect. Its one strength is that it is full of those elements that make b-movies worth watching. Those who do not appreciate b-movies are bound to absolutely hate "Aliens vs. Avatars" and should just stay away from it, but I think that b-movie fans will enjoy it exactly because of all its flaws. The rating in this review reflects its qualities as a b-movie (as a "proper" movie, it would probably only be worth half a point or something).
Dragonwasps (2012)
Giant fire-breathing wasps and voodoo-practicing drug-runners
This is a b-movie. Everything about it screams b-movie, from the title over the cast to the fact that it's a movie about giant wasps that breathe fire! You should obviously not expect this to be a polished high-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Anyone with such expectations will be sorely disappointed, and perhaps even angry. Nope, this is a b-movie, and its qualities lie in its absurdity, flaws, and general charm. That's just the way it is with b-movies - that's what we watch them for.
The set-up is quite simple and straightforward. A mysterious research organization called Transgen Tech have been conducting genetic experiments in the jungles of Belize, which have now gone wrong and resulted in the rise of a mutant breed of giant wasps. When one of the scientists goes missing, his daughter, the archaeologist Gina (Dominika Juillet), and her friend Rhonda (Nikolette Noel) set out to find him. They team up with a group of American soldiers under the command of John Hammond (Corin Nemec) and Willy Meyers (Benjamin Easterday). The group must not only face the giant wasps, but also fight off the voodoo-practicing drug-runner Jaguar (Gildon Roland) and his gang of cannibalistic guerrillas.
With a set-up like this, the scene is set of a cliché-filled action film falling under the rubric of tropical horror. Featuring bizarre rituals, implausible science, explosions, shoot-outs, exploding heads, and wasps emerging through cavities of the human face, there is actually plenty of entertainment in this movie, which in part also owes to its fairly consistent and appealing pacing. Things never slow down too much, although there are quieter moments. Obviously, the action sequences are not all equally convincing, and the film arguably features one of the worst ever rescue missions ever in film history. The CGI-effects are, as you might expect, not very good. The depiction of wasps in flight is particularly bad, and the best CGI-rendering of a wasp is, ironically enough, encountered during the final credits.
The acting is one-dimensional across the board, but nothing else should be expected from this type of movie. Corin Nemec does a pretty good job as the film's grizzled male lead, while Benjamin Easterday successfully manages to portray the character he plays as a sympathetic and loyal person. Gildon Roland's extremely one-dimensional yet very intense portrayal of Jaguar, the main antagonist, evokes a creepiness which is just perfect for the character. Dominika Juillet and Nikolette Noel, in contrast, deliver wooden and unconvincing acting, which at times is near-robotic and at times just awkward. Of course, it doesn't help that their characters are supposed to be archaeologists when they actually look like participants in a third rate reality TV show. The dialog is, of course, completely cheesy, and, not surprisingly, not all actors are equally successful at working with such silly dialog.
At the end of the day, "Dragon Wasps" is flawed in several ways, and you should not expect a realistic film in any way. It is silly, cheesy, and charming. It has everything a b-movie should have, and fans of such movies are bound to have a fun time. I mean, it's fire-breathing wasps after all!