Aliens vs. Avatars |
USA • 2011 • 80m •
 • Directed by: Lewis Schoenbrun. • Starring: Jason Lockhart, Kim Argetsinger, Cassie Fliegel, Dylan Vox, Marlene Mc'Cohen, Georgina Tolentino, Ginny You, Amanda Chism, Victoria De Mare, Adam Graham, Dan Glenn. • Music by: Jason Peri.      Six college friends find themselves caught up in a cat and mouse hunt with a race of creatures who possess the ability to transform into anything from which it has consumed DNA.
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Review:
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).
Review by DeadHumans from the Internet Movie Database.
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