Aliens vs. Predator: The Long WarGenre: Action/Sci-Fi/Horror
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Writer: Carl Flimmer
Based on the Dark Horse Comics series
Cast: Gemma Chan, Felicity Jones, Matt Smith, David Harbour, Morena Baccarin, Chris O'Dowd, Rupert Friend, Djimon Hounsou, Monica Barbaro, Emory Cohen, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Alan Ritchson, Luke Grimes
The film begins with an overview of a space station called Nemesis where a team called Berserker was sent there to check the situation from the Weylandt-Yutani company. The scene moves inside where a frenzied bloody battle is taking place between humans and aliens. We see a woman, Deputy Commander Catherine Lara (Felicity Jones) and Commander Pop Carter (Luke Grimes) talking in the control room. Pop is preparing a nuclear bomb to destroy the station. He reveals to Catherine that there must be no witnesses to what Weylandt-Yutani did. He then says he has negotiated a deal with the company to spare her, on the condition that the two rekindle their relationship. Lara approaches him interested in the proposal until she opens a refrigerator in which there was a Facehugger who quickly attacks and dominates Pop. He gets out and starts driving a short-range shuttle. The scene moves to another area of the station where there are Martin Jess, a former criminal convicted of working in the Berserker program (David Harbour) and Dr. Brian Ellis (Matt Smith) who is inside MAX (Mobile Assault Exo-Warrior) after the person inside is dead. The M.A.X. it is a medical practice in which a human intelligence is imprisoned within a heavy, armed and reinforced exoskeleton. The man (a voluntary prisoner) is kept in a coma and the adrenaline is pumped through the pipes causing a total power of M.A.X that causes him to destroy everything. Catherine manages to reach the other two survivors and blow up the entire space station. Inside the shuttle, Jess takes Ellis out of his Berserker suit worried that he may have caused irreparable mental damage to poor Ellis. Then we see Catherine explaining to Jess that the company wanted to kill them for discovering the experiments they were doing with aliens. Ellis, on the other hand, seems weak but having been short of time within MAX, he shouldn't have suffered any serious problems. The shuttle is short range and the air autonomy is a few days.
The film continues events almost a year after the previous film ended. A huge Predator spaceship moves through space as we witness an exhausted alien queen dying as some Yautja are watching her and exchanging signals between them. Machiko Noguchi (Gemma Chan) now lives in the big Predator spaceship with the Yautja clan of Top-Knot and has been nicknamed Little Knife by the other Predators. However, due to his fighting skills, he earned the respect of the older members and was given his armor and a small lodging. Lower-ranking predators live in the "pit" in a remote area of the ship. In Machiko's room we see that the head of the alien queen killed in the first movie is attached to the wall. He also has a jump wave receiver with which he listens to brief disturbed conversations light years away, his only connection with humans. The period was not easy and the woman begins to feel frustrated at not being treated as an equal. Most of the clan refuse to recognize her as one of their own and undermine Machiko's attempts to integrate into their culture by ignoring the acts of bravery and skill she has taken during the hunts over the past year. Her Top-Knot treats her pretty well and a friendship has arisen between her and an elderly clan member she has named Rufus. She unfortunately she is also bullied by younger members, especially by a fighter nicknamed "Shorty" due to her short stature. Shorty, using her predatory prowess, also enjoys mimicking Machiko's voice by making fun of her. The spaceship is approaching a small planet called Jaba. Machiko is informed by Rufus that there will be a very dangerous mission on the planet to capture a new alien queen. Top-Knot does not want her to participate in the hunt because she is considered too weak but she decides to disobey and hides in the spaceship that will go to the planet. The Yautja descend to the planet and begin to advance in a large group to reach the queen's nest to capture her. Shortly thereafter, Machiko leaves the ship unseen and follows the clan from afar. The Yautja advance, looking around carefully until they reach the nest. It all seems quiet when suddenly they are attacked by surprise by a large number of aliens. The predators split up, the more experienced and senior hunters continue towards the queen while the others remain to fight against the aliens. The first group manages to get to the queen easily and they start fighting with the queen to capture her. In the back, the other predators are fighting as Machiko watches the battle from behind a large boulder. The woman is undecided whether to intervene or not seeing several of her companions die. The camera captures Shorty as he fights until he is shot down by another xenomorph and the alien climbs onto his back. The alien growls and opens his mouth, dropping the drool on Shorty's helmet. While Shorty awaits her fate, Machiko decides to come out of the open and with a jump intervenes, hits the xenomorph making him fall to the ground and then detonates him with her weapon. Machiko approaches Shorty and holds out his hand as a sign of peace. Shorty gets up angry and pushes Machiko away from her causing her to fall to the ground. In the Yautja culture, being saved by another Predator is a great misfortune and a sign of dishonor. When all the aliens are killed, the group runs into the nest. When they arrive the queen is blocked. Rufus notices Machiko's presence but at that moment the queen breaks free from the chains for a moment and attacks Rufus's back with her tail. Rufus is then thrown several meters away and Rufus dies shortly after. Meanwhile, the other Predators had once again immobilized the alien queen. Machiko shows her emotion of hers during the last moments of Rufus's life and remains kneeling beside him and is left there alone by the other Yautja, who almost seem to look at her with contempt. When they return to her spaceship Machiko is severely reprimanded by Top-Knot for disobeying her, but at the end of her reprimand he congratulates her on her bravery. However, she is punished and invited into her room indefinitely. She lies down on the bed but learns of a new hunting mission on a swampy planet called Bunda. At some point Top-Knot comes to her and offers her a place for the next hunt.
She is very happy and continues to thank him. Eventually, however, Top-Knot tells her that she can only participate in the hunt for her if she wins a fight against Shorty, who after being rescued by Machiko became the clan member with the lowest rank of her. Machiko is a little reluctant to accept because she had already witnessed such fights and they turned out to be quite brutal. Machiko however accepts her, a gesture appreciated by Top-Knot, who puts a hand on her shoulder to compliment her. Shorty and Machiko are then led into the fighting room which also has some sort of ring inside. Shorty tries to intimidate the girl by making fun of her but she responds well to the Predator's jokes by making fun of her. The two step into the ring while all the Predators cheer for Shorty. The fight begins and Machiko proves to be very skilled, agile and strong in martial arts and manages to hit Shorty several times, causing him to fall to the ground. Machiko is dominating the match and keeps hitting her opponent. As Machiko prepares to give him the final blow, Shorty's partner, who had approached the ring, grabs Machiko's ankle, distracting her from the fight. The woman manages to get rid of her with a kick in the face, but this gesture allows Shorty to free herself from the woman's grip and react by brutally beating the woman. Machiko is now in serious trouble, she knows that if she continues like this she will probably be killed, but she knows that if she withdraws she will be humiliated and shunned by everyone. Machiko still decides to save herself and get off the ring, being laughed at by everyone. With this defeat she is excluded from hunting on the planet Bunda and is forced to move into the kitchens and serve food to the low-level Predators who continue to tease her. Meanwhile, she watches the spaceship with the hunters leaving for Bunda.
Meanwhile, we see the shuttle carrying Catherine Lara, Martin Jess and Brian Ellis wandering aimlessly as the oxygen runs out. The trio now only awaits their deaths as they recount anecdotes from their past. Catherine sent out various distress signals, but none ever responded. Suddenly they receive a response from Kevin Vincent (Chris O'Dowd), the administrator of a remote research outpost called Big Archey on the planet Bunda. Jenny Froome (Morena Baccarin), chief scientist of the structure that is used for the study and cataloging of the planet's fauna, also intervenes in the conversation. At that moment, her colleague, Dr. Angela Medina (Monica Barbaro), who is analyzing plant samples, is also present next to her. Shortly after finishing the conversation, Kevin Vincent receives a call from Mr. Briggs (Rupert Friend). Mr. Briggs says those three people will have to be quarantined due to an infection and that he will soon arrive on the planet to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, Kevin Vincent has sent a rescue ship to provide fuel and oxygen and permission to settle in their facility for the three survivors. Meanwhile Machiko goes to her quarters very nervous about her and after removing the helmet revealing two bright eyes she turns on the transmitter, surprisingly collecting fragments of human voices from the planet Bunda.
Meanwhile, the ship carrying the Predators has landed on Bunda. We see that Bunda is a not very large planet with a humid climate with rather swampy terrain. A Yautja descends and lays xenomorph eggs on the ground. A few seconds later, monkey-like animals approach the eggs with curiosity and start touching them. Meanwhile, the Yautja observe the scene in their invisible mode. Meanwhile, other Yautjas have laid more eggs scattered around the planet. The survivors of the Nemesis arrive on Bunda and are taken to an accommodation and locked inside. They discover that that facility is under the control of Weylandt-Yutani. Martin Jess tries to free himself despite Catherine's invitation to remain silent, but is blocked by a guard with a taser. Meanwhile, at the facility, Jenny asks Kevin what's going on. The man says that there is something strange in this story but he has received the order from above to keep the three people in quarantine and then asks the doctor to continue her work. Jenny Froome gathers her team to organize the working day.
So she sends her two surveyors and boyfriends, Nadia Pratt (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Sebastian Rembert (Emory Cohen) plus Dr. Angela Medina to look for the nest of a toad-like animal species they had discovered a couple of days earlier. to study it. The place is a couple of hours from the base. During the trip the three are serene and playful, Nadia and Sebastian talk about their future plans while Angela feels comically uncomfortable to be the third. At one point Nadia notices that the place seems to be quieter than usual, she points out that there are no noises in the vicinity and it is very strange because there are various forms of animals in that area. After a few minutes Sebastian finds some dead animal carcasses with a horrible chest wound. The three start discussing this fact and say it is strange because there are no very dangerous animals on the planet. At that point they decide to go back. After a few steps, the two find themselves in front of a xenomorph running towards them. The girl screams and tries to call the research base but fails because the transmitter falls to the ground during the attack. Sebastian takes his girlfriend by the hand and they run away into the vegetation chased by the monster while Dr. Medina runs in a different direction but while she is on the run she falls into a hole and loses consciousness. The two hide in a cave trying to make little noise. The two whisper about what that monster could be and hope Angela is okay. The boy turns on the flashlight he had in his backpack and they notice a series of mysterious eggs and approach them. Suddenly two eggs open and things unknown to them stick to the faces of the two poor lovers.
Shortly thereafter, in the distance, we see the landing of Mr. Briggs' shuttle. Briggs is led by Kevin Vincent by the three prisoners. Briggs, accompanied by his bodyguards Mbola (Djimon Hounsou) and Keene (Alan Ritchson) and starts questioning Catherine and the others about the Nemesis space station explosion, but they get no answers except a spit from Catherine. Around the outpost, the Yautja gathered and decided to create some confusion. They kill the armed guard at the entrance and drop a couple of bombs causing more deaths. Mbola and Briggs go out to find out what's going on and order Keene to check out the prisoners. Ellis occasionally says disjointed phrases and performs seemingly senseless actions and seems to worsen his mental condition while Martin Jess is still a little dazed by the Taser. While Keene is distracted by the screams and explosions, Catherine manages to surprise him and fight him in hand-to-hand combat. She eventually manages to subdue him and fatally wound him with a knife. Meanwhile in the facility we see that the Predators are killing all the armed guards leaving few survivors. A Yautja lets Jenny live who was in a corner while she only held a piece of glass as a weapon. Mbola instead proves to be a strong fighter by killing a couple of Yautja in a bloody way. Machiko lies in his room and listens to Big Archey's SOS and discovers that his fellow Yautja are killing humans. Machiko changes face and leaves his quarters. He arrives at the checkpoint and kills the two pilots with a surprise attack, seals the bridge and frees the captive queen. Then Machiko drives the ship to Bunda.
The three escaping survivors pick up the frightened Doctor Froome and another pair of survivors. They also find Kevin Vincent injured. They help him and make their way to their shuttle. Kevin says in a low voice that he has no gas because he was taken from him angering Martin that he would like to punch him. A couple of Predators attack them and kill a couple of people and start fighting with Catherine and Jess. Jess orders Ellis to refuel as long as they keep the monsters busy. Ellis trembling and full of voices in his head makes a mistake causing an explosion that causes severe damage to the entire structure. After the explosion, the Predators seem to retreat and vanish into thin air. Ellis watches the mess he's made and starts crying as it is caused by Jess as Catherine tries to cheer him up. Kevin Vincent is seated as Dr. Froome approaches the corpses to see if there are any other survivors. Meanwhile, the camera shows Briggs, alone, in the middle of the vegetation as he appears to be running away from something. Despite Catherine's reassurances, Ellis starts hitting herself in the head, apologizes and runs away causing her to lose track. Shortly thereafter, as the survivors think what to do, Machiko crashes the nearby ship. Catherine points the gun at the vegetation when she hears someone approaching. The girl raises her hands, takes off her helmet, revealing that she is human.
Machiko tells the story of her leaving whoever is there with her totally amazed. Shortly after her, Dr. Medina also arrives terrified by her shock and nearly passes out when she sees the disaster around her. Medina eagerly drinks from Machiko's flask and talks about a monster and that Nadia and Sebastian are probably dead. Catherine also tells their story, so Machiko realizes that she and Jess have also had to deal with xenomorphs. Machiko suggests escaping to the nearby Top-Knot ship. However, the group is quickly surrounded by Top-Knot and his clan. Top-Knot and Machiko look at each other defiantly. Kevin Vincent shoots Top-Knot but has no time because another Yautja, in stealth mode, blows his head killing him instantly. At that moment a group of xenomorphs intervenes with silence from the vegetation. Doctor Medina is the only one who notices this and starts to back away. At one point she moans and her blood starts running out of her mouth. Her camera shows behind her a xenomorph who gutted her in the back with his double mouth. She then she falls to the ground thus attracting the attention of others. Jenny leans over to her friend before realizing what was behind them. At that point the entire group of xenomorphs growls out of the vegetation. The whole human group is scared and doesn't know what to do. The camera shows from above how the 4 humans are in the middle of Alien and Predator. Jess laughs hysterically at the absurd situation. Machiko tells Top-Knot that he is not the clan's outsider, but his worst enemy. The xenomorphs move first but at that moment a beam detonates an alien. Everyone turns to see Ellis resurrected in the Berserker M.A.X. and he starts shooting at the two enemy factions, also risking hitting Catherine and the other people. The three hide behind a large log that has fallen to the ground as they watch Ellis shoot wildly. Catherine says that she has to help him because this way she will die and says that she will climb over the log going to her rescue while Jess says she will be killed. Machiko snorts, shakes her head and follows Catherine. Catherine manages to calm and reason Ellis while the enemies are on the run. The group heads to Top-Knot's ship to find Mbola with a half-smashed face and no part of an arm revealing that he is a robot. He carries Briggs on his shoulders, who has a Facehugger attached to his face. Mbola asks for help to save her boss and Machiko approaches Briggs to kill him but is stopped by Catherine. Mbola says his only purpose is to protect Briggs. Shortly thereafter, the facehugger detaches from Mr. Briggs' face. Machiko very coldly tells Mbola that her boss will die soon and that she tells him that his goal will be to take revenge on her boss's death and then tells everyone to hurry up. At one point Machiko finds himself facing Shorty and other Yautja. Machiko puts herself in a position of attack and tells the others to go, that this is a personal matter. Lara, Jess and Jenny make their way to Top-Knot's ship as Ellis makes her way into her M.A.X. carrying Briggs still unconscious. Mbola decides to stay by Machiko's side. She looks at him and nods. A Yautja named Freckles attacks Machiko, she easily dodges all of his moves and easily kills him by saying that he feels a sense of satisfaction. Shorty rushes to Machiko while Mbola keeps the others at bay by making Ellis and the others head towards the ship. Machiko turns out to be a better fighter than Shorty and cuts off his left hand with his Wrestblades and calls him a stupid bully and that she is a better hunter than him. Shorty, on the other hand, only defines her as a human being. Machiko admits that it is true and that the human part of her considers it wrong to kill him. After a few seconds of pause she smiles and says that she also has the soul of a hunter and that therefore the only smart thing to do is ... and she sinks the blades into his chest, killing him. She then turns to Mbola who is sitting on the ground leaning against a log next to the other dead yautja. Mbola is now practically destroyed and almost in a short circuit says a few words and goes out. After the fight she joins the others near the shuttle as the aliens approach the group. Catherine decides to put Briggs unconscious inside the Berserker suit, set up the computer and leave him on the planet to slaughter as many aliens and predators as possible. The survivors board the shuttle and leave the planet. Machiko is finally happy to return with the species to which she belongs and to review human emotions.
