Xtro II: Second Encounter

TerrorFirmer

Okay, so Xtro wasn't the worst Alien clone out there, pretty entertaining b-movie fare. Never thought to watch the sequels, until recently I decided to rewatch the Alien films an invoked an insatiable thirst for all things sci-fi. In between Alien3 and Alien vs Predator - probably because of my hesitance to bother watching the latter - Xtro II seemed to fit the bill pretty well.

Well anyway, no point waffling on, when the conclusion was obviously going to be that it's utter appalling trash. It's not even the movie itself, because all of the main elements are perfectly....well, fine, at least, with acceptable effects for the creature (which has evolved to far more daringly Alien-esqe being, and impressively so for such a low budget feature), acting and direction. It's the small details, like the marine team compromised of mulleted A-Team rejects dressed like lumberjacks...so utterly....unconvincing. Which is a shame because for all the small mistakes like above, there are some scenes that would begrudgingly have you admit 'well, that wasn't so bad', like an explosive elevator shaft scene, a it's-not-really-a-face-hugger-but-its-pretty-much-the-same-thing scene, god, they've even managed to work in and flaunt a Smart Gun from Aliens.



But all in all considering it cost something like only $800,000 to make it's not so bad...just why after stretching that budget so far did they have to have it fall down on something as simple as character design. Oh....it's also absolutely nothing to do with Xtro whatsoever, so when I settle down to watch Xtro 3 shortly, I can only assume it's also nothing to do with this movie either.

Alien: 7/10.
Story: 6/10.
Action: 6/10.
Character design: 0/10.