Alien Hunter (2003) starring James Spader, Janine Eser, John Lynch, Nikolai Binev, Leslie Stefanson, Aimee Graham, Stuart Charno, Carl Lewis directed by Ron Krauss Movie Review

Alien Hunter (2003)   3/53/53/53/53/5


James Spader and Janine Eser in Alien Hunter (2003)

Cliche Hunter

I knew what to expect when I sat down to watch "Alien Hunter", well any movie on one of the lesser channels being shown when most people are sleep is usually going to be poor and little more than a slot filler. So when "Alien Hunter" turned out to be a routine sci-fi movie full of cliches I wasn't disappointed because it is what I expected but I was bored. There is nothing original in this movie as we end up with a group of people in Antarctica where an Alien object has been discovered and all hell breaks out.

56 years after a radio operator in the New Mexico desert goes missing after hearing a strange sound pattern on his equipment the exact same sound is heard again. This time it is coming from Antarctica where a research facility have uncovered something frozen in the ice which is emitting this sound pattern and why former SETI worker and now cryptology lecturer Julian Rome (James Spader - Secretary) finds himself there investigating. What he believes is that within the ice is an extra terrestrial object trying to communicate with either them or someone else but all hell breaks out when one of the researchers decides to try and open up the device.

Carl Lewis as Grisham in Alien Hunter (2003)

It is really hard to be enthusiastic about "Alien Hunter" because it is all very ordinary and in a way the best part comes right at the start as we watch a radio operator in 1947 discover the strange radio signal and investigate before disappearing a in a flash of white light. After that it all becomes routine from Julian Rome being a lecturer called upon to decipher the strange message to the chaos at the research facility when the Alien gets out. Even a subplot surrounding a Government cover up does little to make it any more exciting as shady men in Washington make big decisions.

I'm trying to find some sort of positive to give you a reason to watch "Alien Hunter" but it is difficult despite actually not being a bad movie. Maybe that is what it needed to be, bad enough to be entertaining for the wrong reasons rather than just ordinary. I suppose I could say that the special effects aren't bad, there is some nice CGI effects which don't look too cheap and have an almost "The Abyss" like quality to them but even then they aren't exactly great.

And adding to the continuous stream of ordinary is the characters because there is not an original character in the entire movie, in fact they are all so typical they end up for the most anonymous. Of course the only one who isn't is that of Julian Rome and that is purely because it is James Spader playing him but the actual character is as ordinary as everything else. Probably the only thing about the casting which will surprise you is when you realise that it is Olympic great Carl Lewis playing a stereotypical character.

What this all boils down to is that "Alien Hunter" is an ordinary, cliche filled sci-fi movie which brings absolutely nothing new to the mix. It's not bad but just ordinary and that makes it ultimately boring.


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