Not as bad as i feared, but not good

Rating: Null/10 (3 September 2004)

I´m sure that director Paul W.S. Anderson does whatever he can with his films. He seems like a nice enough guy, and very enthusiastic about each project. But he has yet to make a single movie i found enjoyable and this is yet another good idea wasted.
While it can be argued that part of the problems with this film is not Paul W.S. Anderson (a PG-13 rating, substandard acting) he has still made yet another bland and unexciting actionfilm. I love the first two Alien-films, as well as the first Predator-film. And to mix these two is one of the first truly exciting ideas i´ve heard when it comes to mixing franchises. It´s sad to see though that all the good vibrations from both series of films are wasted here.
So, what´s wrong with this film? Well it´s not cheap-looking and boring (like Resident Evil) nor is it a total catastrophe in every way (like Mortal Kombat). It´s just... bland. The action scenes are few. And the pacing is slow, especially in the beginning of the film. When the action scenes DO happen they don´t look too bad although the lack of gore effects is obvious. But i feel that the gore is not the main thing missing, the film would have benefited much more from better editing and more frequent, and longer lasting, action scenes. What made "Aliens" so great? Was it the gore? No, it was the way the action-scenes just throbbed with energy. An energy severely lacking here.
Probably this will spell the end for both the Alien and Predator franchises (or at least for any future films mixing them) which is sad because they deserve better. With a proper director, and a rating adjusted to the kind of film this SHOULD be, this could have been the action-film of the year. Now, it´s just sad.
I give this 4/10.