Stick to the comics!

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2004)

I've always been a big fan of both the Alien and the Predator franchises, and when these have been extended to comics I have always enjoyed them. This movie, however, fails to deliver on any of the possibilities of these visitors' encounter. It is obvious that the screenplay was written quickly, since the plot that explains why these characters from different universes should meet is pretty thin. Unfortunately, the carelessness taken with the plot doesn't even make for interesting action set-pieces, and the end result is a movie that even seen on the big screen has few thrills. A team of scientists and adventurers travel to Antarctica to investigate a mysterious heat source located by a satellite and stumble onto a hidden temple. This ancient building is being used by the Predators to breed Aliens, which are then used to test the newest members of the Predator clan. The researchers must find a way out of the place before they get caught in the middle of a war they can't hope to win. The plot needn't have been so complex, and it definitely should not have been dwelt on so much in the beginning. As a result there is no development of any of the characters, so their mostly uninteresting deaths never weigh on the audience. There isn't even an interesting dynamic that could have dealt with the psychology of an ever-dwindling group. Instead, the movie focuses on the action between the titular characters, but the Aliens are never menacing when they are fully lit and not very numerous and the Predators are robbed of their stalking cool.