a fun ride, Predator 3, not alien 5

Rating: Null/10 (14 August 2004)

I must say that I'd been hoping for someone to make this movie for a long time. And I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. I wasn't expecting it to be a culminating document to the predator and alien series, and it isn't.
Overall this movie delivers in a fun action packed ride that lacks the lurking-in-the shadows, never-seen-in-broad-daylight that characterized both alien and both the predator movies, and I'm glad it didn't either, I wanted to see aliens and predators beating each other up and that's what I got. This is the part of the movie I wanted to see and it's the only part that is enjoyable.
The script could have been much more convincing on behalf of the humans, that two young archaeologists could just up and read writing "in egyptian, aztec and cambodian" is simply idiotic, not to mention that none of the glyphs are egyptian, the archeaologist is just too smart to be believable. This just among many rough details. The humans are basically just a side-dish that allow us to understand what is going on. I'd rather have heard a couple of mumbled grunts and occasional words from the predators because the acting on behalf of almost all humans concerned is below average except maybe lance henricksen, and the protagonist is a laugh, with her overly-zealous over-acted and cliché behaviour.
CG and other special effects are top notch and the result is completely believable. Makeup is also very nice on the predator's behalf.
Essentially, this movie is Predator 3, not Alien 5. It does a good job of introducing facets to the predator race's character that was lacking from both previous movies, and fans of the previous predator movies and universe (myself included) will very likely enjoy this movie. The influence of the alien series is felt mostly in the dark, claustrophobic environment and nothing of any real importance is introduced about them.
Worth seeing, and I sure hope they come out with an R-rated alternative on DVD sometime soon, I'll be buying it.