A decent action movie marred by an overly critical fan base, an irresponsible studio and director, and a broad shadow cast by its predecesors.

Rating: 6/10 (27 January 2005)

Okay, so this isn't Alien or Predator. Did any of you really think it would be? Seriously, now. Let's get some perspective here. There will never be another Alien, or Aliens, or even Predator. What a lot of your die-hard fans fail to recognize is that this movie CAN'T be those films.
If they made it like Alien, namely much suspense and very little alien, we would have people balking at how it copies Alien or how you never see the aliens. If they made it like Predator or Aliens, namely with a lot of heavily armed guys blasting creatures down right and left, we would get people complaining and comparing it to those movies.
AvP is a movie that can never be as good as the films that came before it, for many reasons. First, and most obviously, it has some mighty big shoes to fill. It would be quite difficult to make a new Alien/Predator movie that could hold its own against the films that have come before, let alone one-up them in any meaningful way.
It also has an overbearing fan base that was way, WAAAAAY too demanding, a studio that is more concerned with raking in dollars than making sure they have a good and faithful movie, and a director that prefers to blame everyone but himself for his own mistakes.
Beyond all that, however, one must recognize the general malaise that weighs heavily on the Alien franchise. The bitter truth is that with each new Alien sequel that comes out, it becomes increasingly difficult for writers and directors to make new and exciting Alien movies. I mean, how many times can you see a face hugger scurry across the floor after a guy, or an Alien drone creep out of the darkness, or a queen rise 20 feet over some hapless victim? After 5 films, this is all old hat.
I give credit to AvP for at least maintaining the entertainment value of these Alien standards with some very well done special effects. Who cares if it's CGI? For all those who were so angry at AvP's CGI, you need a dose of reality. There is never going to be a non-CGI Alien or Predator movie again. Period. CGI is here to stay. Deal with it. At least they took the time to make AvP's CGI as authentic as they could.
Truth be told, AvP is a decent movie. It isn't the best Alien or Predator movie, and it isn't the worst. Beyond all the fake history and the screaming human victims, there were enough entertaining moments between the Preds and Aliens to prove that there is potential here for a great movie franchise.
All they need is for Fox to leave the film-making to the filmmakers, an extra 30 minutes, and an R rating........
.......and Bill Paxton.
;-)