This cornball sci-fi "B-movie" has a good look to it, but little else. * 1/2 out of ****.

Rating: Null/10 (16 August 2004)

I went into "Alien Vs. Predator" knowing it would be a cheesy flick, but I was hoping it would be a good one, it's not. Helmed by "Resident Evil" director Paul W.S. Anderson, the picture starts out promising. When a satellite owned by robotics developer Charles Bishop Heyman detects heat beneath the ice of Antartica, people of various profession are recruited to inspect the mysterious findings.
Heyman (Lance Henriksen) meets the group and explains to them an ancient temple is the location of their expedition. He joins the group and together they search for fortune and glory. Unfortuantely for them, what they walk into is a centuries-old war between two alien species. It takes about 30 minutes before the action takes off in this 90 minute movie.

Unlike previous franchise efforts, "AVP" is lacking in blood and gore and is rated PG-13. That's kind of pointless since the hard-core fans are those who love that kind of thing. I went with this movie until the point when Heyman signs his own death warrant by yelling to a Predator, "Hey! Don't you turn your back on me!". It's silly and it only gets sillier as the movie goes on. As for the ending, don't get me started.
I guess the franchises are both truly done for. Congrads to director Anderson who continues to show how much of a hack he really is. I have know idea why Fox chose him to direct. I'm sure there's dozen of other first-timers that would've done much better jobs. Oh well. Grade: D Plus.