It's not as bad as everyone says

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2011)

I love the Alien series, I enjoyed the Predator films too. This clearly is not part of either franchise, it is its own paradigm with homages to both series. If you view this film as part of the Aliens/Predator canons, and are precious about them, you are probably going to hate this film. It's not terribly well-made - the special effects are occasionally striking, but more often look a little clunky. The scene where they discover the Pyramid is a good example - it's hopelessly out of scale, and it even looks like 1980s bluescreen..... surely no-one In 2004 would have let that stay in the film? The script is wooden, it seems like it was written by a 17 year old retaking his GCSEs, but all credit to the actors, they do the best with it that they can. The characterisations are ersatz and formulaic, that's always a bit irritating, although Lance Henriksen's character has a decent flaw I wasn't expecting. There are huge plot-holes, I know a little about Aztec civilisation but the scriptwriters obviously knew less than I did! If you can suspend these not inconsiderable failings, there is an enjoyable hokumish action-thriller here, that's certainly worth 88 minutes of your time. The pacing is fairly good, the pyramid interior is a fascinating backdrop full of images and patterns from the Alien/Predator franchises, and the creature fight sequences are exciting, if a little confusing sometimes. I confess I was on the side of the Aliens, and cheered each time they notched a kill up! There's little of the claustrophobic horror of "Alien", just enough action combat but not as well choreographed as "Aliens" or "Predator 1", the chilling cathedral-like atmosphere of "Alien 3" is present but muted in this film, and there's very little of the humour and dazzle of "Alien Resurrection" and "Predator 2". But it's far from bad. It's just not great. I can think of far worse films. Watch it and make your mind up!