I had issues...but most of them were resolved with the UNRATED EDITION's release.

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2004)

I went into the theater with little in the way of expectations. I love both franchises and I frankly did not believe they could do this one properly.
The performances were quite good, the effects were great (although they did something weird to the mandibles on the Predators that I found to be a poor incarnative device), and the sets and story were quite well done.
The story. That's what blows you away in AvP.
SPOILERS.
This movie was rich in story without going back and explaining all the redundant boring trivial little details from both franchises. It depends on your subscribing to the theories of each franchise and is more a "carrying on" endeavor than a "win new viewers" one. I found that to be endearing in these days of repetition. Considering that this was an extension of two successful franchise components, why compound the repetition factor.
The premise of ice after having said the Predators only come when it is unseasonably hot left me feeling a bit disturbed as to why they chose Antarctica. However. Given the theories concerning the shifting of the poles, the Ice Age theorems, and so on, I have accepted that the pyramid was built when what is now the North Pole/Antarctica, was in the deserts of what was the Old World's "middle east."
I was disturbed that the Predators were less...predatory, and more "touchy-feely" this time around. I seriously missed the action! Action! ACTION! of these franchises. So if it is action you are after, this movie is -not- the first choice. There were practically no hand-to-hand episodes, and what you did get was a bit weak probably due to the PG-13 component. Bah! Hopefully there will be an American "R" release in the next year or so. I think I'll hold off on buying the "theatrical release" when it comes out and wait a bit to see. I can't imagine there weren't more fight scenes shot and then extracted as a marketing ploy for later use.
By "touchy-feely," I mean the love/team interest forged between Sanaa Lathan's character Alexa Woods and the surviving underground Predator. That was completely out of character for the Predators, in my opinion. Okay, I realize it is a carry-over from Predator 2 where the Predators acquire a respect for Danny Glover's character in the end. However, to quote "Howard the Duck" ... "This relationship defies all the laws of Nature!" Though it's hardly a romance, there are far too many cutesy moments in this endeavor to suit my Predator/Alien tastes. In fact, this feature alone lent a feeling of "this is stupid" to this whole movie; a thought I had to keep pushing back during my theatrical viewing and detracted immensely from the final product.
The premise, however, was quite well done, in spite of the obvious flaws. In Bishop's endeavor to live what is left of his extended "life" to the fullest, he embarks upon this journey in the hopes of surviving one last grand adventure. Not a new element to the cinematic world, but still effective. I -wanted- him to go, and I -wanted- him to succeed.
Perhaps, that is only because he was the only character from the original franchise to make this attempt. This attempt bore no other original members from either franchise, by the way.
The idea of the pyramid bearing the three types of ancient civilizational writings, thoughts and designs was outstanding.
Quite clever interpretation of the placement of the great pyramids on the Earth, and the origins of the Gods of mankind. Perhaps it was a Predator bomb that caused the Tunguska blast of 1908.
The effects were well done, and the makeup artists surrendered their best, as expected. As I said before, the mandible adjustments on the Predator were a bit off-putting, but then again, they were never beautiful creatures to begin with. The pyramid was well done, the glyphs were realistic, the adornments were creatively and historically presented, and the aliens were expertly done.
Just another small question...In all the years the Predators have been fighting the Aliens, -why- is their armor not acid-proofed?
Just a thought.
In an attempt to make this more attractive to "arthouse" fans rather than fans of the original franchises, the story line was given more screen time than the action one would expect from a movie which carries these two franchises. Even with this distraction AVP was very watchable.
The Unrated Director's Cut (which Anderson promised fans from the beginning, IF you will remember), is as the movie should have been. You are given eight more minutes.
Now, I can already hear the cries of malcontent. "Eight MINUTES?!" But I can tell you that 8 seconds added here, and 5 seconds added there, really do serve well to flesh out the story, give you the details previously missed, and extend the Alien/Predator fight adequately enough so that fans are, at last, appeased.
The story is in the UNRATED EDITION. The action is in the UNRATED EDITION. The version which makes sense is the UNRATED EDITION. The PG-13 edition is the chopped up, convoluted crap-fest we saw at the theaters.
Thanks to the studio for letting Anderson have this UNRATED EDITION. It goes a long way towards salvaging what we KNEW was NOT an inferior film. The PG-13 version just made it seem inferior.
The Theatrical Version rates a 7.0/10.
The UNRATED EDITION rates a 9.2/10 from...
the Fiend :.