About as bad as I feared.

Rating: 2/10 (14 February 2005)

Well sir, I don't like it. This may, MAY contain a possible spoiler, so that's why I have a warning up here... not that it really matters, as there really isn't a damn thing in this film that's redeemable.
I'll make it easy, here are the good points: -Decent looking aliens. -Some very mild violence, some fairly interesting fight scenes. -None of Paul Anderson's bloody techno music.
Didn't hurt it, didn't help it:
-Very standard 3-D Animation.
-Nothing new about the Aliens.
-People die.
-Decent special effects--no better than "Aliens," although sometimes they seem "not as good." -Mildly interesting story--but--
The BAD: -
--the story lists 3 ancient civilizations, including the Aztec--claiming they built the pyramids in Mexico, when in fact, those structures were built by the MAYA, and the Aztec simply took over many, many years after the Maya disappeared.
-Story is loosely explained, as if it was made for a child to follow fairly well, and think is "cool."
-Story centers on an archeaological expedition to Antarctica--a land with no native human population to fear--what's with all the machine guns and assault weapons?? (Note: I was watching my kid run around screaming, so if it was mentioned & I missed it, it wasn't decently explained it would seem)
-Crappy acting.
-Uninteresting, uninspired characters with no depth--when they die, you just don't care.
-Use of, God help us, Bullettime during a scene with face-huggers. Yes, Hollywood's cheapest trend badgered it's way into the Alien/Predator franchises.
-Dialogue apparently ceases after the first third of the film.
And the Ugly Nasties:
-Yup, it's PG-13--and I watched the so-called "Unrated" extended version--it's still harmless, PG-13, kiddie trite.
-Use of the "F-Word" a whopping one time.
-18 ounces of human blood, no human-related gore whatsoever, and that means--
-NO CHEST-BURSTING &
-NO STRUNG-UP, STRIPPED AND MUTILATED HUMAN CORPSES, A LA "PREDATOR"
-Several Predators suddenly seem to be 9 feet tall for no reason.
-The Alien Queen is also grossly over-sized.
-The intelligence of the Aliens, which we witnessed in all prior films, is now relegated to that of "really smart jungle cats."
-More than once, a weapon is pierced into an Alien--and the acid blood queerly causes it no harm.
-An insult to those of us that are adults and grew up with the Alien and Predator franchises, despite the relatively crappy Alien: Resurrection and Predator 2--at least they were still R-Rated.
-Remember that horror-film hint you get from previous films, where everything was introduced gradually to build tension? None of that here. -Face huggers have suddenly gone from spending a couple days on someone's face to a mere couple minutes.
-Young Aliens are born in a couple "hours" rather than a couple "days."
-Young Aliens become adults, apparently, if you blink more than once while looking at them.
-Little story continuity--people get separated constantly, but you're never quite sure how, or for that matter, where they are, and then they die--but you never liked any of them anyway.
-Lead female character will set back Women's Lib about 20 years with her dullness and occasional incompetence--she's unlikable.
-Predator - human alliance? No thanks.
-Several Predators seem infinitely strong, while Alien numbers seem to grow unchecked--and unexplained--there weren't nearly enough humans around to make all these adult Aliens.
The one surprise I didn't mind:
-Predalien--although, it's host was stabbed through the torso, and thus, the creature should have died...
I watched this movie for free (checked out from a Library) and if you're interested in it, I suggest you do the same, it's really not worth paying for. You're brain will pay for it while you watch it. Alien 3 was head and shoulders above this. Hell, so was Resurrection and extremely cheesy Predator 2. Pity this is where those series' ended up. 2/10
(www.ResidentHazard.com)