Pleasantly Surprised

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2005)

I was quite pleasantly surprised by an unexpected pairing in the film as well; I thought it to be both plausible and creative. Additionally, the effects are a quite incredible looking blend of animatronics, suits, and CGI.
The major complaint I have is Director Paul W.S. Anderson's penchant for ripping off the terrific Canadian film "Cube." He did this in his previous film "Resident Evil." I chalked the derivative scene in that film up as homage, but this time the theft is so obvious and on a much larger scale, that I'm shocked litigation isn't pending. It will be interesting if to see if he can make a film that is entirely his own, now that there's nothing left for him to steal from "Cube." It's been a long wait for fans of both the "Predator" and "Alien" series and, for the most part, the end result was worth it. Yes, the ending is overused and predictable, and it takes a bit too long to get going, but AvP is otherwise better than it has any right to be.