Could have been immensely enjoyable but instead comes off as strictly watchable

Rating: Null/10 (21 October 2004)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Dr Wood (Sanaa Lathan) is asked to head an expedition out to Antartica to explore the remains of an ancient pyramid.Already skeptical about her crew's lack of training,upon arrival,she finds even more reason to worry when they realize they are not alone.The aliens and the predators want to duke it out for ultimate supremacy.......and whoever wins...we lose.
Lance Henriksen makes an appearance as the Bishop character he originally played 18 years ago in the film Aliens,who's now head of Weyland Enterprises,who fund the expedition.Aside from this,the film makes limited use of the mountainous potential it had to poke fun at itself and be self-referentialising and self-depreciating and instead kind of takes itself a bit too seriously.A few years ago,the film's director,Paul Anderson,made a film I thoroughly enjoyed by the name of Event Horizon.Since then,he's gone on to make more strictly action-orientated stuff like the Kurt Russell film Soldier or the Resident Evil movie.That this movie lacks EH's eerie sense of impending claustrophobia and instead chooses to follow in the afore-mentioned film's footsteps serves as a real set-back for it.The action itself,namely in the shape of Alien and Preddie's battles,isn't bad,as the body count rises and they weave their blood-thirsty path to victory.However,it's never as awe-inspiring or fun as it could have been.You can see the ending coming before it arrives,yet the plot somehow still manages to just about be engaging.
But where the film really comes to life is in the F/X and creature design department.The Mother-Alien (funnily enough,a toy I remember owning as a child!) is fantastic and the Predator creature designs are nothing to sniff at either.
Overall,this isn't a film that manages to blow you away or excite you as much as it ideally could (or even should!) have,but it's an engaging enough joint venture for two of sci-fi horror's most memorable and endearing characters.***