Some spoiler info, negative writings

Rating: 2/10 (14 August 2004)

OK..Paul Anderson (writer and director) calls himself such an avid fan of the Alien AND Predator series...but yet he overlooks one of the most basic aspects in this movie.. er, an Alien takes a couple of days to incubate inside of a human, not five minutes.. That was one of the most pathetic oversights I have seen in a movie. You have to keep it real..
There was only something like seven aliens total in the movie, yet they dominated both humans and predators.. that was pretty lame, considering there were three predators. Predators have more brain capacity, better weapons, they're freaking tough.. they're like the most elite lifeform ever though-up, but two of them get taken out right away. What's up with that? Not to mention I'm sure they would have studied the pyramid and how it changes - they knew the terrain as well. Now, I know they're supposed to be in a trial.. so they're not yet warriors, but there's no way the pred society would just send them on their way unless they were sure they were ready for the task. The aliens were portrayed as way too powerful in this movie.. aliens are weak, they're fragile, a predator should be able to rip right through an alien head no problem. The one pred that survives is good, yes, but I think the other ones should have been just as good. One alien takes out two predators...there's just something wrong with that. What aliens have going for them is numbers, but in this movie that's the one thing they didn't have.
Now another thing.. the pyramid. The predators destroy the civilization if they are going to fail... well that pyramid is still standing, so it must have seen a few fights in it's lifetime. Yet there was absolutely no sign of previous battles. They certainly did a good job of knocking up all the statues and pillars this time. But wtf, the first battles were just a breeze? OK, so the predators didn't get their trusty shoulder cannons from the start.. but come on now, a shoulder cannon doesn't make a predator. They should have STILL been able to take on the measly force of aliens with what they had.. they were still well equipped, even if they didn't have their shoulder cannons.
So the dig team moves in...way too far. WTF. That is not the way to go about discovering the greatest discovery. I don't think anyone would do that. That is obviously dangerous.. even without the knowledge of aliens and predators. They should have waited, checked out the outside, took the time to read the writings, etc. But instead they had to Indiana Jones it and plunge into a huge, unknown pyramid.
Character development was the worst I've seen in a while. I felt nothing for any of the humans. The beginning was horrible, it was way too rushed. The acting sucked, the dialogue was amateur. This movie was a grade-A failure. Pure disgrace to both series. Not to mention it's PG-13, and therefore has no promise to be scary in any way, shape, or form. Scary is one of the best parts about the originals! This movie had much more of a *yawn* approach.
The good: the special effects aren't bad, although sometimes the aliens look hokey. The predator has a few cool new toys, the story isn't too bad (although it makes you wonder how in the future no one knows anything... an island of Antarctica has a huge gaping hole.. one person survives, a big time head-of-company man disappears, and on top of that, all these experts are gone as well. Someone's going to notice. Don't think there wouldn't be an investigation around that).. but that's really all the good.
If you're a fan, you'll watch it anyway, but seriously, this movie sucks.