i guess i'm an exception to the norm :/

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2008)

i'll make this short but sweet.
after watching this movie for the second time since i first saw it in theaters, i still don't understand the multitude of bad reviews that it's gotten. i've read criticisms along the lines of "the characters are unoriginal" or "too many plot holes" or "bad acting" etc. etc., yet when it comes right down to it, this is a movie about a predator fighting an alien. i repeat, A PREDATOR FIGHTING AN ALIEN! now, if you start the basis of your criticisms from there, i believe this movie has really done an excellent job of accomplishing what it was meant to accomplish. it's an action movie with incredible sets, realistic special effects, and by staying under the two hour mark doesn't lose the attention of your average action-head. not to mention it ties in very well with the two franchises from which it has been drawn, reflecting aspects of both the predator movies as well as alien.
in my book, it gets eight out of ten stars not for it's unique characters or their in depth development, but for being what it was meant to be and keeping me entertained not only for the first hour and a half that i spent watching, but also for the second hour and a half when i watched it again.