I can honestly say, that this is one of the most under-rated films of 2004.
Not because it was good, just because it was panned so fucking hard by critics! I think this is mostly due to the fact that it was being compared to both the Alien and Predator series, which is fair enough, but it was never going to be what either of those films was.
Ultimately it's downfall came from some poor dialogue, and trying to reach a larger audience. Where Predators was a film that you didn't need to have watched all the others in order to follow, it was still fundamentally a Predator film, aimed at the Predator-loving market. AVP on the other hand used references to the older films, but then completely threw the canon out the window and went for a larger fanbase. And whilst it worked to some degree (my grandma liked it) it wasn't enough of a step in either direction. AVP was complicated as a stand alone, and disastrous when compared to anything else in the franchise except perhaps its sequel Requiem (and maybe Predator 2 or Alien3).
Honestly I think the film works as an archetypal film in the realm of both Alien and Predator, just not a sequel or prequel to either. The lead protagonist is a woman by the name of Alexa Woods, portayed by Sanaa Lathan (Blade, Contagion) who was clearly meant to be a modern day Ripley, and catastrophically failed at doing so. The Predators were as cool as ever, and people complained that in the latter half of the film they weren't as ghostly as in Predator/Predator 2, but we've already had two whole films of that, and these were juvenile Predators, so it sort of made sense that they were a tad more restless.
Bringing Lance Henriksen (Damien: Omen II, Piranha II: The Spawning, The Terminator, Aliens, Alien 3, Pumpkinhead, The Quick and the Dead, Mind Ripper, Scream 3, The Lost Tribe) back was an awesome decision, one that was probably lost on the audience who had not seen the Alien series.
Tommy Flanagan (Smokin' Aces 1 and 2, Sin City, When a Stranger Calls [2006], Gladiator, Braveheart) is another an actor I love, it was a shame his character (Mark Verheiden) was so underused. Ultimately, the film is a good one to pick up and put down, don't think about it too much, don't compare it to the others, go in with your only expectation being that it's a monster-movie, then you won't come out too disappointed.
59%
-Gimly