The usual suspects

Alien vs. Predator is a difficult movie to review, because it crosses some undeniably cool moments and some very interesting scenery with poorly-conceived plot and far, far too much foreplay.

The movie starts out with a Weyland Corporation (presumably a predecessor of Weyland-Yutani Inc. from the later Alien films) expedition to a mysterious heat source 2000 feet beneath the Antarctic ice. There, near the level of bedrock, they find an ancient temple with elements of several early Human civilizations, including the Aztecs and Egyptians. Turns out, naturally, that it's merely a breeding and ground for the infamous Xenomorph alien, and it's hunting time once again.

That last paragraph is almost 45 minutes worth of movie. The viewers patience is finally rewarded, however, with a half hour of some of the coolest fight scenes ever in a science fiction movie. The Predator unleashes some awesome new weapons and technology, and there's plenty of hardcore fisticuffs. Also worth noting, the Predator's spaceship is one of the coolest in recent memory just for its awesome screen presence. Oh, and there are more than a few references to older films in both series, some subtle and some less so.

Overall, Alien vs. Predator is a film worth seeing in the theater. But probably only once, as this is really a DVD-friendly movie, where you can skip all the two-dimensional character development and go straight to watching Xenomorphs getting speared, stabbed, shot, blown up, and chopped into little pieces. Because that really does make the whole deal worthwhile.