Okay -- I'll bite. AVPR is an awesome horror flick.
Remove any and all preconceived prejudices and positions and approach the film as purely a Dean Koontz-style B horror flick, and I honestly think it shines. I think it's even more enjoyable than the first one. I think AVPR suffers under the unfair weight of fanboyism. Go watch, say, Dreamcatchers (a comperable film), and ask yourself which was more enjoyable. Compare it to any Resident Evil movie. It uses practical effects, it has a really horrific and terrifying primary monster. Literally endless articles were written talking about how disturbing the monster was. Like, was it Candyman? No, but that Predalien was pretty fuckin terrifying in some of those scenes.
I likwise give this film credit (similar credit I give to T3) for having legitimate balls. Whether you *liked* all the characters or not, even Stephen King isn't offing his main character teenage love interests.
Again, I think AVPR is all in how you approach it. If you can let go of the rapt (and definitely deserving) fanboyism attached to the Alien and Predator films, I really feel like this flick works as a solid horror flick. Like, if no one had ever heard of or seen either of these creatures, I've no doubt that this film on its own would have spawned multiple sequels. Imagine being a kid seeing this movie for the first time before any of the others. And while the first Alien is a lightyears better film, I could totally see a teenager being more entertained by AVPR.
So that's my defense of it. I wish they made more movies like this -- whole towns being terrorized by monsters? You really only ever encounter it in genre literature.
