Alien vs. Predator

When one of the Weyland Corporation's satellites detects anomalous heat under the ice in Antarctica that hints at a large buried structure they hastily assemble a team of experts to investigate.

Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan) is drafted in for her survival experience on the continent as Mr Weyland himself (Lance Henriksen) plans to go along.

No good will come of this.

Paul W. S. Anderson is quite workmanlike in his direction of this franchise crossover that's got a bit of Tomb Raider in its genes.

The giant buried pyramid is full of improbable sliding blocks and you guessed it: an Alien Queen defrosted to provide offspring for the inbound Predators to hunt.

Nothing dreadfully surprising happens until we get a teamup after Alex gets a lucky Xenomorph kill which changes the mood slightly.

Not particularly well loved it introduces a bit more Predator lore. I'm not sure I like the whole "Chariots of the Gods"/"Ancient Aliens" thing as it's rooted in 60s/70s racist suppositions about non-Western ancient cultures that was long discredited by the time they were writing this and there's a really cringe "flashback" kind of scene.

The action though is OK and that's what it's here for 6/10.